Review: Miles Davis – Aura (1989)

Miles Davis is undoubtedly one of the greatest legends in jazz history. Davis was a pioneer of bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz and jazz-rock, and one of the most important innovators of his instrument, the trumpet. But in the mid-1970s his career faded, or rather hit a brick wall.

Miles Davis’ (1926-1991) personal life had always been turbulent and the mid-1970s marked perhaps the darkest period of his life. Davis disappeared from the music world and filled the void left by music with alcohol and drugs. Miles’ (I feel strange writing about musicians on a first name basis, but as everyone else seems to do it with Miles Davis, so be it!) downward spiral was so steep that many friends didn’t believe he would come out of it. Contrary to expectations, however, Davis managed to make a comeback in the early 80s. Man With The Horn, released in 1981, was Miles’ first studio album of new material in seven years. However, it was not until 1982 that he managed to shake off his addictions.

Although Miles managed to make a comeback, he was not as creative as he once was. His albums released in the 80s sold reasonably well with the old reputation, but the former pioneer had become a follower. For the most part, his 80s albums are a fairly mediocre mix of 80s funk-pop and light jazz. On his more strained tracks, he moves in the direction of a lame fuzak. Age, a long break from playing and an endless supply of poisons in the body had also taken their toll on the maestro’s playing skills and the trumpet sound that was so unique. Surprisingly, however, the old master regained his grip on the instrument as the 80s progressed and, at his most spectacular, he even played concerts lasting over four hours!

In the light of all the above, it is pleasing to note that the last album Aura, released during Miles’ lifetime, is his best since the 70s. Of course, much of the credit for this goes to Danish composer/trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg.

Danish-born Mikkelborg (b.1941) is probably best known for his role as trumpeter on guitarist Terje Rypdal’s albums. The classically trained Mikkelborg and Miles crossed paths in December 1984 when Miles was awarded the most prestigious honour a musician can receive in Denmark. Miles was the first jazz musician to receive the Léonie Sonning Music Prize. Mikkelborg in turn commissioned a large-scale composition called Aura to celebrate Davis. Davis played one part of the composition as a soloist and loved the work, demanding that it also be made into a studio recording to enhance his role.

Mikkelborg was of course very taken with Miles’ enthusiasm and a recording session lasting about a week took place in January 1985, less than two months after the maestros first met. The recording sessions went well, but record company hiccups delayed the release for years and Aura was not finally released until September 1989.

Read also: Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis (2022)

Mikkelborg’s composition is a suite in ten movements. At the prize-giving gala it was still about 50 minutes long, but the recorded version was extended to 67 minutes. The composition changed radically as Miles worked with Mikkelborg to adapt it in the direction he wanted. The original version apparently sounded much more like big band music and, at Miles’s request, this aspect was cut from the recorded version. The final composition is an interesting combination of jazz and art music with a hint of rock influences.

Mikkelborg is a great connoisseur of Olivier Messiaen, and the music is clearly influenced by the French composer. In particular, the haunting harp ringing often reminds me of Messiaen. On the other hand, I also associate Claude Debussy with the lighter and more sonorous moments of the album. The third major influence I locate is Miles’ old major collaborator, arranger/composer Gil Evans. Mikkelborg’s arrangements seem to have something of the same kind of reserved passion and almost saturated colour as Evens.

Indeed, the colours serve as an important inspiration for Mikkelborg, as the seven pieces of the suite originally represented the colours he saw in Miles’ aura. A hoax? Well, at least Miles seemed to think so. Eventually, three more pieces were added to the suite, slightly breaking with Mikkelborg’s original aura concept.

I wrote earlier that Aura was stripped of its big band mentality, but the band’s line-up is very much big band. There are thirty musicians playing on the album, although not all of them at the same time at any one time. In fact, one of the most admirable features of the album is how sparingly the large ensemble is used. I think some of the credit goes to Miles.

A significant proportion of Aura’s musicians are wind instrument players. In addition to Miles and Mikkelborg, there are five trumpet players alone. This actually makes it a little difficult to judge the quality of Miles’ playing because, as I understand it, he does not play all the solo parts himself. In some passages Miles is easy to identify, but in all passages I, at least myself, cannot be absolutely sure. Apart from the wind players, the band includes a couple of bass players, a couple of drummers, a percussionist (Marilyn Mazur who later became a member of Miles’ band), a keyboard player, an electric guitarist and a harpist whose role is quite important. Most, if not all, are Danish. The exception is one of the electric guitarists who happens to be a character from Miles’ past. Miles found out that guitarist John McLaughlin was, quite by chance, in Copenhagen for a concert during the Aura sessions so he was invited to play on one of the tracks.

The highlights of Aura, in my opinion, are ”Intro”, ”Yellow”, ”Indigo” and ”Violet”.

