A deep dive into Davis.
Blue Moods – Directions & Expressions – [TrackList follows] – Posi-Tone PR8274; 61:18 [4/17/26] ****:
(Diego Rivera – tenor & soprano saxophones; Art Hirahara – piano; Boris Kozlov – bass; Eli Howell – trombone; Behn Gillece – vibraphone; Vinnie Sperrazza – drums; Marc Free – producer)
Blue Moods’ Directions & Expressions is the fourth tribute project in an ongoing series from the Posi-Tone label. Previous Blue Moods records celebrated Freddie Hubbard (2025’s Force & Grace), Duke Pearson (2024’s Swing & Soul), and Charles Mingus (2022’s Myth & Wisdom). Coincidentally, a 1955 Miles Davis album was titled Blue Moods. So, it is apt the group Blue Moods now focuses on Davis. Directions & Expressions includes ten interpretations of lesser-known Davis-penned tunes. The 61-minute program has tenor and soprano saxophonist Diego Rivera, pianist Art Hirahara, bassist Boris Kozlov, trombonist Eli Howell, vibraphonist Behn Gillece and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza. The deletion of trumpet might seem unusual but it removes comparisons to Davis’ style and sound. Thus, the music is front and center and reveals Davis’ compositional command on several underappreciated songs.
The sextet kicks off with “Boplicity” from 1957’s compilation Birth of the Cool. Blue Moods stretches out on this cool jazz standard covered by Ronnie Cuber, Dave Liebman, Richie Cole and others. Davis’ nonet version showcased unison sound and colorful harmony. The Blue Moods’ arrangement has a light Latin rhythmic romp. Rivera and Howell craft some unified lines in a nod to the original, Gillece spins out a swinging solo, and that is followed by a sax improvisation.
“Somethin’ Else” is the title track from Cannonball Adderley’s 1958 Blue Note LP. At the time, Adderley was in Miles Davis’ First Great Quintet, so it made sense Davis wrote a piece for Adderley and also guested as a sideman. Blue Moods shrinks the tune to half the size of Adderley’s. Hirahara and Gillece furnish notable early solos, then there is a fine Rivera workout, and the band keeps it upbeat throughout.
Blue Moods evinces a facility for ballad material on “Circles,” from 1967’s Miles Smiles which featured Davis’ Second Great Quintet. Howell provides an interesting lower-register trombone tonality which contrasts with the higher register trumpet and sax on Miles Smiles. Gillece’s vibes also supply lower notes which support the Blue Moods’ appropriately moody, bluesy treatment. Another cut from Miles Smiles is “Stuff.” Davis’s 17-minute track had electric bass guitar and electric piano to fashion a jazz fusion feel. Blue Moods, on the other hand, concentrates on acoustic elements, pulls away from Davis’ groove jam approach – thus shaving ten minutes from the running time – and centers on melodic extemporization rather than Davis’ regulative rhythmic aspect.
Bop and post-bop are the foundations for “Agitation,” from 1965’s E.S.P., the debut of Davis’s Second Great Quintet. “Agitation” is the only E.S.P. tune credited solely to Davis and has an elasticity which mixes adventurous abstraction with a grounded structure. Blue Moods’ transformation of “Agitation” is anchored to a more straightforward bop stance although there are segments where the group breaks loose, particularly during the tune’s second half. One of the more obscure Davis works is “Générique,” from the soundtrack for Louis Malle’s 1958 crime film Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (English: Elevator to the Gallows). The beguiling number is worth discovering. Blue Moods maintains Davis’ pensiveness which permeates this darkly pigmented and noirish ballad.
The lengthiest and most emboldened selection is the 12-minute “La Suite De Kilimanjaro,” inspired by the title track from 1968’s Filles de Kilimanjaro. Davis’ release was transitional and formed a bridge between post-bop jazz and Davis’ full-on fusion on the subsequent In a Silent Way. Both versions offer spatial symmetry but done in different ways. Davis balanced acoustic and electric instruments whereas Blue Moods forges something akin to the Modern Jazz Quartet, especially during the first half where vibes interact with piano, bass and drums. The second half shifts to a faster, bop-bolstered stride where Rivera goes all out while the rhythm section brings the heat.
Another stimulant is “Lazy Susan/Half Nelson,” which melds two Davis compositions. “Half Nelson” (see Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet, taped 1956, released 1960) uses chord progressions from Tadd Dameron’s “Lady Bird.” “Lazy Susan” (from Miles Davis, Vol. 3, a 10-inch 1954 LP) is also a contrafact – a musical work based on a prior work – of “Lady Bird.” Blue Moods two-for-one is easygoing and swinging with lots of soloing and unison lines. There’s a lissome quality to “Fran-Dance,” a 1958 piece written by Davis for his then-wife Frances Taylor Davis, a ballerina and dancer. Blue Moods sustains a lightly-lush, late-night ambiance with an emphasis on vibraphone, piano and yearning horn spotlights. What to do with a funk vamp? Jettison the funk and preserve the vamp. That’s what Blue Moods does with “U’n’I,” from 1983’s Star People. No synths, no electric bass or electric guitar, no self-parody. It’s a cavorting and undulating album closer sure to get toes tapping and fingers snapping.
Tributes can be tricky to do. Stay too near to the original and its mimicry. Stray to far from the source and an artist may lose fans likely to enjoy the music. Blue Moods consistently hits a sympathetic equilibrium on their continuing tribute series. Directions & Expressions is insightful and imaginative; performed with panache and respect; and should be heard by listeners who appreciate what can be done with Davis’ compositions.
—Doug Simpson
Blue Moods – Directions & Expressions
TrackList:
Boplicity
Somethin’ Else
Circle
Stuff
Agitation
Générique
Lazy Susan/Half Nelson
La Suite De Kilimanjaro
Fran Dance
U’n’I
