Miles and Dylan – two key new releases on Monday

Miles Davis and Bob Dylan loom large in the Music for Grown-Ups landscape.

Both were/are ground-breaking musicians dominating their respective niches; they’ve had an immense influence on contemporaries and successors alike. Twentieth century music would have been very different without Miles and Dylan.

By coincidence, Monday sees the UK launch of historic releases by both great musicians:

* The Complete On The Corner Sessions (6 CDs) documents the Davis sessions which led to an album crucified by conservative jazzbos on its 1972 release, but influential among edgier popular musicians ever since.

* The Other Side Of The Mirror DVD documents Dylan at Newport over the three years of performances 1963-65, capturing him morphing before your very eyes from callow agenda-setting folkie to world-weary founder of rock music, all the while producing breathlessly great music.

A hearty welcome to a pair of seminal slices of music for grown-ups.


Gerry Smith