October is Miles Month here on Edge of the Line. We’re celebrating 75 years since the recording of Miles Davis’ debut solo LP, The New Sounds (October 1951). 2026 also marks 100 years since Davis’ birth (May 26, 1926).
Miles Davis was always departing: leaving styles he had been at the forefront of, forming new bands, taking a five-year hiatus between 1975 and 1980 (only live albums, recorded in 1974 and early ’75 were released in that time).
Tutu was another departure for Miles. In 1986, he stepped further toward electronic sounds, embracing drum machines and synthesisers for the first time, and away from improvised band sounds. His chief collaborator was Marcus Miller, who composed most of the tunes and formed the tracks, which Miles then played trumpet over.
It was said that the record isn’t jazz, that Miles is just a sideman on his own album. Miller wasn’t bothered:
“Miles came in and made it his – once he puts his presence on it, it’s his. In terms of ‘it’s not jazz’; I bought a DownBeat magazine when I was fifteen years old and they were arguing about that. The last time I looked at DownBeat, they were still arguing the same stuff.”
The writing process started when pianist George Duke sent Miles some music, which they didn’t end up using but inspired Miller to write. (Duke played on, arranged, and produced one track, ‘Backyard Ritual’.)
Miles wrote in his autobiography that he and Miller “decided what key a song would be in. Marcus wrote most of the music on Tutu, but I told him what I wanted, like an ensemble here and four bars there. With Marcus I don’t have to do much because he knows what I like.”
Miller’s bass leads for much of the title track. He mixes popped staccato notes with the languid first two notes in the three-note motif (often preceded by a muted note), first heard 18 seconds in. Never do the bass and trumpet play their quicker phrases simultaneously.
In the bridge, Miller gives Miles’ trumpet tone space to shine, almost completely laying out other than for long, moody slides (2:20-2:50). Miles injects more energy from 2:39, displaying mastery of varied tones – he punches some notes and lets other phrases fade away.
That bridge section is ushered in by a floaty synthesiser sound. The synths were programmed by Jason Miles, who the main Miles called a “genius”.
The extra sounds, like Paulinho Da Costa’s percussion (panned far left, and briefly right), are mixed so that the bass and trumpet are always front and centre.
Recording the old way, as a live band with his touring musicians, had become “too much trouble” for Miles. One or two bandmates might not be feeling good and throw everyone else off, he said. They might not be capable of playing the style Miles wants. They might feel insecure. Miles wrote:
“Some people say they miss that spontaneity and spark that comes out of recording with a band right there in the studio. Maybe that’s true; I don’t know. All I know is that the new recording technology makes it easier to do it the way we have been doing it. If a musician is really professional he will give you what you want in terms of performance in the studio by playing off and against the band that’s already down on tape. I mean, the motherfucker can hear what is being played, can’t he? And that’s all that is important in music ensemble playing; hearing what everyone else is doing and playing off or against that.”
Miles was not shying in praising Miller, his ability to play so many instruments, his workrate, and his knack of keeping everybody loose.
Miller remembered,
“It was like a painting – you do a little bit, you stand back and you look at it and imagine what you can add. It was a new way of making music, at least in the jazz world.”
Miller was co-producer of every track besides the Duke number, along with Tommy LiPuma. The latter said of Miles many years later, “He had mellowed, but he was no walk in the park by any means”.
Top image from Discogs.