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Filles de Kilimanjaro

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Filles de Kilimanjaro
Studio albumby
Miles Davis
ReleasedDecember 1968[1]
RecordedJune 19–21 and September 24, 1968
StudioColumbia 30th Street(New York City)
Genre
Length56:30
LabelColumbia
ProducerTeo Macero
Miles Davischronology
Miles in the Sky
(1968) 		Filles de Kilimanjaro
(1968) 		In a Silent Way
(1969)

Filles de Kilimanjaro(French:Girls ofKilimanjaro) is a studio album by the AmericanjazztrumpeterMiles Davis.It was recorded in June and September 1968 atColumbia 30th Street Studioin Manhattan, and released onColumbia Recordsin December of that year in the United Kingdom[4]and in the United States the following February. The album is a transitional work for Davis, who was shifting stylistically from acousticpost-boprecordings with hisSecond Great Quintetto thejazz fusionof his subsequent "electric period".Filles de Kilimanjarowas well received by contemporary music critics, who viewed it as a significant release in modern jazz. PianistChick Coreaand bassistDave Hollandappear on two tracks, marking their first participation on a Davis album.

Background

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The June sessions featuredWayne Shorteron tenor saxophone,Herbie Hancockon the electricRhodes piano,Ron Carteron bass guitar, andTony Williamson drums. The September sessions replaced Hancock with Corea, and Carter with Holland, makingFilles de Kilimanjarothe last Miles album to feature theSecond Great Quintet(although all except Carter would perform onIn a Silent Way). During the September sessions, Holland played acoustic double bass and Corea played anRMIelectronic pianoin addition to acoustic piano.[5]: 52 These are Holland and Corea's first known recordings with Davis.[6]The album was produced byTeo Maceroand engineered by Frank Laico and Arthur Kendy. Shortly after the sessions forFilles de Kilimanjaro,Davis led further sessions in November 1968 with additional personnel includingJoe Zawinul(organ) andJack DeJohnette(drums); however, these recordings were scrapped for several years until being released on compilations throughout the 1970s and 1980s. All of these, plus the September recordings fromFilles de Kilimanjaro,were eventually included onThe Complete In a Silent Way Sessionsbox set in 2001.

The album title refers, in part, to Kilimanjaro African Coffee, in which Davis had made a financial investment.[7]: 272 Davis decided to list all the song titles in both French and English to give the album an "exotic" touch.[7]: 272 Davis had marriedBetty Mabryin September 1968, and named the track "Mademoiselle Mabry(Miss Mabry) "for her.[5]: 52 The song itself was recorded during the same month as Davis's wedding,[5]: 52 and Betty appears on the album cover.[7]: 269 

Composition and performance

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"Petits Machins (Little Stuff)"
Exemplifying Davis's musical transition at the time, the recording incorporates electric bass and piano, while the improvisations focus on a single tonal center.[8]
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The album can be seen as a transitional work between Davis's mainly acoustic recordings with the Second Quintet and thejazz fusionof his later electric period.[9]Davis apparently saw it as a transitional work for him, as the album was the first in what would become a series of his releases to bear the subtitle "Directions in music by Miles Davis". However, authorPaul Tingenpoints out that while Carter and Hancock played electric instruments at the first recording session, the later session featured in which Holland on acoustic bass and Corea on both acoustic and electric pianos.[5]: 52 Davis biographerJack Chamberslater wrote that the band sought to expand beyond their usual minimal structure and find a common mood, wanting listeners to "discover the unity of the pieces instead of just locating it, as viewers must discover the unity in a painting with several simultaneous perspectives".[10]

