At the end of
Don Cheadle
's liner essay for
Miles Ahead
, the soundtrack for his expressionist
Miles Davis
biopic, he quotes
Herbie Hancock
from a documentary about the trumpeter's electric years: "...I couldn't pick a piece.. Because Miles is all of the pieces." That's a fine explanation for what is compiled here. Eleven of these tunes were selected from
Davis
' catalog, beginning with the title track cut for
Prestige
in 1953. There are stops all along the way to 1981's "Back Seat Betty." In presenting such a wide selection of
' music for a cinema audience, judicious editing was often necessitated: "Solea," "Seven Steps to Heaven," "Nefertiti," "Duran (Take 6)," "Black Satin," and "Back Seat Betty" are all presented this way. "So What," "Frelon Brun," and "Go Ahead John, Pt. 2" are presented in full. While fans may take issue with the entire idea of edits, they serve a proper purpose inside the soundtrack concept. Interspersed are bits of dialogue by
Cheadle
(as
) and others. They are so short they don't distract. The album also includes the brief "Taylor Made" by pianist
Taylor Eigsti
. Titled for
' first wife and muse
Frances Taylor
, it briefly recontextualizes several important themes in the trumpeter's fakebook. There are also four new compositions written or co-written by
Robert Glasper
. The funky "Junior's Jam" features saxophonist
Marcus Strickland
, trumpeter
Keyon Harrold
, drummer
Kendrick Scott
, and bassist
Burniss Earl Travis
.
Glasper
, who plays Rhodes, perfectly captures the spirit of
' early electric era, with riff-like basslines, funky drums, and eerie electric pianos, while the frontline horns engage and disengage from rhythm and vamp. "Francessence" is a lilting theme piece with
Vicente Archer
's upright bass,
E.J. Strickland
's brushed drums, and
Elena Pinderhughes
' flute. The real highlight is "What's Wrong with That?" Framed in the film as a live concert piece, it places
's Rhodes in the company of
Harrold
(using a mute),
Hancock
,
Wayne Shorter
Esperanza Spalding
(on electric bass),
Antonio Sanchez
, and guitarist
Gary Clark, Jr.
A loose jam based on vamps, it weaves
' bluesy lyricism with spacy elements of fusion, harder psychedelic funk grooves, and even the tender soul pop notions from later years. The album closes with "Gone," a hip-hop tune with
Pharoahe Monch
rapping over a bumping bassline, slippery snare, and hi-hat beats (
Dilla
style), adorned by a sampled brass section, gospel piano chords, and
's soaring, muted trumpet solo. It was wise to separate most of these new sounds from
' sides, making the album a double portrait: One of the artist and another of how he contributed to the future.
is not a complete representation of
, and that's fine. What it does accomplish is to offer an impression of essence as an artist who changed everything by his example. ~ Thom Jurek