Visions of Miles - The Electric Period of Miles Davis Colin Towns & hr-Bigband

• 1Bitches Brew / Spanish Key05:58
• 2Moja (Pt. 1)04:31
• 3Black Satin05:11
• 4Wili (Pt. 1)03:03
• 5Back Seat Betty05:14
• 6He Loved Him Madly03:16
• 7Agharta Prelude05:21
• 8Calypso Frelimo02:24
• 9Aida08:56
• 10In a Silent Way02:50
• 11Full Nelson03:58
• 12Hannibal04:52
• 13My Man's Gone Now06:18
• 14Fast Track08:29
• 15Tutu07:34
• Total Runtime01:17:55

Info for Visions of Miles - The Electric Period of Miles Davis

London born pianist, composer and arranger Colin Towns here leads his fabulous Mask Orchestra. Hailed as one of the most dynamic and original ensembles in European jazz, the Mask Orchestra features some of the finest players in British jazz. Towns, who has worked with the likes of Michael Brecker, Norma Winstone, Guy Barker and Sting, brings a unique vision to all that he does drawing on jazz fusion, film music and of course the inspiration of Gil Evans to create stunning new arrangements of classic material. Tonight’s very special concert features arrangements of music from Miles Davis legendary electric period.

Towns is a brilliant deployer of a big jazz band’s textural variety and raw power, and he combines it with the movie-composer’s sense of drama. The UK’s Julian Arguelles is among an A-team of soloists, but the dominant instrument is the entire band. The unnervingly hypnotic Spanish Key surfaces in wold, slewing brass fanfares and racing percussion patterns; Back Seat Betty soars on the searing trumpet sound of Axel Schlosser; and the rhythm section triumphantly handles everything from the lazy shuffle of Agartha Prelude to the breathless conga shuffle of Aida. It must have been a stunning show to witness. (John Fordham, The Guardian 20.11.09, 4 stars)

Towns has already created big-band Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa; now he completes a trilogy of jazz-rock heavyweights with electric-era Miles Davis. This is the hardest job so far – Miles’s arrangements were often skeletal and raw, and relentless pieces sucht as Moja (Part 1) defy much orchestration. Still Agharta acquires a new bounce and delicate readings of In a Silent Way and My Man’s Gone Now, plus a muscular Tutu, make this an absorbing set. (John Bungey, The Times, 5 stars)

Towns’ writing is highly imaginative, even on pieces of absolute music, such as ‘Bitches Brew’ … There are some fine soloists in the band who are all given their head by Towns, lifted by a powerful rhythm section that gives this music bite, inspired by Wolfgang Haffner’s drumming. (Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise Nov. 09, 3 stars)

Davis’s 1970s and 1980s work presents a special challenge since it contains so few actual melodies. Fortunately, Towns is a master of texture and pacing, and he and his top-notch players have together crafted a pulsating suite that is at once thoroughly Miles-ish and highly original. It’s a great advert for both Davis and contemporary big band. (Robert Shore, Metro 27.11.09)

Colin Towns, arrangements, direction
Heinz-Dieter Sauerborn, alto and soprano saxophones, flute and alto flute
Oliver Leicht, soprano saxophones, flute, alto and bass flute
Rainer Heute, baritone saxophone, bass and contrabass clarinet
Andy Greenwood, trumpet, flugelhorn
Thomas Vogel, trumpet, flugelhorn
Martin Auer, trumpet, flugelhorn
Axel Schlosser, trumpet, flugelhorn
Gunter Bollman, trombone, euphonium
Peter Feil, trombone, euphonium
Christian Jaksjø, trombone, euphonium
Manfred Honetschläger, bass trombone
Martin Scales, guitar
Vladislav Sendecki, piano, Fender Rhodes, keyboards
Thomas Heidepriem, bass
Farouk Gomati, percussion
Wolfgang Haffner, drums

Recorded June 2008 at hr-Sendesaal, Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Produced by Olaf Stötzler, Axel Gutzler
Engineered by Rainer Schulz

Colin Towns
London born Colin Towns began his music career playing piano in various UK based jazz ensembles. Since then he has gone on to front two of the most innovative and exciting big bands in Europe - the Hamburg based NDR Bigband and the Colin Towns Mask Orchestra.

Formed in 1994, the Colin Towns Mask Orchestra is a rhythmically infectious 19 piece big band presenting some of the greatest and most important new and established players in jazz today. Band members include Dave Hartley, Julian Arguelles, Alan Skidmore, Nigel Hitchcock, Henry Lowther, John Parricelli, Ian Thomas and Guy Barker.

The Mask Orchestra has now released six highly successful albums for Provocateur Records and is regarded as one of the most dynamic and original ensembles in European jazz. By providing an outlet for the jazz composing and arranging skills of Colin Towns, The Mask Orchestra has brought a wholly individual voice, imbued with freshness and vitality, to the European scene. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Colin has also recorded albums with the NDR Bigband. 2001's The Theatre Of Kurt Weill was released on ACT Records to major critical and commercial success. To date it has been performed in Chicago, London, Hamburg, Berlin and Bilbao. Colin also collaborated with the NDR for 2004's Frank Zappa's Hot Licks (And Funny Smells) album recorded live at the Moers Jazz Festival. The project toured consistently throughout Germany and was subsequently released as an album in Germany during Spring 2005 following with a release in the UK September 2006. More recently Colin arranged an album for vocalist Norma Winstone and the NDR Bigband entitled It's Later Than You Think' which was released in Germany Spring 2006 and in the UK September 2006. The UK releases support an 8 date double bill tour of the UK in November. As a special 3rd CD Colin also released an album full of his original compositions for the NDR entitled Lend Me Your Ears.

At the end of 2005 Colin was commissioned by the Hessischer Rundfunk Big Band in Frankfurt to arrange, record and perform a Mahavishnu Orchestra project.

The project: At the end of 2005 Colin was commissioned by the Hessischer Rundfunk Big Band in Frankfurt to arrange, record and perform a Mahavishnu Orchestra project. The project featured drummer Billy Cobham. Concerts took place in Germany during January 2006 with a headline slot at Novembers Berlin Jazz Festival to celebrate the release of the album Meeting of the Spirits.

As an arranger, Colin has been involved with the likes of Michael Brecker, Christof Lauer and the Guy Barker / Sting collaboration 'You Don't Know What Love Is.'

Since 2003 Colin has also made regular appearances in Sardinia as a guest composer, conductor and arranger with the Orchestra Jazz della Sardegna (featuring vocalist Maria Pia De Vito).

In 2004 Colin collaborated with world-acclaimed choreographer David Bintley on his new production of Orpheus for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The Mask Orchestra played for the ballet which premiered at Birmingham Hippodrome in October and then onto London Sadlers Wells and Plymouth Theatre Royal. Provocateur Records released the album The Orpheus Suite that Autumn and received CD of the week in The Observer and The Guardian.

This album contains no booklet.