In my daily, inspired pursuit of music discovery – both new and old -, I am most grateful for the many online platforms built to help me discover and share music. New to my arsenal of music discovery tools is ColorHits, a rather unique way to discover and connect to music.

Shifting his web and graphic design talents to the music discovery space, ColorHits founder Matt Barrett has built a powerful discovery tool that provides the user a color search of album art for more than 2 million albums – with new titles added every week. Still in Beta, ColorHits is designed so users can preview tracks, download from iTunes and share on Facebook and Twitter.

I recently spoke with Barrett about his music discovery endeavor. He was also happy to use Miles Davis as an example of how ColorHits was designed to help explore new music by connecting color similarities in album art.

I mentioned that ColorHits is still in Beta, but early access is currently available. Definitely drop by ColorHits to sign up and request your invite to take a closer look at the music discovery tool.

Click HERE to sign-up!

Miles Davis Online: What is the story behind how – and why – you developed ColorHits?
Matt Barrett: ColorHits was actually not my first attempt at creating a new way to discover music. It started when the Beatles were first introduced on iTunes and all the fan-fare that came with it. It had its own press conference, it took over the apple website… it all seemed a bit much to me. I was first thinking of a way to mock such an extravagant music launch, creating oddly-named, fake bands that would be a ‘daily deal’ approach to new bands. Humor was the main purpose but another use was to connect people to real bands in iTunes based off the fake band name. It sounds ridiculous describing it now and, at the time, I realized it would require a lot of creative power on my part.

During this exploration period, I came across one piece of album art that ultimately lead me to continue with ColorHits as it exists today. The album was Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak. I noticed the color bar on the left side and thought, what if those colors were a summary of the colors in the album art. Of course for this example, that isn’t the case, but I thought to myself, ‘what other albums use those same colors?’ Rewind 2 years and I was actually working on code for a separate project that did just that. I mashed both of them together and ColorHits was born.

Why? ColorHits happened out of coincidence yet it mixes perfectly with my personal and professional life. I’m a developer by trade but have always looked at the world from a design point of view and appreciate all kinds of music, playing some myself. In the early stages of development, I was curious and when I saw the results and potential of color searching music albums, it turned into an obsession and I had to make it available to others.

Miles Davis Online: Do you think people will let the colors guide their music discovery, or stick to search by artist or genre? I imagine once they see the interesting connections via album art, they might want to allow the colors to be their guide.
Matt Barrett: Searching for music with color is an odd thing to do, it’s even harder to describe… I’ve tried many times! You’re not quite sure what to expect and that’s the beauty of ColorHits as it relates to music discovery.

I included both ways to search because I see two primary ways to begin. You might want to start with your favorite album, then branch out from there and see what other albums look like your favorites in the same genre or jump into other genres.

Someone might also be in complete discovery mode and want to check out pink and black alternative albums. You might love them, you might hate them. I leave that for the listeners to decide. Curiosity and discovering music on your own is a big driver for ColorHits. I see it as being ‘active discovery’ where other options like internet radio are more passive. With this site, it’s really effective when you’re on a search for something completely new, that none of your friends have probably heard or seen before.

We have over 2.5 million albums on the site so there is so much to discover. Music is meant to be shared and we try to make that easy too by allowing users to share on Facebook and Twitter with one click.

Miles Davis Online: Let’s use Miles Davis as an example how someone can use ColorHits for music discovery.
Matt Barrett: Miles Davis is a great example. Since we know who we like, start with the keyword search and click on any album. Miles Davis Sketches of Spain comes right up with a complete color profile, track list and similar jazz albums that use similar colors. If you click on ‘more jazz albums with these colors’, you’ll see that there are over 200 jazz albums with similar colors. Some you may have heard of, but hopefully some new albums to discover.

You can also do a general search by choosing the jazz genre, then choosing any color or combination of colors. Click on the results to preview, explore and share.

Miles Davis Online: When are you thinking about an official launch?
Matt Barrett: ColorHits is currently in beta and invites are being sent out in batches. Anyone interested in early access can sign up for an account at colorhits.com. We will email you when we’re ready. A full launch will be soon after we finish up some lingering bugs and any feedback from the initial users.

Miles Davis Online: Once you are out of beta and humming along, where would you like to take ColorHits, how would you like to see it evolve? Is it a matter of adding music, along with users?
Matt Barrett: Music is added every week so there will always be new music to discover. I have plans to get a mobile presence out soon that will include notifications of discovery so the site will discover specific albums based on a users’ musical and color. In the short-term, its more focused around what a useful to our members and how we can modify the core functionality to help them find things they love.

