Traveling Miles

Traveling Miles
Studio album (Tribute album) by
Cassandra Wilson
ReleasedMarch 23, 1999
RecordedDecember 1997 at The Hit Factory, NYC;
May & September 1998 at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY
GenreJazz
Length62:21
LabelBlue Note
ProducerCassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson chronology
Rendezvous
(1997) 		Traveling Miles
(1999) 		Belly of the Sun
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz(favorable)[1]
Allmusic[2]
The Austin Chronicle[3]
The Buffalo News[4]
laut.de[5]
Penguin Guide to Jazz[6]
Robert Christgau:)[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Tom HullB+[9]
Q[10]

Traveling Miles is the thirteenth studio album by American jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson. Released on the Blue Note label in 1999, it is a tribute to Miles Davis, taking many of its cues from Davis' catalog of recordings with Columbia Records. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award as Best Jazz Vocal Performance.[11]

Reception

Jeff Simon of The Buffalo News wrote, "Cassandra Wilson is, paradoxically, very much her own woman at the same time that she may be overly in thrall to her friends. The results are bound to be some discs where her extraordinary gifts fail to connect as they should. "Travelling Miles" is one of them. It's never less than interesting but seldom more than that."[4] A reviewer of Dusty Groove stated: "Cassandra Wilson's tribute to Miles Davis – a pretty brave and ambitious move, writing lyrics to classic Miles compositions – and a winning one! Wilson produced the record, too, and her genuine love of the material makes it worth – as does her fairly earthy, timeless production. Made in the late 90s, and it honestly hasn't aged a day. Very impressive!"[12] Scott Yanow of AllMusic wrote: "A tribute album by Cassandra Wilson to Miles Davis seems like a very logical idea, but this CD is actually less than one would expect... her interpretations smooth down most of the melodies, robbing them of their personality."[2]

Track listing

  1. "Run the Voodoo Down" (Miles Davis, Cassandra Wilson) – 4:36 *
  2. "Traveling Miles" (Wilson) – 4:52
  3. "Right Here Right Now" (Marvin Sewell, Wilson) – 5:57
  4. "Time After Time" (Rob Hyman, Cyndi Lauper) – 4:08
  5. "When the Sun Goes Down" (Wilson) – 6:05
  6. "Seven Steps" (Victor Feldman, Davis) – 6:44
  7. "Someday My Prince Will Come" (Frank Churchill, Larry Morey) – 3:53
  8. "Never Broken" (Wayne Shorter, Wilson) – 5:13
  9. "Resurrection Blues (Tutu)" (Marcus Miller, Wilson) – 6:11 *
  10. "Sky & Sea (Blue in Green)" (Davis, Wilson) – 5:24 *
  11. "Piper" (Wilson) – 5:03
  12. "Voodoo Reprise" (Davis, Wilson, Angelique Kidjo) – 4:15
Japanese Bonus Track
  2. "Prancing" (Davis, Wilson) – 6:24

* Links for these tracks are to original Miles Davis recordings, from which Wilson's recordings adapt and take inspiration.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1999) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 158
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard) 1
US Heatseekers (Billboard) 5

References

  1. ^ All About Jazz review
  2. ^ a b Allmusic review
  3. ^ Hernandez, Raoul (April 2, 1999). "Record Reviews". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b Jeff, Simon (26 March 1999). "MISSED CONNECTION CASSANDRA WILSON JUST CAN'T MAKE MILES' MUSIC HER OWN". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. ^ Kopp, Kai. ""Meine Musik kann problemlos neben all dem bestehen, was im Radio gespielt wird"" (in German). laut.de. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. ^ Hull, Tom. "Penguin Guide to Jazz Diffs: 4th vs. 5th Editions". Tom Hull. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Cassandra Wilson". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  8. ^ Rolling Stone review
  9. ^ "Tom Hull: Grade List: Cassandra Wilson". Tom Hull. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  10. ^ Glasser, Brian. "Review: Cassandra Wilson - Travelling Miles". Q (July 1999). EMAP Metro Ltd: 125.
  11. ^ "Cassandra Wilson". GRAMMY.com. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Cassandra Wilson: Traveling Miles". Dusty Groove. Retrieved 15 January 2019.