Doo-Bop
Doo-Bop | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by Miles Davis | ||||
Released | June 30, 1992 | |||
Recorded | January 19 – February 1991 | |||
Studio | Unique Recording Studios, New York City | |||
Genre | Acid jazz, jazz rap[1] | |||
Length | 40:02 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Easy Mo Bee | |||
Miles Davis chronology | ||||
|
Doo-Bop is the final studio album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It was recorded with hip hop producer Easy Mo Bee and released posthumously on June 30, 1992, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was received unfavorably by most critics, although it won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance the following year.
Background
The project stemmed from Davis sitting in his New York City apartment in the summer with the windows open, listening to the sound of the streets. He wanted to record an album of music that captured these sounds. In early 1991, Davis called up his friend Russell Simmons and asked him to find some young producers who could help create this kind of music, leading to Davis's collaboration with Easy Mo Bee.
At the time of Davis's death in 1991, only six pieces for the album had been completed.[2] Easy Mo Bee was asked by Warner Bros. to take some of the unreleased trumpet performances (stemming from the unreleased 1985 album Rubberband, which was later released as an album in 2019), and build tracks that Davis "would have loved" around the recordings. The album's posthumous tracks (as stated in the liner notes) are "High Speed Chase" and "Fantasy". A reprise of the song "Mystery" rounded out the album's nine-track length.[3]
Release and reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
DownBeat | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | B−[6] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The title is a play on words on the two musical genres Doo-Wop and Be-Bop. Doo-Bop was released by Warner Bros. Records on June 30, 1992.[11] By May 1993, it had sold approximately 300,000 copies worldwide.[4] The album received negative reviews from most critics.[12] Greg Tate called it an "inconsequential" jazz-rap record from Davis,[13] while Billboard found the R&B-based album to not be "quite cut as deeply" as his 1970s funk recordings.[14] In Entertainment Weekly, Greg Sandow wrote that Davis's solos were performed with "impeccable logic and wistful finesse" but accompanied by hackneyed guest raps and unadventurous hip hop beats, which reduced Doo-Bop to "elegant aural wallpaper".[6] Los Angeles Times critic Don Snowden believed the album "succeeded only in fits and starts" because of Davis's first time working with hip hop tracks, "the rigidity" of which Snowden felt often reduced his "muted-laced-with-echo trumpet to just another instrumental color in the mix".[7] Richard Williams from The Independent viewed the tracks as a regression from the ambient-inflected Tutu (1986) album as they inspired trumpet improvisations from Davis which displayed "a rhythmic banality that was never remotely discernible in Miles's pre-electric playing".[15]
In a positive review, Q called Doo-Bop "a collector's piece ... as hip, sexy, open and complex as the best of his work since he elected to turn to FM airplay music in the 1980s".[8] Musician considered it a pleasant hip hop album and an accessible introduction to Davis's music for "younger ears weaned on modern beats".[16] In DownBeat, Robin Tolleson wrote that Davis sounded less timid than on previous few records as "his phrasing and concept adapt sharply from tune to tune".[4] Doo-Bop won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance.[17]
Track listing
- All tracks written by Miles Davis/Easy Mo Bee, except where indicated:
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mystery" | 3:56 | |
2. | "The Doo-Bop Song" | 5:02 | |
3. | "Chocolate Chip" | Davis, Easy Mo Bee, Donald Hepburn | 4:41 |
4. | "High Speed Chase" | Davis, Easy Mo Bee, Larry Mizell | 4:40 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
5. | "Blow" | 5:07 |
6. | "Sonya" | 5:32 |
7. | "Fantasy" | 4:38 |
8. | "Duke Booty" | 4:56 |
9. | "Mystery (Reprise)" | 1:26 |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from The Last Miles (2007) by George Cole.[18]
Musicians
- Miles Davis – trumpet
- Deron Johnson – keyboards
- J.R – performer
- A.B. Money – performer
Production
- Easy Mo Bee – producer
- Matt Pierson – associate producer
- Gordon Meltzer – associate executive producer
- Daniel Beroff – engineer
- Reginald Dozier – engineer
- Zane Giles – engineer
- Randy Hall – engineer
- John McGlain – engineer
- Bruce Moore – engineer
- Arthur Steuer – engineer
- Kirk Yano – engineer
- D'Anthony Johnson – engineer, mixing
- Eric Lynch – engineer, mixing
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Rodney Lucas – technical Services
- Faith Newman – production services
- Linda Burke – production services
- Robin Lynch – art direction
- Annie Leibovitz – photography
- Michael Benabib – photography
Charts
Chart (1992)[19] | Peak position |
---|---|
American Albums Chart | 190 |
American Jazz Albums Chart | 1 |
American R&B Albums Chart | 28 |
Certifications and sales
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany (BVMI)[20] | Gold | 10,000^ |
United States | — | 276,000[21] |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 300,000[4] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ Aldrich, Steve. "Doo-Bop". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ Miles Davis Community at Sony Music Entertainment.
