Traveling Miles

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Cassandra Wilson's tribute to Miles Davis, Traveling Miles, is nothing if not ambitious--easily on par with the other slew of Davis tribs. Covering the great trumpeter's long career is alone quite a challenge, but Wilson sets her goals even higher by writing new lyrics and arrangements that make these tunes her own. The result is a pleasure that ends up capturing Wilson's spirit as well as Davis's. Never one to hew to traditional jazz's formats, Wilson adds acoustic and slide guitars, percussion, harmonica, and other instruments that give the album an enormously varied feel. "Right Here, Right Now," with its strummed and slide guitars, wouldn't sound out of place on a Joni Mitchell album, and her intriguing cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" (covered by Davis in 1985 on You're Under Arrest), is delicately mournful. Not that Wilson has left jazz behind: the swinging version of "Seven Steps to Heaven," with guest solos by violinist Regina Carter and vibraphonist Stefon Harris, whose 1998 debut was one of the year's promising releases, is a highlight. And Wilson's version of the Davis classic "Blue in Green" (here titled "Sky and Sea"), is just plainly beautiful. Her deep and soulful voice remains as compelling as ever through the many moods and colors, deepening the uniqueness of her take on the Miles songbook. Exactly the way Miles would have wanted it. --Ezra Gale

New York Times
The album, though ultimately disappointing as a whole, opens with its most appealing cut, "Run the Voodoo Down," in which Ms. Wilson has set lyrics to the piece from Davis's hit late-60's album Bitches Brew. Traveling Miles also closes with a version of the song, featuring a beautiful, tightly harmonized duet with the Benin singer Angelique Kidjo.

Traveling Miles

Tracks:

Run The VooDoo Down
Traveling Miles
Right Here, Right Now
Time After Time
When The Sun Goes Down
Seven Steps
Someday My Prince Will Come
Never Broken (ESP)
Resurrection Blues (Tutu)
Sky And Sea (Blue In Green)
Piper
VooDoo Reprise

Amazon.com

Cassandra Wilson's tribute to Miles Davis, Traveling Miles, is nothing if not ambitious--easily on par with the other slew of Davis tribs. Covering the great trumpeter's long career is alone quite a challenge, but Wilson sets her goals even higher by writing new lyrics and arrangements that make these tunes her own. The result is a pleasure that ends up capturing Wilson's spirit as well as Davis's. Never one to hew to traditional jazz's formats, Wilson adds acoustic and slide guitars, percussion, harmonica, and other instruments that give the album an enormously varied feel. "Right Here, Right Now," with its strummed and slide guitars, wouldn't sound out of place on a Joni Mitchell album, and her intriguing cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" (covered by Davis in 1985 on You're Under Arrest), is delicately mournful. Not that Wilson has left jazz behind: the swinging version of "Seven Steps to Heaven," with guest solos by violinist Regina Carter and vibraphonist Stefon Harris, whose 1998 debut was one of the year's promising releases, is a highlight. And Wilson's version of the Davis classic "Blue in Green" (here titled "Sky and Sea"), is just plainly beautiful. Her deep and soulful voice remains as compelling as ever through the many moods and colors, deepening the uniqueness of her take on the Miles songbook. Exactly the way Miles would have wanted it. --Ezra Gale

Customer Reviews:

Different & nothing like Miles.......2007-04-23

I love Miles Davis and have barely listened to Cassandra Wilson so this was a risky venture; in the end it was worthwhile. I was curious what an artist could do by changing the original Miles songs into something new, replacing his horn with a voice, adding lyrics and creating a differnt song essentially. Beginning with Miles's excellent "Run The VooDoo Down" I was drawn in with a positive attitude. The following track, a Cassandra Wilson composition entitled "Travelling Miles" was very tasty with nice runs on sax by Steve Wilson and echoing Wilson's vocals as a chorus. It is a moody piece, part blues, part jazz, all good. From this point on the disc suddenly tries to capture the many colors of the musical world by adding a slew of instruments that seem to not fit together. Marimbas with slide guitar on one track, on others harmonicas, mandolins, vibraphone, violin and even classical guitar(more on that later). I wish she would have incorporated a trumpet since that was Miles's instrument. Does this musical stew work? Surprisingly, yes, for the most part. The mixture is tasteful and done in such a manner that it is suttle and never overpowering. She lets her voice and the power of Miles songs take control. Outstanding tracks are the aforementioned, "Run The VooDoo Down" from Miles's "Bitches Brew," as well as the "VooDoo Reprise," the eloquent phrasing on Cyndi Lauper's" Time After Time," the undertoned stylings and jazzy vocals on "Someday My Prince Will Come" complete with mandolin and violin interludes and " Sky and Sea" that features Pat Metheny on a classical guitar solo and Cassandra's smoky vocals. The disc overall is pretty good , it is a slow and bluesy musical tribute fit for a rainy day or late night reflexions. Recommended for jazz aficionados or some one that wants to hear what has been done with the music of Miles Davis.

Nice tribute.......2006-10-14

Smooth and silky voice of Cassandra Wilson is not a bad instrument for various sorts of jazz and similar moods, although one might wonder whether a bit more sense of swing could help me enjoy it even more...
She is a great singer, just not such a great jazz singer. For those not familiar with Miles Davis' work (although he is a cross-over artist himself) this album could serve as an inspiration.
Miles is a far greater artist (and jazz perfomer) but this is still a nice tribute...

A fine recording.......2006-10-01

"Right Here, Right Now" is my favorite cut on this record, but there really isn't anything here that I didn't enjoy. Cassandra Wilson's best effort so far, this is a complex and interesting tribute to the music of Miles Davis.

DVD-Audio buyers beware!.......2006-04-19

If you are looking to get the DVD-Audio version of Traveling Miles (there are a lot of copies listed where I am posting this note) you should know that the DVD Audio tracks were screwed up in the disc mastering and/or manufacturing. Cassandra's vocals come out of the right surround (or rear) channel, and there is no sound at all in the left surround or center channels. You can switch to play it in DTS which has a very nice and full mix, but you lose the higher resolution, of course. Consquently, I am indicating one star for this problem in this version.

Wilson meets Davis.......2006-01-02

It is a particularly difficult thing to do, recreating the spirit of a musician with such a enormous persolity as Miles through a tribute album, without falling in mannerism or without simply copying the original. Cassandra didin't go wrong here, proving to be a true artist (like John McLaughlin in his tribute to Bill Evans). She tributed Miles here recreating his blackness, his sophisticated use of space and his sense of harmony but without coping him. The music here is both Davis and Wilson. It's not atribute in a sense, it is Miss Wilson who meets Miles Davis. I really feel Miles's spirit in these voodo, black arrangements when you have slide or acoustic guitars and percussions for example, and I feel his presence too in the way Cassandra use wide spaces in tunes such as Tutu or Blue in green. The totally absence of virtuosisms, the will to tell a story and to give each note weight .. this is truly what Miles was about essentially and you can find him here in these tunes. The ones I love the most are the opener, Someday my prince will come, Tutu and Blue in green. They are original versions of these songs, absolutly not common or already heard versions. I think that you have to be really courageous to realize an album such as this one, tributing Miles but injecting in this music your own vision. You have to be a true artist, such as Cassandra. My plause! Morevoer I think this album could be enjoyed by the jazz novices too because it is not a difficult album, it maintains a sense of natural easyness.. and it has a very contemporary, interesting atmosphere with nice sounds. Very good. I'd give four stars and a half it it was an option. I choose five against four because it's very rare to find an artist with enough personality to do things like this.

Average customer rating:

Traveling Miles
Cassandra Wilson
Manufacturer: Blue Note Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000JAD8
Release Date: 1999-02-24

Tracks:

Run the Voodoo Down
Traveling Miles
Right Here Right Now
Time After Time
When the Sun Goes Down
Seven Steps
Someday My Prince Will Come
Never Broken
Resurrection Blues
Sky & Sea
Piper
Voodoo Reprise
Prancing

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring Three Bonus Tracks: Round Midnight, Freddy the Freeloader, and Prancing.

Music:

Music

Music