Star People

Released in 1983, this is Miles Davis’ third album into his comeback after a six-year layoff in the late ‘70s. Here he uses the nucleus of his second-to-last band: bassist Marcus Miller, guitarists John Scofield and Mike Stern (who kicks up a real ruckus on the title track), drummer Al Foster, and saxophonist Bill Evans. Davis still embraces a fusion of rock, jazz, and funk, but the density of the music heard on albums like On the Corner has been set aside in favor something more stripped-down and even bluesy at times. Davis’ playing has bright moments as he continues to regain his form, notably soloing on “It Gets Better” and the title track. While some of this sounds close to the territories of Michael Jackson and Prince (“Speak” and “U ‘N’ I”)—and the dated synthesizer tones would haunt this final phase—the actual tone of Davis' trumpet with mute sounds rich and multidimensional. This is only available digitally or as part of a boxed set; it's a chance for fans to fill in a hole.