Wallace Roney was like an understudy of Miles, ya?
ya...and as far as i can tell the only one. thing is, miles (and trane) had a very distinct tone, and it doesn't matter how well you coach your understudy to play the notes, he will never match the tone of the master.
all three played with Miles at different times and are members of some of the greatest jazz quintets of all time. amazing musical depth for just piano, bass and drums
Red Garland -piano
Ron Carter - bass
Philly Joe Jones - drums.
one of the things i found most interesting about jazz when i first started listening was the cross-pollination and the apparent two degrees of separation between most musicians. unlike rock (which you should know since you're king) it seems like every decent musician has played with other musicians and/or led their own group at one time or another. there are also numerous standards that have been played by several great groups that allow you to compare different styles and interpretations.
in the early years i had to either buy all the individual albums & cds or check them out from the library...youtube has made following the jazz family tree a whole lot easier in recent years.
I remember watching BET Jazz back in the day.. the host asked the guest/guests to define jazz. I always loved that.
this is a perfect example of my comment above referencing jazz standards as well as the transitive nature of jazz musicians.
Autumn Leaves was originally a french song from the 40s
Spoiler:
Vince Guaraldi included it on his 1957 album A Flower is a Lovesome Thing (you may recognize Vince's piano from his compositions for Charles Shultz's Peanuts cartoons, especially the christmas special)
Spoiler:
Autumn Leaves was also included on the 1958 Cannonball Adderly album Somthin' Else featuring Miles on trumpet, Sam Jones on piano (the older brother of Elvin Jones, who was the drummer for Mingus, Miles, and Trane), and Art Blakey on drums (who played for Monk, Bird, and Dizzy, and later formed the Jazz Messengers). we've already established Cannonball played on the Miles led '58 album Milestones and '59 album Kind of Blue.
i recommend wearing headphones while you listen...the sound of Cannonball's embouchure feels like rubbing felt against your ears.
Spoiler:
Bill Evans (who played in the Miles Davis sextet) also included Autumn Leaves on his 1959 album Portrait in Jazz. Scott LaFaro played bass (LaFaro also played with Ornette Coleman and Stan Getz) and Paul Motian on drums.
Spoiler:
Miles never recorded the song on his own album, but he played it several times live between 1960 and 1965. here's a live version from 1964 with the classic quintet