The magic of Teo Macero

Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - music: The magic of Teo Macero

"Macero pioneered techniques that elevated the recording studio into more of a creative and artistic tool than it had ever been before. In his later work with Miles Davis he was helping the trumpeter build compelling narratives and integrated, composition-like works from what had in some cases been little more than passing fragments of improvised inspiration. Macero borrowed from early experiments in electronics and pitch-manipulation (from the then New York-based French composer and 'father of electronic music' Edgard Var�se, among others), and defied the improv-is-everything purists among jazz fans to create studio-made works that completely reshuffled the music originally made in the heat of the moment, and sometimes even spliced in clips from other performances entirely."

I was surprised I had never heard of Teo yet new all of his work and myself had been influenced by it. Miles' George Martin. This guy would have been my hero if I had known he even existed.

Lots more background if you Google him.

Such as this New York Times piece.

"Mr. Macero strongly believed that the finished versions of Davis’s LPs, with all their intricate splices and sequencing — done on tape with a razor blade, in the days before digital editing — were the work of art, the entire point of the exercise. He opposed the current practice of releasing boxed sets that include all the material recorded in the studio, including alternate and unreleased takes. Mr. Macero was not involved in Columbia’s extensive reissuing of Davis’s work for the label, in lavish boxed sets from the mid-’90s until last year."

I am liking him more and more. Lots more reading to do......