I can’t think of an example from business.

But I can think of one from music: Miles Davis. Like Jobs, he was a showman who was also intensely private. Like Jobs, he was an authoritarian who brought people together. Miles was joined by Bill Evans and John Coltrane; Jobs was joined by Jonathan Ive and Tim Cook.

And like Jobs, Miles changed his field over and over again. Jobs created the first graphical user interface, the mouse, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Davis created modal jazz and fusion, and he helped transform bebop. Listen to “Birth of the Cool,” “Sketches of Spain,” “Kind of Blue,” “Bitches Brew,” and “A Tribute to Jack Johnson.”

What do they have in common? Not that much—except that they are all awesome, they were all innovative, and they were all endlessly copied. Lots of people have one great idea; very few people have five. (Everyone, of course, also has bad ideas. Miles had “Doo-Bop”; Jobs had the Apple Lisa.)

Read the full post here.

If you speak French this is good news. Even if you do not speak French this is still good news – due to the beautiful photos!

A new issue of Vibrations Collector is out – and it is all about Miles Davis. The special issue features gorgeous photos, original essays and exclusive interviews.

The magazine content includes “On Kind Of Blue,” by John Lewis; Electric Miles, an essay by Lester Bangs; a look at Miles and funk music; a complete discography; 100-plus rare and new photos; Miles Davis and the women in his life; Miles and his photography/painting.

To flip through the issue and take a look at the great photos, click here.
To buy the issue click here.

il est merveilleux!

Back in June, Eagle Rock released a highlights package of Miles Davis ‘Live At Montreux.’ But now they are ready to unveil a whopper of a DVD collection.

Eagle Rock have set an October 24, 2011 release date for The Definitive Miles Davis At Montreux DVD Collection 1973-1991, a massive 10 DVD box set with over 18 hours of performances!

This historically important 10 DVD set captures all of Miles Davis’ performances at the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival between 1973 and 1991, the last being less than three months before his death. It is an unparalleled archive of live Miles Davis performances and is now being released on a visual format for the first time ever.

The final concert from 1991 sees Miles Davis paying tribute to his collaborator and close friend Gil Evans who had died in 1988.

1. The New York Times Reviews “Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1,”

Miles Davis, Live at the Apogee: No jazz musician has been more diligently organized or effectively monetized in the afterlife than Miles Davis, who died in 1991 on the cusp of the compact-disc reissue boom. The current glut of repackaged music under his name might prompt any reasonable person to conclude that the vault has been plundered bare. Yet here comes “Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1,” adapted from state-owned broadcast sources, on three CDs and a DVD. Due out on Columbia/Legacy on Sept. 20, it captures Davis’s finest working band at its apogee, straining at the limits of post-bop refinement. [nytimes.com]

2. Some Music Thinking on Branding and Miles Davis

It is legitimate to call Miles Davis a strong brand that managed to develop, innovate and co-create new musical styles and genres over several decades starting from the 40s to the 90s. When you listen to albums like Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew or Tutu we encounter many different sounds, styles, genres and musicians but in all of the songs we hear and feel the ‘musical essence’ based on directions from the charismatic personality of Miles Davis. [creative companion]

3. “Miles Davis Was A Jazzman” by Craig S. O’Connell

Miles Davis was a jazzman
A razzamatazz man
Leader of the band
With a trumpet in his hand
Miles Davis
Miles Davis.

Miles Davis was
A looming lyrical man
Soft and sassy,
Bold and brassy,
A bebop hipster
Sharp as a tack
So clean,
So cool.

[Click here to read the complete poem.]

4. Bitches Brew – Miles Davis’ Ultimate Statement of Defiance

“Listening to the opening strands of chaos from album opener Pharaoh’s Dance, it’s clear that this is a revolution. 40 years later and the album’s carefully sculpted noise is still ahead of its’ time.” [afro-punk]

5. First Listen: Miles Davis, ‘Live In Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1′

“This is a live recording of the Miles Davis Quintet in 1967.

If you’re a seasoned jazz fan, you immediately understand: “Wait, isn’t that the band with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter? Ron Carter and Tony Williams? The one behind E.S.P., and Miles Smiles, and Nefertiti? The one with all those twisted, fourth-dimension harmonies? The rhythmically athletic swing? Those incredible tunes? And … whoa, wait, you mean they’re live, too?”