The melodic complexity of "Petits Machins (Little Stuff)" highlights Davis's interest in departing from post-bop structure towards the sounds and textures of his subsequent fusion work.[8]Music writerMarcus Singletarycommented on its complexity, "True to the general concept ofFilles de Kilimanjaro,a mosaic of controlled chaos becomes the defining sound of 'Little Stuff' ".[11]On the recording, the quintet expresses an11
4meter with a repeating riff and chromatically ascending dominant harmonies in the recording first section.[8]Section two moves to a contrasting 10-bar section in4
4meter, with the opening six bars relying on an Fpedal pointin the bass, above which occur shifting harmonies each measure.[8]The static F pedal section yields to asyncopatedprogression with meters seven to eight and a change of bass in meters nine to 10, as the quintet makes an alteration to section two during the improvisations. Music theorist Keith Waters cites this as an example of "Davis's—by now—well-worn practice of metric deletion", in which throughout the trumpet solo, the quintet maintains a repeated nine-bar cycle, rather than the 10 bars of section two heard during the first section.[8]The quintet omits bar 10 of section two during the solos and maintains the harmonic progression of bars 1 through 9. As in the first section, the syncopated progression occurs in bar 7, but Carter does not participate in playing the syncopation of meters seven to eight during the improvisations, while Hancock interprets this progression more freely.[8]Singletary said of its musical significance:

The fact that these musicians mostly follow each other instinctively into such undefined territory is jolting. Absent of any form of actual standardization, these rare glimpses into the thought processes of geniuses validates their singular language as impossible to replicate in any way that would do this original recording justice. Though relatively brief, this track is the highlight of the album, and its significance to jazz remains tantamount. Through it, an apex of creativity in Miles's career was reached, and the track also shows why each musician here is considered an A-list innovator.[11]

— Marcus Singletary

As with the album's title track, the quintet does not return to the first section and the recording concludes with a second Davis improvisation.[8]

Gil Evans,with whom Davis had previously collaborated, helped compose, arrange, and produce the album, though he is not mentioned in the credits.[7]: 273 Evans co-composed "Petits Machins",which he later recorded as" Eleven "with himself and Davis listed as co-composers.[7]: 273 The song "Mademoiselle Mabry(Miss Mabry) ", while credited to Davis, is actually Gil Evans' reworking of"The Wind Cries Mary"bythe Jimi Hendrix Experience;Davis and Evans had met with Hendrix several times to exchange ideas.[7]: 271 Some portions of the song also resemble "On Broadway"bythe Drifters.[5]: 52 

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
DownBeat[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[16]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5[17]
Tom Hull – on the WebA−[18]
Uncut[9]

In a contemporary review,Rolling Stoneclaimed that "no amount of track-by-track description here can begin to convey the beauty and intensity [of the album]. There are five songs, but really they fit together as five expressions of the same basic piece, one sustained work".[9]Stanley Crouch,a staunch critic of Davis's use of electric instruments, described the album as Davis' "last important jazz record".[5]: 40, 46 

In a retrospective review of the album,Uncutcalled it "a masterpiece of tropical exoticism".[9]Sputnikmusic staff writer Tyler Fisher commented that the rhythm section-players "sound entirely innovative and fresh" and "The whole band, in both quintets, has an extreme awareness about each other and knows exactly where each soloist is going".[17]AllMusiceditorStephen Thomas Erlewinecalled its music "unpretentiously adventurous, grounded in driving, mildly funky rhythms and bluesy growls from Miles, graced with weird, colorful flourishes from the band," ultimately deeming it superior to its predecessor.[3]Erlewine also cited the album as "the beginning of a new phase for Miles, the place that he begins to dive headfirst into jazz-rock fusion", and commented on its significance in Davis's catalogue:

What makes this album so fascinating is that it's possible to hear the breaking point — though his quintet all followed him into fusion (three of his supporting players were onIn a Silent Way), it's possible to hear them all break with the conventional notions of what constituted even adventurous jazz, turning into something new [...] [C]ertainly the music that would spring full bloom onIn a Silent Waywas still in the gestation phase, and despite the rock-blues-n-funk touches here, the music doesn't fly and search the way thatNefertitidid. But that's not a bad thing — this middle ground between the adventurous bop of the mid-'60s and the fusion of the late '60s is rewarding in its own right, since it's possible to hear great musicians find the foundation of a new form.[3]

