Star People

For other uses, see Star people (disambiguation).

1983 studio album with live recordings by Miles Davis

Star People

Studio album with live recordings by

Miles Davis

Released| April 1983
Recorded| August 11, 1982 – February 3, 1983
Genre| Jazz fusion
Length| 58:35
Label| Columbia
Producer| Teo Macero
Miles Davis chronology
| We Want Miles
(1982)  | Star People
(1983)  | Decoy
(1984)

|
|

Star People is a 1983 album recorded by Miles Davis and issued by Columbia Records. It is the second studio recording released after the trumpeter's six-year hiatus, the first to feature electric guitarist John Scofield, who was recommended by saxophonist Bill Evans, and the last to be produced by long-standing collaborator Teo Macero.

Bassist Marcus Miller, who would go on to produce future Davis sessions, plays on five of the tracks. Electric guitarist Mike Stern features on most of the pieces, and drummer Al Foster and percussionist Mino Cinelu round out the rhythm section. Davis played trumpet and Oberheim synthesizer simultaneously (without using overdubs), and also on separately recorded interludes for the over-18-minute-long blues "Star People".[1] The album was re-released as a part of the boxed set Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection in 2009, and was further remastered and reissued in 2022.

## Reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [2]
Christgau's Record Guide| A−[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings|  [5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide| [4]
Tom Hull – on the Web| B+ ()[6]

In a contemporaneous review, music writer Greg Tate wrote:

> Now, what I've come to love about Star People is that it doesn't sound like Miles wants this band to become capable of anything but playing a simple blues. And while seeing Miles in concert recently made me think he was trying to reconstruct his mystique out of thin air, Star People reveals him capable of delightful self-parody. Like Picasso when he ran out of ideas, Miles has taken to enjoying poking a little fun at himself. So that on Star People we hear the innovator of modern music make a big to-do out of playing muted blues cliches over funk vamps that were old in 1970, hear him riotously romp through a cornball Tin Pan Alley variation like he was born yesterday, find him spurting soul band trumpet squeals in and out of a number whose head and rhythm arrangement come across like a cross between Basie, Bird, and James Brown. Moreover, we find Miles enjoying working with musicians not on the cutting edge, but on the backburner of bebop conservatism. [...] On the other hand, I'm not going to say the record doesn't swing when it wants to, and all in all it just may be the most accessible LP Miles has ever made. [...] Furthermore, when you stop and consider the source of this oldhat comedy routine, it kinda leaves you in stitches. (When genius mocks itself, what other response is there?)[7]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Miles Davis.

Side oneNo.| Title| Recording date and studio/venue| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Come Get It"| August 28, 1982 live at Jones Beach Theatre, New York| 11:22
2.| "It Gets Better"| January 5, 1983 at Record Plant Studio, New York| 9:47
3.| "Speak"| February 3, 1983 live at Cullen Auditorium, University of Houston, Houston| 8:24

Side twoNo.| Title| Recording date and studio/venue| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Star People"| September 1, 1982 at Columbia Studio B, New York| 18:44
2.| "U'n'I"| September 1, 1982 at Columbia Studio B, New York| 5:55
3.| "Star on Cicely"| August 11, 1982 at Columbia Studio B, New York| 4:23

## Personnel

[edit]

* Miles Davis – trumpet, keyboards
* Mike Stern – electric guitar
* John Scofield – electric guitar (2, 3)
* Marcus Miller – electric bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 6)
* Tom Barney – electric bass (3)
* Al Foster – drums
* Mino Cinelu – percussion
* Bill Evans – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
* Gil Evans – arrangements (uncredited)[8]

### Production

[edit]

* Dr George Butler – executive producer
* Teo Macero – producer
* Don Puluse – recording and remix engineer at CBS Studios (New York City)
* Jay Messina – recording engineer at Record Plant (New York City)
* Ron Lorman – remote sound engineer
* Bill Messina, Ken Robertson, Lou Schlossberg and Harold Tarowski – engineers
* Mark Allison, Chris Murphy and Jim Rose – technician assistants
* Joe Gastwirt – mastering at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs (New York City)
* Miles Davis – "all drawings, color concepts and basic attitudes"
* Janet Perr – cover design
* John Berg – art direction
* Leonard Feather – liner notes

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Cf. album liner notes by Leonard Feather.
2. ^ Yanow, Scott (2011). "Star People – Miles Davis | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "Miles Davis: Star People". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
4. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 58. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
5. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 351\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
6. ^ Hull, Tom (May 10, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
7. ^ Tate, Greg. "The Electric Miles". Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, pp84–85.
8. ^ Only mentioned in the liner notes as co-arranger and consultant to Davis, Feather citing Davis; not in the actual credits to the album.

