Mansur Mirovalev
My name is Mansur Mirovalev, I live in Uzbekistan (Former Soviet Union) in Tashkent (which is the capital). I am 24 and i've been a Miles fan for about 4 years. To tell you about my long and winding road to Miles in the best way i'll have to start with general description of situation with jazz in Tashkent.
In Tashkent (keep in mind that Uzbekistan has become independent in 1991 and there are still lots of Russians) there is a handful of jazz fans and the opportunity to hear good old jazz in the streets or in ordinary CD shops is minimal. One can find some CDs or tapes with Louis or Ella, less often - Al DI Meola or Mahavishnu Orchestra, but a serious jazz fan has to order CDs or buy them in a club of music fans which is located, by a both funny and bitter coincidence, in a so called Palace of Culture for Blind People (hear the echo of the Soviet official jargon?) CDs come from Russia where the wholesale price for them is about 1-2 USD, retail price in Tashkent is about 3-3.5 USD. These CDs are not provided with detailed booklets, have simple covers and decent sound quality. In Moscow there are several small specialized companies producing CD with jazz and fusion.
Show biz in Uzbekistan is slowly developing, pop starlets and stars-to-be shoot videos, record songs and air them thru city radio stations, go touring to provinces (I mean the rest of the country) and even give interviews to a couple of new local newspapers and magazines. Rock bands are numerous but financially unsuccessful - a rock fest this summer gathered about 40 groups playing mostly hard or metal about 5 of which were really good. So, there seems to be no place for jazz. In fact, Tashkent swarms with talented musicians, they are financially bound to play with pop singers or groups, but some of them are EXCELLENT jazz performers. For centuries Central Asia has been a melting pot of cultures and nations and the fruits of this constant fusion are sometimes amazing.
How about a Crimean Tatar (d'ya understand what i wrote? Crimean Tatars live in the Crimean peninsula and are very close to Turks in language and music. Dear old Joe Stalin forced them to move from their motherland after the World War II, and most of them settled in Central Asia) who was born in Fergana, Uzbekistan, Soveit Union, started playing Tatar and Uzbek folk, studied classical guitar and independently invented the technique of tapping which was first introduced to the world by Stanley Jordan. The guy moved to Moscow (usual destination of our braindrain pipeline) and in 1995 was pronounced the best European jazz guitarist. He can play and improvise in 5/4 or incredible 7/8. His name is Enver Ismailov. I've seen a super pianist who works full time with Uzbek pop-singers, earns tons of cash and plays avant garde jazz for himself and friends. A guitarist who'd learned all the licks of Jim Hall, Mahavishnu and all others, played fusion and now is just a restauraunt musician. That's how it goes in Tashkent.
Now - a bit about me and Miles. I had been interested in progressive rock and some classical music when i first heard John Coltrane at the age of 16. It was "Africa". My first encounter with Miles happened a bit later - when i was about 19. I started from very different "epochs" - Walkin' and Agharta. My favourite jazz performer is Coltrane, and i think he's one of the most influential religious musicians of the century. Other jazzmen i love are Oregon, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Bird, Jan Garbarek, John McLaughlin, Duke, MJQ, Chick Corea, Weather Report, John Zorn, Fred Frith. Other favourites are: Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Anton Webern, Ravel, Arvo Part, medieval polyphonists, King Crimson, earlly Genesis with Gabriel and Gabriel himself, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and a dozen of others. I have some musical background - stidied guitar and even tried to from a band, sometimes play formless bluesy improvisations and some tiny compositions of my own.
What amazes me in Miles? His manager skills - the guy has always been able to pick the best young cats and really make them work. His ability to adopt new and sophisticated ideas and make them audible to the wide audience. I have about 30 CDs with Miles and several tapes including his early recordings with Bird, all the 4 albums with Gil Evans, Quartet and 1st and 2nd Quintet, lots of things he did in the 70s. I do not like very much his music in the 80s, it's sort of good and relaxing, but not as exciting as his earlier stuff. My favourites are (the order does not reflect preferences, coz this month i am crazy about Porgy'n'Bess and in a couple of weeks i listen exclusively to On the Corner): Bitches Brew (unfortunately i don't have the CD, only a tape), of course Kind of Blue (i've been listening to it for so long that the disc should already have holes in it), In A Silent Way (it is so relaxing and spacy, bears a certain early Zawinul sound), A Tribute to Jack Johnson (in terms of complexity of composition both pieces are extremely interesting), Porgy and Bess (it finally convinced me that Miles was a darn good trumpet player), On the Corner (i guess Miles had so much fun recording it and seeing the reaction of critix and fans) and all the others.
I don't know much about his life. That is why i'd like to ask the list some questions:
- Is it true that he worked as a pimp in his early pre-Bird New York days?
- Did he want to jam with Jimi Hendrix and did it really happen?
- How he explained the reasons for his 5 year reclusive silence?
- What did he think of his own improvisational skills?