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

DownBeatcritic John Ephland calledFilles de Kilimanjaro"the stylistic precursor to the ever-popularIn a Silent Wayof 1969 ", writing that"Fillesis performed (and edited) like a suite, with a sense of flow unlike anything Davis had recorded up to that point. That flow is enhanced by a music played all in one key (F), with only five 'tunes,' and with a mood and rhythms that change gradually from start to finish ".[10]Ephland concluded in his review, "In passing,Filles de Kilimanjarois a turning-point album unlike any other for Davis: For the first time, his bebop roots were essentially severed, rockier rhythms, electricity andostinato-driven bass lines now holding sway ".[10]Jim Santella fromAll About Jazzwrote that the album's music "flows with a lyricism that remains highly regarded in today’s format", concluding in his review that "Filles De Kilimanjaroremains one of the classic albums from their collaboration, and represents a high point in modern jazz ".[19]

Track listing

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All songs were credited to Miles Davis.

Side one
No.TitleRecording date and studioLength
1."Frelon Brun" (Brown Hornet)September 24, 1968, Columbia 30th Street Studio5:39
2."Tout de Suite" (Right Away)June 20, 1968, Columbia 30th Street Studio14:07
3."Petits Machins" (Little Stuff)June 19, 1968, Columbia 30th Street Studio8:07
Side two
No.Title...Length
1."Filles de Kilimanjaro" (Girls of Kilimanjaro)June 21, 1968, Columbia Studio B12:03
2."Mademoiselle Mabry" (Miss Mabry)September 24, 1968, Columbia 30th Street Studio16:32
2002 reissue bonus track
No.Title...Length
6."Tout de suite" (alternate take)June 20, 1968, Columbia 30th Street Studio14:36

Personnel

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Technical personnel

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  • Teo Macero– production
  • Frank Laico, Arthur Kendy – engineering
  • Hiro– cover art

References

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  1. ^Miles Davis.com
  2. ^Bailey, C. Michael (April 11, 2008)."Miles Davis, Miles Smiles, and the Invention of Post Bop".All About Jazz.RetrievedFebruary 23,2013.
  3. ^abcdErlewine, Stephen Thomas (November 1, 2001).Filles de Kilimanjaro– Miles Davis | AllMusic: Review.Allmusic.Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  4. ^Entry at Discogs
  5. ^abcdefTingen, Paul(2001).Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967–1991(first printing ed.). New York:Billboard Books.ISBN0-8230-8346-2.
  6. ^Kaplan, James (2024).3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool.Penguin Press. p. 386.
  7. ^abcdefSzwed, John (2002).So What: The Life of Miles Davis(first ed.). New York:Simon & Schuster.ISBN0-684-85982-3.
  8. ^abcdefgWaters (2011), p. 257.
  9. ^abcdMiles Davis – Filles De Kilimanjaro CD Album.Muze.Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  10. ^abcEphland (2007), p. 315.
  11. ^abSingletary, Marcus (November 9, 2008).Miles Davis: Petits Machins (Little Stuff) – Jazz.com | Jazz Music – Jazz Artists – Jazz NewsArchived2010-02-11 at theWayback Machine.Jazz.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  12. ^Ephland (2007), p. 306.
  13. ^Larkin, Colin(2011). "Miles Davis".The Encyclopedia of Popular Music(5th ed.).Omnibus Press.ISBN978-0857125958.
  14. ^Cook, Richard;Brian Morton(2008) [1992].The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings.The Penguin Guide to Jazz(9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 346.ISBN978-0-14-103401-0.
  15. ^Considine, J.D.Brackett, Nathan with Hoard, Christian eds. (November 2, 2004). "Miles Davis".The New Rolling Stone Album Guide:214–220. Some pages posted atThe New Rolling Stone Album Guide.Google Books.Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  16. ^Swenson, J., ed. (1985).The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide.USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp.58.ISBN0-394-72643-X.
  17. ^abFisher, Tyler (August 20, 2006).Miles Davis – Filles de Kilimanjaro (staff review) | Sputnikmusic.Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  18. ^Hull, Tom(n.d.)."Grade List: Miles Davis".Tom Hull – on the Web.RetrievedJuly 22,2020.
  19. ^Santella, Jim (August 1, 2002).Miles Davis | Filles De Kilimanjaro.All About Jazz.Retrieved on 2011-04-03.

Bibliography

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