Search - UMO Jazz Orchestra :: Electrifying Miles

Maybe it's a measure of how far Miles Davis's acoustic music has soaked into the jazz mainstream that tributes to him in the late 1990s tend to favor the trumpeter's electric period. It's odd in any case to hear music that extends from Davis's late-1960s and '70s era to his last-recorded works taken up by the Umo Jazz Orchestra. A Finnish aggregate of likeminded players, Umo give "High Speed Chase" (from the hip-hop-tinged Doo Bop) an intense, speedy take thanks largely to trumpeting guest Tim Hagans. They likewise grab pieces from Davis's transitional mid-1960s period, when he was taking his young, agile acoustic quintet toward the funky vamps that marked the electric period. "Prince of Darkness" (from Sorcerer) is, though, big in every way, sprawling in its volume and its chunking sound that while heavy still bounds fleetly on the tons of horns Umo throw out. Guesting with Hagans throughout the session are guitarist Raoul Björkenheim and members of his electric postfree fusion band Krakatau. Björkenheim is a bracing player and races with Hagans all over this amazing session. For very unlikely big Miles, check this out. --Andrew Bartlett