- ^ a b AllMusic review
- ^ a b c d Alkyer, Frank; Enright, Ed; Koransky, Jason, eds. (2007). The Miles Davis Reader. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 160, 310–11. ISBN 978-1-4234-3076-6.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Miles Davis". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
- ^ a b Sandow, Greg (August 21, 1992). "Doo-Bop". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ a b Snowden, Don (July 26, 1992). "Miles Davis Leaves a Hip-Hop Finale". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ a b Q: 70. September 1992.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "Miles Davis". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 215, 219. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ^ Britt, Bruce (June 18, 1992). "Miles Davis's 'Hip-bop' Disc Due June 30". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Freeman, Phil (October 29, 2014). "Miles Davis Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Tate, Greg (2012). "Tutu and Farewell 1986-1991". Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History. MBI Publishing Company. p. 200. ISBN 9781610586825. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Newman, Melinda; Morris, Chris; Morris, Edward, eds. (July 18, 1992). "Album Reviews". Billboard: 48. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Williams, Richard (July 25, 1992). "Jazz: Miles Davis- Doo-Bop". The Independent. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ "June 1992". Musician: 96.
- ^ "THE 35TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS : Winners in Other Grammy Categories". Los Angeles Times. February 25, 1993. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ George Cole (2007). The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis, 1980-1991. University of Michigan Press. pp. 313–314, 509. ISBN 978-0472032600.
- ^ "Doo-Bop: Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Miles Davis; 'Doo Bop')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
- ^ Cwik, Greg (September 25, 2015). "Understanding Miles Davis, in 9 Parts". Vulture. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
Further reading
- Cole, George (n.d.). "Interview: Easy Mo Bee: The Doo-Bop Remix Project". TheLastMiles.com.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: year (link) - Moon, Tom (March 14, 1993). "Mixing Hip-hop & Jazz Rappers Are Improvising. And Jazz Artists Are Picking Up The Beat. Is It A Fad Or The Future?". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
External links
- Doo-Bop at Discogs (list of releases)
- v
- t
- e
recordings
- Birdland 1951
- Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
- Miles & Coltrane
- Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
- Amsterdam Concert
- At Newport 1958
- Miles & Monk at Newport
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
- Miles Davis & John Coltrane The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
- In Person: At the Blackhawk, San Francisco
- Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall
- Miles Davis in Europe
- Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
- My Funny Valentine
- Four & More
- Miles in Tokyo
- Miles in Berlin
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1
- 1969 Miles – Festiva De Juan Pins
- Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
- Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time
- Bitches Brew Live
- Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West
- Miles Davis at Fillmore
- Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3
- The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
- Live-Evil
- In Concert
- Dark Magus
- Agharta
- Pangaea
- Miles! Miles! Miles!
- We Want Miles
- Live Around the World
- Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
- Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux
- Miles Davis and Horns
- Blue Haze
- Birth of the Cool
- Walkin'
- Miles Davis Volume 1
- Miles Davis Volume 2
- Miles Davis' Greatest Hits
- Basic Miles: The Classic Performances of Miles Davis
- Big Fun
- Get Up with It
- Water Babies
- Circle in the Round
- 1958 Miles
- Directions
- The Columbia Years 1955–1985
- Love Songs
- Super Hits
- The Essential Miles Davis
- Miles Davis Quintet: Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5
- That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7
- The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane
- Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
- Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964
- The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968
- The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions
- The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
- The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
- The Complete On the Corner Sessions
- In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux
- The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
- Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection
- The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
- Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951–1956
- Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974
- Panthalassa: The Remixes
- Evolution of the Groove
- "All Blues"
- "Blue in Green"
- "Boplicity"
- "Dig"
- "Donna Lee"
- "Four"
- "Flamenco Sketches"
- "Freddie Freeloader"
- "Joshua"
- "Milestones"
- "Nardis"
- "Seven Steps to Heaven"
- "So What"
- Miles Dewey Davis Jr. (father)
- Miles Davis Quintet
- Miles: The Autobiography
- Miles! The Definitive Miles Davis at Montreux DVD Collection
- That's What Happened: Live in Germany 1987
- Live in Munich (1988)
- Miles from India
- A Different Kind of Blue (2004 documentary)
- Miles Ahead (2015 movie)
Category