''Tutu'' is an album by American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
trumpeter
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
, released in 1986 by
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
. It was recorded primarily at
Capitol Studios
Capitol Studios are recording studios located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While t ...
in Los Angeles and Clinton Recording in New York, except the song "Backyard Ritual", which was recorded at Le Gonks in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
. Davis received the 1986
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist
The Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo has been awarded since 1959. Before 1979 the award title did not specify instrumental performances and was presented for instrumental or vocal performances. The award has had several minor name change ...
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for his performance on the album.
Background
Originally some tracks were planned as a collaboration with
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
. Prince later pulled out for undisclosed reasons, although the two remained firm friends and later collaborated on "Can I Play With U" as well. (Davis later covered "Movie Star" and "Penetration" by Prince.) Davis ultimately worked with bassist/multi-instrumentalist
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
. Miller wrote and arranged all the songs, except "Tomaas" (co-written by Davis), "Backyard Ritual" (by keyboardist
George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
), and "
Perfect Way" (by pop group
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, England, by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside. He is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history.
Beginning as a punk-inspired collect ...
). The music is strongly inspired by mid-1980s
R&B and
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, with heavy use of
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s,
sequencers and
drum machines.
As indicated in the notes accompanying the album, ''Tutu'' was produced by
Tommy LiPuma
Tommy LiPuma (July 5, 1936 – March 13, 2017) was an American music producer. He received 33 Grammy nominations, 5 Grammy wins, and his productions sold over 75 million albums. LiPuma worked with many musicians, including Barbra Streisand, Miles ...
and
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
, with the exception of "Backyard Ritual", which was co-produced by Duke and LiPuma.
The cover was designed by
Eiko Ishioka
was a Japanese art director, costume designer, and graphic designer known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media.
Noted for her advertising campaigns for the Japanese boutique chain Parco, she collaborated with sportswear ...
and photographed by
Irving Penn
Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Is ...
. Eiko Ishioka received the 1987
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for
Best Album Package
The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards presented for the visual look of an album. It is presented to the art director of the winning album, not to the performer(s), unless the performer is also the art dire ...
for her work as the art director.
The original vinyl album featured a colored inner sleeve printed with the album credits on one side and a photograph of Davis's left hand (with middle finger depressed) on the reverse.
Reception and legacy
''Tutu'' divided critics and listeners when it was released in 1986. Like Davis's pivotal 1970 album ''
Bitches Brew
''Bitches Brew'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded from August 19 to 21, 1969, at Columbia's Studio B in New York City and released on March 30, 1970 by Columbia Records. It marke ...
'',
Paul Tingen
Paul Tingen is a Dutch-born music writer. Tingen wrote ''Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967–1991'', published in 2001. He has a monthly column in ''Sound on Sound'' magazine, and he writes music articles for other public ...
wrote, ''Tutu'' became one of the "defining jazz albums" of its decade and attracted a young, new audience while alienating many other jazz listeners because of its heavy reliance on the drum machine and synthesizers. A number of critics felt the music was ingratiatingly elegant, designed for casual listening, and largely a work by Miller.
In ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' that year,
Robert Palmer said it "already sounds curiously dated" and unambitious, featuring synthesizers that "have glutinous textures so overly familiar from the mainstream of late-1970s pop jazz" and electronic rhythms lacking the innovation of contemporary
hip hop records.
Others believed the album gave a musical setting for Davis's improvisations to thrive in, comparable to his orchestral recordings with
Gil Evans
Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...
from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
deemed it a marginal success but also Davis's "best in a decade". He contended that while Davis's 1970s
fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
recordings for
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
were purely improvised jazz-rock, ''Tutu'' sounded "more like pop-funk ''
Sketches of Spain
''Sketches of Spain'' is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City. An extended version of the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' (1939) ...
'', with the starperson's trumpet glancing smartly off an up-to-date panoply of catchy little tunes, beats, and rhythm effects".
Jazz musician and writer
Mike Zwerin
Mike Zwerin (May 18, 1930 – April 2, 2010) was an American cool jazz musician and author. Zwerin as a musician played the trombone and bass trumpet within various jazz ensembles. He was active within the jazz and progressive jazz musical communi ...
was more enthusiastic, hailing it as "the best jazz record of the decade".
In a retrospective piece, Christgau later wrote that with "shlock" like ''Tutu'' and ''
Amandla'', Davis was taking advantage of the fusion movement he helped develop while showing "gratifying groove and class". In
J. D. Considine
J. D. Considine (born 1957) is a music critic who has been writing about music professionally since 1977.
Background
J. D. Considine's work has been published in numerous newspapers and music magazines, and he has contributed to several books. ...
's opinion, the album's compositions and improvisations endured well with the passage of time, even though its electronically processed and enigmatic music turned off jazz purists. Writing for ''Something Else!'' in 2006, S. Victor Aaron said the best song from ''Tutu'' may have been Davis's own composition "Tomaas": "With a
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
beat married to repetitive single note underpinned by some very nifty bass work by Miller, Miles and Miller (also on soprano sax) trade fours and eights in a rare opportunity for Miles to stretch out. Overall, though, the trumpet playing is subdued, probably more constrained by production than declining abilities. Rarely does the mute come off his horn." Reviewing the album for ''
Jazzwise
''Jazzwise'', launched in 1997, is the UK jazz monthly magazine. ''Jazzwise'' has a broad sub-genre coverage, from jazz, improv, hard bop, and jazz-rock to bebop and classic jazz, and also covers jazz crossover, including jazz-funk, jazz hip-h ...