The album opener ”Intro” starts with a cutting electric guitar that reminds me of Rypdal’s style. The guitar plays a ten-note theme (based on the alphabet found in the name MILES DAVIS) that recurs here and there later in the album. Then suddenly the music explodes into life with intermittent irregular rhythms, reminiscent of Igor Stravinsky’s ”The Rite Of Spring”. The electric guitar weaves through the intermittent groups and is soon joined by a cool trumpet. Guest guitarist McLauglin plays a quick quilting solo with trumpet by his side. The song quietens down with an electric guitar sound. An excellent start to the album!

”Yellow” starts off delicately impressionistic with harp and flute, but grows into a truly dramatic work with the winds playing in an oppressive and orchestral way. Drums thunder through the music at moments like a barrage of cannon fire. Drums are often Aura’s weak link, but on ”Yellow” they work wonderfully. Miles doesn’t play at all in ”Yellow”.

The penultimate track on the album, ”Indigo”, represents Aura’s most avant-garde side. The fast-paced track is like an avant-garde jazz version of the jazz often used in ’70s chase scenes in TV and films. Nimble and wild piano parts are given plenty of space, with the winds only kicking in with massive power at the very end of the composition. This track is also one of those where the drums and percussion work beautifully.

The final track, ”Violet”, features some of the most stunning playing on the album from Miles. He seems to put it all on the line there. There’s a cool muted playing, wild intervallic loops, fast runs and slashing high notes. Electric guitarist Bjarne Roupé also plays a big part in the song. Unfortunately, the background is accompanied by electric drums that are mixed far too loudly. ”Violet” was the only song Miles played in the original concert version of Aura.

Aura is at his worst in ”Orange”, a very 80’s jazz-funk song that puts electric drums at the centre of the action. I’m also not too keen on electric guitarist Roupé’s heavy metal-inspired solo. Davis’ snappy trumpet solo is played with better taste and saves the song somewhat. The bell-like synthesizer theme is also interesting although the sound is a bit corny.

Overall, Aura’s soundscape sticks out a bit for me. Recorded in the midst of the darkest 80’s (remember the album was made back in 1985!) it hasn’t stood up to the test of time in terms of production. Especially the coldly ringing electric drums are sometimes unpleasant to listen to and not all the synth sounds are a treat for the ears. Mikkelborg’s self-produced album is not a disaster in this respect, but it is easy to imagine that the material would have worked much better with a more natural and less restrained sound, as ECM prefers.

It is a pity that Aura was not released in 1985 because its fusion of jazz and art music could have been an interesting new direction for Davis. Now it remains an isolated curiosity. And also a kind of epilogue, since Aura was also the last album released during Miles Davis’ lifetime. He died two years later in September 1991. Davis did, however, manage to accept the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year, which Aura won in 1990.

The 80s were a rather underwhelming time for Miles Davis studio albums, but Aura is a fine end to the decade. Of course, Mikkelborg is to be thanked for the quality of the album, but then again, one of the aspects of Davis’s genius has always been that he almost invariably manages to get the best out of his collaborators. This was also the case with Aura, which is confirmed by Mikkelborg’s own accounts in which he has described his collaboration with Miles as one of the most inspiring moments of his life.

Best songs: ’Intro’, ’Yellow’, ’Indigo’, ’Violet’, ’Red’

Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Tracks

  1. ”Intro” – 4:48
  2. ”White” – 6:07
  3. ”Yellow” – 6:55
  4. ”Orange” – 8:41
  5. ”Red” – 6:05
  6. ”Green” – 8:13
  7. ”Blue” – 6:36
  8. ”Electric Red” – 4:19
  9. ”Indigo” – 6:06
  10. ”Violet” – 9:04

Musicians:

Miles Davis: trumpet Benny Rosenfeld, Idrees Sulieman, Jens Winther, Palle Bolvig, Perry Knudsen, Palle Mikkelborg: trumpets, flugelhorns Jens Engel, Ture Larsen, Vincent Nilsson: trombones Ole Kurt Jensen: bass trombone Axel Windfeld: bass trombone: tuba Bent Jædig, Flemming Madsen, Jesper Thilo, Per Carsten, Uffe Karskov: saxophones, woodwinds Niels Eje: oboe, French horn Kenneth Knudsen, Ole Kock Hansen, Thomas Clausen: keyboards Bjarne Roupé, John McLaughlin: guitars Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen: bass Bo Stief: bass guitar and fretless bass Lennart Gruvstedt: drums Vincent Wilburn Jr. Ethan Weisgaard, Marilyn Mazur: percussion Lillian Thornquist: harp Eva Hess-Thaysen: lead vocals

Producer: Palle Mikkelborg
Label: Columbia

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