From Downbeat '07
By
John McDonough
****1/2 rating
“The Manhattan School of Music has got
it right with its remarkable performance of “Miles Ahead” as recorded for
Columbia in 1956 by Miles Davis and Gil Evans. In this beautifully wrought
performance on “Miles Ahead:Live”, David Liebman’s soprano saxophone becomes
Davis’ proxy, thus undercutting to some degree direct comparisons. Because
this music was so decisively shaped by Evans’ orchestrations, it emerges
fully intact in Liebman’s hands. Liebman brings a commanding but respectful
presence that fills Evans’ charts wonderfully and with fresh perspective.
More important, the Manhattan School uses its band program to do what an
educational institution should do: immersing students not in the trifles of
the afterglow era, but in the truly important orchestra works of jazz
history.
