I’ve become quite obsessed with the mid 80’s Mile Davis. You BOUNDER! You CHEAT! Gosh, that’s something that would seriously annoy the Birth of the Cool jazz heads. But it’s just so accessible, in a way that, say. Sketches of Spain can be something of a… struggle.
In particular, You’re Under Arrest is constantly streaming right now. It’s gets off to a bloody awful start with some US cops scene being played out. You’re Under Arrest, natch. But stick with it, and the pop, jazz crossover soon kicks in. Think Kenny G for the cool kids.
There’s a cover of Human Nature - a lovely, lovely song, but one that I find hard to listen to the original now, given what we now know about MJ. Miles' cover of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time is Lush. You can see how Prince was keen to hang out with Miles during this time.
The period from around the start of ‘85 through until ‘87 was a rich picking for soul and jazz meets pop. The production values were experimenting, and there was still a strong belief in the song. Christ, even Five Star were half decent.
Miles and Five Star in the same blog post. Now that seriously will piss off the jazz heads.