Miles to go around Helsinki

WALKING WITH A JAZZ LEGEND

- Sanjoy Narayan

There is a flurry of snow at Eerikinkatu. It’s 7.45 am. I pull my beanie lower, adjust my headphones and press play.

Right Off, from the Miles Davis album A Tribute to Jack Johnson, kicks in. John McLaughlin's guitar riff cuts through the white noise, Billy Cobham’s drums hit like boots on packed ice, and I move towards Helsinki Central railway station.

There are albums that become companions; sonic architecture that mirrors and magnifies the physical surroundings through which we move. This one was recorded in 1970 and released in 1971. For the past five years, I have listened to it in Helsinki.

..Jack Johnson correlates perfectly with the flowing lines and organic motifs of this city’s architectural heart.

Miles was 44 when he recorded it, and already a shapeshifter. He had given the world Kind of Blue (1959) and the Second Great Quintet (Miles on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums).