Considered by some to represent the high water mark of Miles’s comeback years, Star People also represents the last time Miles would work with long-time musical associates Teo Macero and Gil Evans. It would also be the last time Miles worked so extensively with his working band in the studio. Star People mixes dense, rock-funk tunes with blues numbers. Standout tracks include the storming opener “Come Get It” (a live recording), the rocking “Star On Cicely” and “It Gets Better,” a blues number which highlights the playing of both Miles and guitarist John Scofield.
Excerpt from The Last Miles:
Star People: John Scofield on how Gil Evans and he helped Miles compose “It Gets Better”
“At one point Miles called me and said ‘come on over’, and I went to Miles’s apartment and Gil was there and we jammed. Gil and Miles both played the piano and I played guitar. Miles had this chord sequence that was the same as a 12-bar blues if you don’t play the first four bars. If you turn it into an eight-chord sequence and start on the fifth bar and go from five through twelve over 12-bar blues. It’s like a brilliant thing. He just subtracted four bars from the blues. Gil made up a bass line and Miles said ‘improvise over it.’ The next day we went into the studio and Gil had this music written out and he came up to me and said ‘That’s your solo that you took yesterday.’ And Miles said ‘Gil, don’t tell him that, he’ll get a big head!’”
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