Miles Davis - Freedom Jazz Dance

My first jazz album was Kind of blue, second was The In Sound. My go-to song was Born to be blue, but after a while I was totally captivated by Freedom Jazz Dance....that Carter/Higgins rhythm was just hypnotic...like a voodoo chant. Totally my fave tune ever. Then a year later, I bought Miles Smiles, and I am saying in total disgust " why is he messing with the anthem ???"....mad as hell....that could'nt be the same Ron Carter that had me spellbound ???? But, after a while you penetrate it and discover the magic of Tony Williams...great stuff.

I love the insistant snare lick tony keeps playin. Defined element of the head and it gets turned into a flavour lick when they open it up for solos

If I'm the last to make a comment then I'm usually the first to be read.

Adam Neely sent me here, who else?

"What is chord?" @defe90

lol adam neely-sent guys under every video i watch

The most impressive thing about this song is that Tony Williams's left foot does not change from start to finish.

The drum part is so hard

It took me many minutes to be able to sing this!!!!LOVE THIS!!!

Don't worry bout them ghostnotes. Ain't nothin but rebounds!

Everyone sounds drunk on this one except Williams.

Its not a surprise that most of the comments pertain to Tony. One of the all time greats.

I'm here because of my love for Jazz. Oh, and Pork by the Pharcyde.😊

One of my favorite Miles Davis solos.

Wish to SEE this track!!! His foot is going on the bass drum....WHAT is he playing the triplets on? the snare is going. You guys help a grandmother here!!

triplets right hand on the ride left on the snare - the pattern is RLL RLL RLL RLL primarily...the HI-hat on every beat is what drives the groove, and that was something Tony Williams pretty much invented

Thank you

THANKS!!!!!@Ian Carson

@Phyllis Petras you're welcome! :)

Tony Williams: the engine that could and can and keeps on....effortlessly!!!!!!!!!

triplets......cannot tell you the extent of admiration for these musicians

It was Miles who suggested the triplet feel at the begining.

Used to absolutely love playing this the Ed Harris classic... the variable insane melodies over the coolest drum/bass rhythm combo jazz salad ever

Miles Davis false start.

5:57 Herbie goes where no man has gone before

these are the voyages of...:)

To the moon baby.. and back. Then back to the moon!!

Thank you Eddie Harris...

I placed my drum sticks into my ass after I heard this. Bravo.

I know years ago bout 2003 i went to the Negro League Museum and the Jazz Museum where house together in the same building. In the historic 18th and Vine area in Kansas City Mo. Well they had a audio display highlighting Tony's tour de force drumming on this stellar track. We all can agree this should be immortalized until this earth ends!!!!

This (outstanding) music sharpens your senses.

mean sound to bad most people can't dig it.I'm glad I can. miles you were way before your time brother.

Still haven't caught him, his time is tomorrow

omg that grooooove Herbie, ! : 3:15 - 3:25

Great tune to improvise on, minimal amount of harmonic structure, great groove and the kind of melodic interval leaps you'll never hear in rock 'n roll!

very minimal indeed. All this improv over one single chord.

Miles Davis – TrumpetWayne Shorter – Tenor saxophoneHerbie Hancock – PianoRon Carter – Double bassTony Williams – Drums

Playing those K Ziljians.

what a mess of a song arrangement. I appreciate the musicality and creative inventiveness of all the players, but man. How did Columbia let this pass? Fun toon, though!

+redv0id Yes!

Great comment!

Exactly, this is nothing short of pure artistic expression at its finest. Technique is a means to an end; this here is an end.

a very strange comment on a composition called Freedom Jazz Dance... and who is Columbia? What are you imagining? A star chamber that listens to each side for its tidiness before release?

@sieteocho adventure is often messy....

G-R-E-A-T-!

Nuri Lidar GRETSCH SOUND!!

Oh yéá

tony williams just casually inventing 4-5 entirely new conceptions of the idea of jazz drumming on this record

theres a recording of miles making this beat up and tony struggling to play it pretty hilarious stuff. tony still the mf man forever of course was just funny/encouraging to see that even he was still human

Another day at the office for Mr. Williams.

@sumstufflol Where is it?!!..where can it be found??

Rotondwa Ramudzuli https://youtu.be/NmrDzg34aPk

The baddest drumming I ever heard!

Tony..... Makes one want to work on their comping.

Shorter

This is the GOOD stuff.

