''Decoy'' is a 1984 album by

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 m ...

musician

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 musi ...

, recorded in 1983. Keyboardist Robert Irving III and guitarist

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

wrote or co-wrote most of the new compositions. The main theme of "That's What Happened" was lifted directly from Scofield's improvised solo on "Speak", a live performance included on the previous album '' Star People.'' Saxophonist Branford Marsalis appears with the group on “Decoy”, “Code M.D.” and “That’s Right” playing soprano.

Background

''Decoy'' is the first album Davis recorded without the help of longtime producer

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' '' Bitches Brew'', and ...

. Macero still had plans, including recording Davis with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but Davis insisted on producing the album himself. Herbie Hancock's " Rockit" was a hit, and Davis figured he could get airplay with his own new album as well, if he added more synthesizers, as well as beefed-up bass lines and overdubs, and so "we put clothes on the melodies", he said later.

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 i ...

advised him as well, and suggested, on "That's Right", that Davis put chords behind the trumpet lines as a contrast. The idea of layering sounds was put to practice on "Code M.D.", where Davis plays a muted solo behind his own solo.

Track listing

#"Decoy" ( Robert Irving III) - 8:33 #"Robot 415" (Miles Davis, Robert Irving III) - 0:59 #"Code M.D." (Robert Irving III) - 5:56 #"Freaky Deaky" (Miles Davis) - 4:30 #"What It Is" (Miles Davis,

) recorded live at the Festival International de Jazz, Montreal, 1983 - 4:32 #"That's Right" (Miles Davis, John Scofield) - 11:11 #"That's What Happened" (Miles Davis, John Scofield) recorded live at the Festival International de Jazz, Montreal, 1983 - 3:31

Personnel

*Miles Davis -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, synthesizer, arrangements * Branford Marsalis - soprano saxophone (on tracks 1, 3 and 6) * Bill Evans - soprano saxophone (on tracks 5 and 7) * Robert Irving III - synthesizer, synthesizer bass & drum programming *

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Darryl "The Munch" Jones - bass *

Al Foster Aloysius Tyrone Foster (born January 18, 1943) is an American jazz drummer. Foster's professional career began in the mid-60s, when he played and recorded with hard bop and swing musicians including Blue Mitchell and Illinois Jacquet. Foster ...

- drums * Mino Cinelu -

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. Ex ...

- arranger (track 6)

Production

:Producer: Miles Davis :Co-producer: Robert Irving III :Associate Co-producer: Vincent Wilburn, Jr. :Executive Producer: Dr. George Butler : :Engineer, Remix: Ronald F. Lorman :Assistant Engineer, Edited: Tom Swift :Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk : :Package Design: John Berg :Cover Photography: Gilles Larrain

References

Miles Davis albums 1984 albums Albums arranged by Gil Evans Columbia Records albums John Scofield albums {{1980s-jazz-album-stub