Pangaea (album)
| Pangaea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by Miles Davis | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Recorded | February 1, 1975 | |||
| Venue | Festival Hall in Osaka | |||
| Genre | Jazz-rock[1] | |||
| Length | 88:38 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Teo Macero | |||
| Miles Davis chronology | ||||
| ||||
Pangaea is a double album recorded by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It was released in 1976 in Japan.[2] Both Pangaea and its predecessor Agharta (1975) were recorded on February 1, in Osaka, Japan, at the Festival Hall. The Agharta concert took place during an afternoon matinee, whereas Pangaea was recorded in the evening.[3]
The album release contains two tracks, "Zimbabwe" and "Gondwana," which have been identified as containing the musical segments called "Moja," "Willie Nelson on Tune in 5," "Nne," "Zimbabwe," "Ife," and "Wili (= for Dave)" by the Italian Miles Davis scholar Enrico Merlin.[4]
Later that year, Davis, depressed, exhausted and suffering ever mounting health problems, retreated from the music scene. This makes Agharta and Pangaea his final albums of new material until the 1981 comeback LP The Man with the Horn. Unlike Agharta, Pangaea was originally released exclusively in Japan. Pangaea would see an American release in 1990, digitally remastered as part of the Columbia Jazz Contemporary Masters CD series of the time.
The 1975 Japanese-edition LP on CBS includes a 7-page booklet with photos and Japanese text.
Critical reception
Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice in 1991, gave Pangaea an honorable mention, cited "Zimbabwe" as a highlight, and quipped "can the flute and add track listings".[5] Allmusic's Thom Jurek gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and said that "while the playing of certain individuals here may be better than it is on Agharta, the band's playing isn't quite at that level." Paul Tingen stated, "Although Pangaea contains excellent music, Miles is much less present than on Agharta. There are several extended periods during which the band just plays out the grooves, waiting for Miles to give the next cue."[6] Jurek opined that, although Pangaea lacks the "dynamic and dramatic tensions" of Agharta, it is "as relentless" and "plenty satisfying."[7]
Track listing
- Record one
- "Zimbabwe" – 41:48
- Record two
- "Gondwana" – 46:50 (49:46 on 2000 Japanese remaster)
Personnel
- Miles Davis – electric trumpet with wah-wah, organ
- Sonny Fortune – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute
- Pete Cosey – electric guitar, synthesizer, percussion
- Reggie Lucas – electric guitar
- Michael Henderson – electric bass
- Al Foster – drums
- James "Mtume" Foreman – conga, percussion, water drum, rhythm box
Production
- Producer - Teo Macero
- Director - Keiichi Nakamura
- Engineer - Tamoo Suzuki
- Assistant Engineer - Mitsuru Kasai, Takaaki Amano
- Package Coordination - Tony Tiller
References
- Footnotes
- ↑ Stafford, Andrew (2006). Pig City: From the Saints to Savage Garden. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 070223561X. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ↑ Chambers 1998, pp. 275.
- ↑ Tingen 2001, p. 165.
- ↑ Tingen 2001, p. 329.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert (November 5, 1991). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ↑ Tingen 2001, p. 165-166.
- ↑ "Pangaea - Miles Davis". Allmusic. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- Bibliography
- Chambers, Jack (1998). Milestones: The Life and Times of Miles Davis. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306808498.
- Tingen, Paul (2001). Miles Beyond, The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991. Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8346-2.