Here, Tony does almost beatless rhythm. He abandons the monotonous role of timekeeper -- in other words, the beater. Many drummers have technical hands as good as Tony's, but this "many" lose time or a sense of time when their beat disappears or almost disappears.   When Eddie Harris introduced this tune, he used a big beat out of R&B. I don't why this tune sounds so good when it is performed beatlessly. Rashid Ali tried to do what Tony does here.

+Belial398 An didn't quite get IT.

He is providing a beat and time. The hi-hat with his foot is the main driver here.

great points of drumming that sounds kind of like rhythmic running water... as opposed to funkadelic Eddie Harris version which I found easy... this is way harder.. kind of like learning Bill Bruford's drums in UK and King Crimson -- just another layer of mind blowing kung fu drums

Nathan Smith does something similar on Night Owl | NPR Music episode 16.

On "Nefertiti," I think of both "Fall" and "Nefertiti" as drum solos accompanied by a band.

Tony Williams is a genius of drumming

<3 ! Thank you !

Tony Williams is killing it on this tune!

What the fuck is wrong with you?

the genius is where you dont play

I prefect inches and pints

Esa sonrisa es simplemente ¡fantástica!

The soloists borrowed a lot from Harris' tune. They didn't rush into tunelessness. (Yes, the idea of tunelessness is questionable.) But I felt they somehow in this piece joined tune and tunelessness. But the tune, even during periods of tunelessness, is the dominant theme. In other words, they stretch out but they come back. But before they come back they stay.The bass is the best example of this thesis, because he quotes the tune constantly as he does his thing

I like the metric system...

Man the sections where Tony is playing the 2 & 4 backbeats on the snare sound like they could have been recorded YESTERDAY! These guys were so ahead of their time. Miles ahead, indeed

great rhythm section players somehow seem to create more space than they take up. you give them some space, they put some notes in, everything sounds awesome and you still finish up with more space than you started with.

Tony is so busy, but he never blows the groove. He explores the groove. How does he do it? Yes, the piano and bass are there -- big time, too.

NEVER EVER BLOWS THE GROOVE

it took them dozens of takes to get this song, miles simply could not play the melody, its interesting, that's why they ended up splitting it up like they did

seriously wtf is wrong with outsourcing

To any jazz historians out there........It's easy to see that this recording of Eddie Harris's FJD had a profound impact on the then (1965) under the radar jazz rock fusion trend, that Miles would begin with "In The Sky" , "Filies de Kilimanjaro".,and continue with "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew". Tony's drumming and Herbie's comping.(you can almost hear the electric piano here)., serve to establish this track as the cornerstone of Miles future jazz rock offerings.

Be sure to check out the album "Water Babies" too - a late release of some great stuff by the same group comprised of Miles, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Dave Holland and Chick Corea also guest on the album. It's great!

wish there was live version focused on Tony for this one.

@jhobart2008 yessssss....one of his best!!!!

And the appropriate title too!

All - individually & together!

A buncha' MF's!!!!

Miles, you will forever be the coolest person to ever walk this earth.

who beat his wives cheated on them had mistresses was a pimp and heavy drug user

@4tdog Tony Williams

@naturaropal89 brian culbertson, buddy rich

whos the drummer he got a serious grove going on...nice

lol - who indeed?

TONY WILLIAMS THE BEST EVER TO PICK UP THE STICKS!!!!!

timeless groove...man, Tony

please could anyone give me examples of new jazz mucis you can dance to? im loving jazz for the first time but cant fint much without names of musicians

@Cbdr17 ...and he wasn't even 21 when they recorded this!!!

Tony Williams makes me want to quite drums sometimes

This brings back a great memory of long ago. My dad and I listened to this in the Phila. Free Library listening room,figuring out and analyzing what Tony Williams was doing. I miss my Dad,Miles and Tony all very much.Thanks for the post!

yes......

Playing this head on guitar is crazy...but the head is so cash i had to copp.

Attempting to play this in combo now....man, he makes it sound so easy, lol.

perfect drum part :|

@Vitruvian42 nah i do it all the time

@batakofuckingrulez right--on otta sight!!! My writs ache just listening to him...

Only Miles Davis could make coming in early sound that cool.

this gets me going so much

fucking drum machine!!!!!, tony williams kick ass!!!!

he was and still miles AHEAD!

we need more miles.

asombroso, miles davis!! es simplemente genial siempre me transporta a un mundo impresionante de la improvizacion, sonidos selectos bien matizados!