Consisting of two largely improvised compositions, A Tribute to Jack Johnson uses both traditional jazz instrumentation as one may expect, but also rock instrumentation as well. The main driver of the music is actually the guitar and not Miles' trumpet. When I first heard this album that part in itself was a bit of a shock... in fact there are sections where there is simply no trumpet playing for several minutes at a time.
A hinted before this is a jazz fusion album. It's jazz played in the style of rock and roll, or its rock and roll played in the style of jazz... whatever you prefer. I just know it's damn good.
Each side is seamless, going through seemingly countless changes in styles, riffs and instrumental leads. I particularly like the longer sections where the improvisations take place. On the second side there is a 7-8 minute period where the bass, guitar and drums all repeat the same riff and Miles is allowed to shine. In the same section a clarinet is used (played by Bennie Maupin) and it's a wonderful contrast between the two as they duel it out.
Sometimes I wish that I had chosen jazz as my main genre of music to get into. I was speaking with someone a few days ago where they went into the nuance of how every player in a good jazz band will know what is coming next. They don't have any music in front of them but they know the modes and as such can build off of each other, create something in nearly complete freedom.
This something from nothing mentality is something I have not seen done in other genres as well as it is in jazz. The fact that you can have an album like Jack Johnson created on as little structure as possible is just incredible.
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