The Complete On the Corner Sessions: 1972-1975 [Box set, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

The key to understanding what Miles was doing in The Complete On The Corner Sessions is revealed in a Changes magazine interview in 1974: "I think it's time that people changed where they put the melody. The melody can be in the bass, or a drum sound, or just a sound".

With these sessions, Miles left behind the standard approach of the solo as the sole source of melody. From the first notes of "On The Corner", the soloist became one of the many sources of melody, which now coming from all corners of the band. A large part of this was the work of a young Englishman named Paul Buckmaster, who Miles met in 1969. He was greatly impressed by Paul's sophisticated version of this approach, which came out of his fascination with composers such as Stockhausen, Lutoslawski, and other 20th century masters.

The set incudes complete takes of the "On The Corner" sessions with new mixes that allows the listener to really hear all the inner parts so this approach can be fully appreciated, as well the original edited mixes. One fabulous feature is notes by Paul Buckmaster giving the untold story of how this record came about, detailing the process that he and Miles used.

This set also includes tracks from "Get Up With It", an equally important and influencial record for the world beyond jazz. "Rated X" has been cited by some producers as the genesis for dark drum and bass. Brian Eno considers "He Loved Him Madly" as major inspiration for his ambient works that followed.

But best of all this set includes around 2 hours and 45 minutes on unreleased tracks, all of which this reviewer would classify as very worthwhile. They are too numerous to list, but included are great takes from the large group that threw sitar and tabla into mix, plenty from guitarist Pete Cosey, reedman David Liebman, and the unmatchable bass of Michael Henderson, whose rock solid grooves were central to all this music.

For jazz fans who believe there is life beyond 1967 and electronic fans looking for new ideas, this set is a piece of history that's worth the big price.

If you are a fan of "On the Corner" chances are you are going to purchase it (if you haven't heard "On the Corner" by all means check it out now). Otherwise, you may find some of the out-takes to be repeatitive and uninteresting (they are called out-takes for a reason). Also this really should be titled Miles 1972-5 as it goes way beyond the 1972 "On the Corner" sessions (though the actual out-takes of "On the Corner" itself are essential listening for anyone who is into that album). Some of the material is on "Big Fun" and "Get Up With It" as well. Also the titles of the unreleased materials were guestimates and from what I've read they were edited and remixed as well. I would agree with one reviewer that the official live albums are superior but I personally would start with "In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall" (with the actual "On the Corner" line up)as well as "Pangaea" and "Agharta" (if you can find the official Japanese remasters). Also some of the later pieces such as "Minnie" and "Hip Skip" tend to reminescent of Miles 80's stuff (which fortunately they are not doing a retrospective of, by then he was dangerously close to smooth jazz) which shows that had Miles not gone into retirement that he would have still lost his edge. This does not in anyway, diminish my enthusiasm for "On the Corner" at all. Still if you enjoyed the multiple out-takes of the same track on the "Complete Jack Johnson Sessions" (actually a better boxset overall) and are a completist, then this may be your thing).

I got this a few days ago and have listened through the entire box and re-listened to some of the things I had not heard before.

Firstly: The packaging is quite impressive. The set comes in a metal box with color reproductions of the original artwork raised into the metal and printed in color. The booklet inside is beautifully printed with a number of new illustrations by Corky McCoy. The liner notes are mostly reprinted from the most recent remaster of the stand alone On The Corner CD but without the track details. There is a nice essay from Paul Buckmaster though.

The music:

Disc 1) This is all previously unreleased material. I regard this material as essential listening. You get to hear the unedited master recording of the material that makes up the original LP. In addition there are some strong recordings that didn't make the original cut. Great stuff!

Disc 2) Ife is already available on Big Fun and Rated X on Get Up With It. The balance again is unreleased material. The two pieces entitled Turnaround and U-Turnaround are the basis for the frenetic number which opened Miles' live concerts with the "funk collective" but are clearly in development here. Interesting but not particularly riveting for this listener.

Disc 3) Other than Billy Preston (Get Up With It), this is a CD of previously unreleased material. I won't comment on this having heard this side only once.

Disc 4) Calypso Frelimo and He Loved Him Madly - both from Get Up With It. No new material here.

Disc 5) Maiysha and Mtume - both from Get Up With It. The balance of this disk is previously unreleased. What They Do is absolutely burning! This track stands with the best of any of the live material from the "funk collective" in my view. Scorched earth intensity live in the studio - I regard this as essential.

Disc 6) On The Corner presented as Miles and Teo originally envisioned it with the addition of two 45 RPM sides.

Is this worth owning? For me; absolutely, however I am a fairly hardcore fanatic when it comes to Miles' electric music. Quite a bit of this is available on On The Corner and Get Up With It - both available in recent (and very good) remasters. Nevertheless, the wealth of previously unreleased recordings here make this essential for me. The sound is superb since all of this is mastered 24/96.

The only reason I left off a star is because of all the previously released material in this set. Most hard core fans ( and let's face it, that's who is buying the box sets ) already have On The Corner and Get Up With It