You have to hear Miles At The Blackhawk.

When I was 11 years old, I wanted to play the saxophone, specifically the tenor saxophone. I really liked jazz because my dad played Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra records a lot around the house. They didn't teach musical instruments at my primary school so I had to wait until I went to secondary school.. 

During the first week of school we all had to go to the school hall to sign up for our instruments. I wanted to sign up for the clarinet because I was aware that I would have to learn clarinet first before moving on to saxophone. So I put my hand up for the clarinet only to be told there were no spaces left. Fortunately I had made a new friend that week at school called Michael Venn (and now lifelong friend) and he said to me. "Come and learn the trumpet, my dad teaches it here". That was my lifeline into music and was a brilliant moment for me. My teacher was Jimmy Venn who had played with John Dankworth in the 50's and often worked with the great Syd Lawrence orchestra. He was a great player, a great jazz player and a great teacher. I was very lucky to spend so many years taught by him. 

My mum pushed me quite hard on the trumpet, not that I needed much encouragement, I loved it. I often went to Michael's house and we would listen to MF Horn 2 constantly, Maynard Ferguson's ferocious trumpet playing on Give It One was inspirational and so exciting for an 11 year old trumpet player. Michael's dad had many jazz records, I first heard Freddie Hubbard's record High Energy there and it's still my favourite album of his. There was one album I was particularly curious about which was Miles Davis Live At The Blackhawk. Michael wasn't keen on it but I was quite taken with it. I used to do a paper round and all my money went on buying records from The Record Centre on Loveday Street in Birmingham. On Saturdays I would go into town and go round all the record shops looking for records I might like. Eventually I managed to get a copy of Live At the Blackhawk and to this day it is a pivitol album for me in my jazz listening. 

Today I have just managed to get a copy of The Complete Live At The Blackhawk. I'm just listening to all the previously unreleased tracks and it is stunning. 

When asked by people which is the best album to buy as an introduction to jazz Kind of Blue is the album most recommended and I would agree with that choice but Live At The Blackhawk is the centre of all jazz for me. It has everything that the young jazz musician needs to hear to get started. I think I heard Wynton Marsalis describe albums like this as "social music" and I think that's a great description for it. Mostly standard material that has obviously been well played in by the band. There are many great ensemble moments during the solos which can be heard on many of the live albums of this particular band. It's also great to hear Hank Mobley in a live setting, most of his output is from his classic Blue Note studio albums but this demonstrates a different side of his playing. Miles apparently wasn't that keen on Mobley's playing and some of his solos are apparently edited out but I saw an interview with drummer Jimmy Cobb recently on youtube and he said that Mobley played great every night and he never really understood why Miles may have had a problem with him. I believe Miles wasn't particularly keen on Sam Rivers either who play on Live in Tokyo. I love that cd and I really like Sam Rivers playing on it, a real contrast to Miles' playing at that time. 

With liner notes by trumpet player Eddie Henderson who attended many performances at the the Blackhawk by Miles, adding personal insight into Miles approach to this band. Wynton Kelly on piano who sounds so fluid and swinging along with Paul Chambers on bass. This is a very distinctive rhythm section. If I Were A Bell is a standout, the pairing of Cobb and Chambers on this is really special and the repeated "turnaround" at the end of the sequence is a fantastic moment that has since been repeated many times by todays jazz players. I'm thinking in particular of Keith Jarrett with the standards trio. There is a great new version of Autumn Leaves that has never been released before and Miles is tremendous on this. 

Most recently Wynton Marsalis released a cd called Live At The House of Tribes which is comparable to Blackhawk, Wynton 's own version of "social" music. Worth checking out. It's a performance in exactly the same format as Blackhawk. Informal, spontaneous, swinging jazz delivered with passion and heart. Miles' musical tentacles traverse the decades. Blackhawk sounds like it could have been recorded at a local pub in Manchester yesterday, it's so fresh. 

So if you have never heard this album you should consider getting it asap. I believe FOP has a version of it on sale for about £3, an apsolute bargain for such a great album. If you are a scholar of the music, this is a lesson in how to pace your performance. A study in musical contrasts and swing. 

Hope you enjoy it.