'' in 2011, Davis' biographer George Cole said, "''Tutu'' was a product of the 80s, a decade where music was often in danger of becoming subservient to technology. But while much of the music from this era is now long forgotten; ''Tutu'' continues to thrive; artists such as
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
,
Al Jarreau
Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...
and
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...
have recorded cover versions of the title track."
Between May and August 2010, Miller performed on the "Tutu Revisited" concert tour with a band comprising
Christian Scott
Christian Scott (born March 31, 1983), known professionally as Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah), is an American jazz trumpeter, multi instrumentalist, composer, and producer.
He has been nominated for six Gramm ...
on trumpet with Alex Han on saxophone,
Federico González Peña on keyboards and
Louis Cato on drums. In an interview for ''
JazzTimes
''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store.
Coverage
After a decade of growth ...
'', Miller said, "I'm finding that although the music mirrored the times in which it was created, there is so much in the music that still seems relevant today. Although we've replaced some of the super electro sounding elements, the melodies are still very cool. It feels like they have withstood the test of time. People seem to be feeling this music twenty years later."
Track listing
All tracks composed by
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
except where indicated:
#"Tutu" – 5:15
#"Tomaas" – 5:38 (Davis, Marcus Miller)
#"Portia" – 6:18
#"Splatch" – 4:46
#"Backyard Ritual" – 4:49 (
George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
)
#"
Perfect Way" – 4:35 (
David Gamson
David Gamson is an American keyboardist/musician (also a producer, songwriter, arranger, engineer). Originally hailing from New York, he has worked with, among others, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Charli XCX, Meshell ...
,
Green Gartside
Green Gartside (born Paul Julian Strohmeyer; 22 June 1955) is a Welsh songwriter, singer and musician. He is the frontman of the band Scritti Politti.
Early life
Gartside was born on 22 June 1955 in Cardiff, Wales, to a " Cup-a-Soup salesman da ...
)
#"Don't Lose Your Mind" – 5:49
#"Full Nelson" – 5:06
Deluxe edition
Disc two (Live from
Nice Festival, France, July 1986)
#"Opening Medley": 'Theme from Jack Johnson', 'Speak', 'That's What Happened' – 15:14
#"New Blues" – 5:20
#"The Maze" – 10:15
#"
Human Nature
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
" – 9:04
#"Portia" – 7:54
#"Splatch" – 17:10
#"Time After Time" – 7:22
#"Carnival" – 4:20
Personnel
Musicians
* Miles Davis – trumpet
*
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
– bass guitars, guitar,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s,
drum machine programming,
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
,
soprano saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...
, other instruments
*
Jason Miles
Jason Miles (born June 30, 1951) is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, bassist Marcus Miller, and singer Luther Vandross, as well as maintaining a successfu ...
– synthesizer programming
*
Paulinho da Costa –
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
on "Tutu", "Portia", "Splatch" and Backyard Ritual"
*
Adam Holzman – synthesizer solo on "Splatch"
*
Steve Reid
Steve Reid (January 29, 1944 – April 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer who played with Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, James Brown, Fela Kuti, Kieran Hebden, and Sun Ra. He worked as a session drummer for Motown.
Biography
Born ...
– additional percussion on "Splatch"
*
George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
– all except percussion, bass guitar, trumpet on "Backyard Ritual"
*
Omar Hakim
Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate B ...
– drums and percussion on "Tomaas"
*
Bernard Wright
Bernard Wright (November 16, 1963 – May 19, 2022) was an American funk and jazz keyboardist and singer who began his career as a session musician and later released four solo albums.
Biography
Wright was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. ...
– additional synthesizers on "Tomaas" and "Don't Lose Your Mind"
*
Michał Urbaniak
Michał Urbaniak (born January 22, 1943) is a Polish jazz musician who plays violin, lyricon, and saxophone. His music includes elements of folk music, rhythm and blues, hip hop, and symphonic music.
History
He was born in Warsaw, Poland. U ...
–
electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...
on "Don't Lose Your Mind"
*
Jabali Billy Hart – drums,
bongos
Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...
Production
*Producers –
Tommy LiPuma
Tommy LiPuma (July 5, 1936 – March 13, 2017) was an American music producer. He received 33 Grammy nominations, 5 Grammy wins, and his productions sold over 75 million albums. LiPuma worked with many musicians, including Barbra Streisand, Miles ...
and Marcus Miller
*Musical arrangements – Marcus Miller
*Producers (5) – Tommy LiPuma and George Duke
*Musical arrangement (5) – George Duke
*Executive producer – Tommy LiPuma
*Engineers –
Peter Doell
Peter Doell is an American recording and mastering engineer known for his work with Miles Davis, Toto, Céline Dion and The Beach Boys. Doell has been a staff engineer at Capitol Studios, Sunset Sound Recorders and Universal Mastering Studios W ...
and Eric Calvi
*Assistant engineer – Maureen Thompson
*Engineer (1,3,4) -
Bill Schnee
William S. Schnee (born July 4, 1947) is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated an ...
*Engineer (5) – Erik Zobler
*Assistant engineer (5) – Mitch Gibson
*Mastering Engineer –
Doug Sax
Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...
at The Mastering Lab
*Photographer –
Irving Penn
Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Is ...
*Art director –
Eiko Ishioka
was a Japanese art director, costume designer, and graphic designer known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media.
Noted for her advertising campaigns for the Japanese boutique chain Parco, she collaborated with sportswear ...
*Designer – Susan Welt
Charts
Certifications and sales
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tutu
1986 albums
Miles Davis albums
Albums produced by Tommy LiPuma
Albums produced by Marcus Miller
Jazz fusion albums by American artists
Jazz-funk albums
Warner Records albums
Albums recorded at Capitol Studios