Miles Davis in Concert: Intense and Inscrutable

Miles Davis in action was a sight to behold, a performer whose every move was fascinating, even when he was calculatedly turning his back on his listeners. Tonight, Bravo’s “Jazzfest” provides yet another opportunity to take a good look at this most charismatic of all jazz artists.

Taped during a concert at Germany’s Munich Klaviersommer in 1987, the performance is as close to pure music as television gets. No announcements, no chatter, nothing except the Davis group of the period doing its thing.

This is not easy music for Davis fans still captivated by his ballads and bebop of the ‘50s or his early fusion groups of the ‘60s. At this stage in his career, Davis was generating music driven by electric funk rhythms, repetitious melodic patterns and sudden bursts of energy. And he was doing it while spending most of his time turned away from his audience, with the bell of his trumpet pointed toward the floor.

Fortunately, director Janos Darvas’ cameras roved the stage, capturing Davis’ compelling interaction with his players. Wearing a colorful red jacket, sparkling blue harem pants and black sunglasses, he prowls from one side of the platform to the other, occasionally holding up his hand to signal a direction, constantly in touch with the music and his musicians.

There are solos from alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, guitarist Joe McCreary and percussionist Mino Cinelu--all first-rate musicians. But there is never any doubt that Davis, playing his role of jazz icon to the hilt, is the center of attention.

At one point, when he is sketching out the line of “Time After Time”--one of the few familiar tunes performed by this band--Davis moves to the edge of the stage and aims the bell of his horn at a cameraman. The close-up that results, followed by several others taken in the same tune, is revelatory in its view of Davis’ intense involvement with the music. Showman he may have been, in his own way, but Davis, regardless of what he was playing, was never less than fully committed to the direct expression of his artistic vision.

* “Miles Davis and Group” airs at 7:10 tonight on Bravo.