Aura by Miles Davis

Miles' last recording for the Columbia label before heading for the financial allure of Warner Bros. in the mid-'80s was not released until 1989. This critic's guess is because largely they had no idea what to do with it. Unlike anything else in his catalog, Aura is a ten-part suite composed by Danish flügelhornist Palle Mikkelborg as a tribute. Influenced deeply by serialism and the inspiration of Gil Evans, Mikkelborg composed a theme from ten notes based on the letters of Davis' first and last names. The notes yielded a chord, which led him through the work. Employing a full orchestra and the guitar talents of former Davis collaborator John McLaughlin and famed European bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Aura's sections are named for the color spectrum, with the addition of white and "electric red." The music is an amalgam of classical impressionism, European new music, jazz, rock, electronic, and other genres. As a tribute and separate orchestral work, it's quite moving and beautiful, full of moody interludes and evocations of nuance, color, texture, and dynamic. With Davis added, soloing in his trademark muted, rounded warmth, the music becomes almost breathtaking. The Gil Evans influence is everywhere apparent in the way strings segue into keyboards and float there until the trumpet or wind section comes for them and brings them home. It's easy to be cynical about a work like this, and call it a pastiche of Miles clichés. Far harder is it to place the entirety of Davis' career in one place and hear it expressed with so much warmth and elegance, because that career was so mercurial. Mikkelborg gave Miles a fine parting gift when he left Columbia, and listeners are so very fortunate for his generosity. Credits Bob Belden -- Reissue Producer Palle Bolvig -- Flugelhorn, Trumpet Khephra Burns -- Liner Notes Per Carsten -- Saxophone, Woodwind Thomas Clausen -- Keyboards Miles Davis -- Trumpet Stacy Drummond -- Art Direction Niels Eje -- Cor Anglais, Cornet, Oboe Jens Engel -- Trombone Howard Fritzson -- Reissue Art Director Lennart Gruvstedt -- Drums Ole Kock Hansen -- Keyboards John Jackson - Reissue Assistant Bent Jaedig -- Saxophone, Woodwind Ole Kurt Jensen -- Trombone (Bass) Uffe Karskov -- Saxophone, Woodwind Kenneth Knudsen -- Keyboards Perry Knudsen -- Flugelhorn, Trumpet Gilles Larrain -- Photography Ture Larsen -- Trombone Flemming Madsen -- Saxophone, Woodwind Randall Martin -- Reissue Design Marilyn Mazur -- Percussion John McLaughlin -- Guitar Rosa Menkes -- Reissue Design Palle Mikkelborg -- Composer, Flugelhorn, Producer, Trumpet Vincent Nilsson -- Trombone Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen -- Bass Rune Persson -- Mastering Darcy Proper -- Mastering Benny Rosenfeld -- Flugelhorn, Trumpet Seth Rothstein -- Project Director Bjarne Roup -- Guitar Bo Stief -- Bass, Fretless Bass Idrees Sulieman -- Flugelhorn, Trumpet Eva Thaysen -- Vocals Jesper Thilo -- Saxophone, Woodwind Lillian Thornquist -- Harp Ethan Weisgaard -- Percussion Vince Wilburn, Jr. -- Drums (Electric), Electronic Drums Axel Windfel -- Bass, Trombone, Trombone (Bass), Tuba Jens Winther -- Flugelhorn, Trumpet Recorded at Easy Sound Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark in 1984. ℗ 1989 CBS Records Inc.