* v
* t
* e

Miles Davis

Discography

Studio albums|

| Prestige era|

* The New Sounds
* Young Man with a Horn
* Blue Period
* The Compositions of Al Cohn
* Miles Davis, Volume 2
* Miles Davis, Volume 3
* Miles Davis Quartet
* Miles Davis All Star Sextet
* Miles Davis Quintet
* Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins
* Miles Davis All Stars, Volume 1
* Miles Davis All Stars, Volume 2
* The Musings of Miles
* Blue Moods
* Dig
* Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet
* Quintet/Sextet
* Collectors' Items
* Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
* Bags' Groove
* Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
* Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants
* Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
* Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet

|

Columbia era|

* 'Round About Midnight
* Miles Ahead
* Milestones
* Porgy and Bess
* Kind of Blue
* Jazz Track
* Sketches of Spain
* Someday My Prince Will Come
* Seven Steps to Heaven
* Quiet Nights
* E.S.P.
* Miles Smiles
* Sorcerer
* Nefertiti
* Miles in the Sky
* Filles de Kilimanjaro
* In a Silent Way
* Bitches Brew
* Jack Johnson
* Live-Evil
* On the Corner
* The Man with the Horn
* Star People
* Decoy
* You're Under Arrest
* Aura

Warner Bros. era|

* Tutu
* Amandla
* Doo-Bop
* Rubberband

Soundtracks|

* Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
* Jack Johnson
* Music from Siesta
* The Hot Spot
* Dingo

Live
recordings|

* Birdland 1951
* Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
* Miles & Coltrane
* Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
* Amsterdam Concert
* At Newport 1958
* Miles & Monk at Newport
* Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
* Miles Davis & John Coltrane The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
* In Person: At the Blackhawk, San Francisco
* Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall
* Miles Davis in Europe
* Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
* My Funny Valentine
* Four & More
* Miles in Tokyo
* Miles in Berlin
* The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
* Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1
* 1969 Miles – Festiva De Juan Pins
* Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
* Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time
* Bitches Brew Live
* Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West
* Miles Davis at Fillmore
* Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3
* The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
* Live-Evil
* In Concert
* Dark Magus
* Agharta
* Pangaea
* Miles! Miles! Miles!
* We Want Miles
* Live Around the World
* Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
* Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux

Compilations|

* Miles Davis and Horns
* Blue Haze
* Birth of the Cool
* Walkin'
* Miles Davis Volume 1
* Miles Davis Volume 2
* Miles Davis' Greatest Hits
* Basic Miles: The Classic Performances of Miles Davis
* Big Fun
* Get Up with It
* Water Babies
* Circle in the Round
* 1958 Miles
* Directions
* The Columbia Years 1955–1985
* Love Songs
* Super Hits
* The Essential Miles Davis
* Miles Davis Quintet: Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5
* That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7
* Miles Davis 54

Box sets|

* The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane
* Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
* Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964
* The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968
* The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions
* The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
* The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
* The Complete On the Corner Sessions
* In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete
* The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
* The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux
* The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
* Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection
* The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
* Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951–1956

Remix albums|

* Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974
* Panthalassa: The Remixes
* Evolution of the Groove

Compositions|

* "All Blues"
* "Blue in Green"
* "Boplicity"
* "Dig"
* "Donna Lee"
* "Four"
* "Flamenco Sketches"
* "Freddie Freeloader"
* "Joshua"
* "Milestones"
* "Nardis"
* "Seven Steps to Heaven"
* "So What"

Related articles|

* Miles Dewey Davis Jr. (father)
* Miles Davis Quintet
* Miles: The Autobiography
* Miles! The Definitive Miles Davis at Montreux DVD Collection
* That's What Happened: Live in Germany 1987
* Live in Munich (1988)
* Miles from India
* A Different Kind of Blue (2004 documentary)
* Miles Ahead (2015 movie)

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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