Let’s say you’ve heard some things by Miles Davis you can get behind, but you’re no aficionado. So when you hear some of these recordings, you might think, “This sounds kind of like that weird, aggressive stuff those kids were playing at the jam session the other Sunday. Except, you know, much better. What is this?” [npr.org]

6. Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959 ‘Immersive Production’ to Tour

“CAMI Music has joined forces with Miles Davis Properties, LLC and Blue Note Records to present The Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959. Described as “a new immersive musical and historical production,” The Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959 will recapture this critical period of American history through a historical and cultural context.” [jazztimes.com]

(Artist Series, Volume 17)

Last year I had the pleasure to catch up with Erwann Gauthier, artistic director for Paris-based design studio Ezz-thetic. Gauthier was kind of enough to let me post two of his Miles Davis illustrations, which you can see here.

It’d be tough for any creative type to stay away from Miles Davis for too long, and here we are back with four new illustrations from Gauthier inspired by jazz legend Miles Davis. The new designs are delightful, so full of bold color and cool style. Gauthier said it was okay to post the new artwork, which can be found above and below in the gallery. I even had the pleasure to catch up with the talented designer to see what’s new. Now if only I can get to Paris sometime to do the interview in person!

Miles Davis Online: First of all – how are things in Paris?
Erwann Gauthier: Everything is really fine! I am on holiday. A deep breath of fresh air before going back to work.

Miles Davis Online: What inspired you to return to Miles Davis as a design subject?
Erwann Gauthier: An illustration on Philip Burke’s blog that I really loved! It gave me renewed desire to work (again) on Miles Davis.

Miles Davis Online: Your choice of colors is really striking. Do you create the image of the illustration before the color, or do you have an idea of the colors you want to use right from the start?
Erwann Gauthier: Thanks so much for the compliment. First I create the illustration and then I have it colored. Trying different combinations in order to find the best one. I love mixing all these colors together.

Miles Davis Online: Would you say there’s a certain style that defines you as an artist, or do you prefer to explore all types of web design and illustration?
Erwann Gauthier: I do not think I have one definite style. I’d rather say I am in perpetual research, which allows me to try a lot of new things.

Miles Davis Online: Can you talk a little about Ezz-thetic, your role as creative director and the type of work you are doing these days?
Erwann Gauthier: Ezz-thetic is a creative studio focused on developing integrated advertising, digital and branded experiences. Ezz-thetic is based in Paris, France. The name of my studio is homage to Geaorge Russell and his album ‘ezz6thetics.’ Miles Davis has performed this piece a lot of times. I am a graphic designer, artistic director. My role is to answer visual communication challenges.

I am working on “les victoires du jazz” which is the French Grammy awards for jazz. It will take place in nice next September. I am also working on Bruno Weppe’s web site, he is a fantastic French hair and make up artist.

* You can find more artwork from Erwann Gauthier at Ezz-thetic.
Artwork is © Erwann Gauthier

Dan Cohen scores again, this time with Miles Davis‘ classic “So What” getting the Animated Sheet Music treatment.

Very cool is an understatement.

BONUS:

Animated Sheet Music: “Bloomdido” by Charlie Parker

I’m a big fan of Uncut magazine. Their September 2011 issue is especially excellent because they feature Miles Davis in their always interesting Album By Album feature.

With great commentary from the likes of Jimmy Cobb, Jack Dejohnette and Bill Evans, Uncut spotlights the ‘jazz king of cool’s greatest works.’

So of course we get Kind of Blue (‘The Greatest Jazz Album, Ever), Sketches of Spain (‘The Genre-Defying Follow-up), Bitches Brew (‘The Trad-Confounding Fusion Hit’) and The Man With The Horn (‘Out Of Retirement’) among the nine albums highlighted in the Album by Album feature.

We Want Miles! Or should I say, ‘Queremos Miles!’

Following successful showings in Paris and Montreal, the We Want Miles exhibition has traveled south – South America that is.

The life and work of trumpeter Miles Davis will be exhibited at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brazil in Rio de Janeiro between now and September 28. The exhibition is free.

Curated by Vincent Bessières and beautifully designed by the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the multimedia expo includes about 300-plus items, featuring recordings, artwork, photographs, videos, documentaries, clothing and musical scores provided by the Miles Davis estate and private collectors.

The big question is when will the We Want Miles exhibition arrive on U.S. shores — and where.

Easy guesses would be New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. Then again maybe St. Louis get to be first in line. Regardless, let’s hope the show makes it to numerous cities so more people will have the special opportunity to enjoy this terrific exhibition.