The Artful Dodger Project | On Blue Dorian Road

Last year, at a local record show in Bristol, I picked up a cheap vinyl record of Leonard Bernstein giving a lecture; arguing that Jazz should considered a form of art. The way he described jazz as a person really sparked an idea to sample it. I then later started creating a track around it inspired by the later works of Miles Davis; specifically his hiphop album ‘Doo Bop’ (1992). The composition was also inspired by his modal harmony in ‘So What’, which you can defiantly hear when the chords move up a half step every once in a while! I went all out, recording muted trumpet overdubs, performing an improvised electric trumpet solo, improvising extra parts in electric keys and guitar; and even sampling famous jazz records by Monty Alexander, Bill Evans; and myself playing in New York from last year!

The name is a reference to two things: 1, the famous standard 'On Green Dolphin Street' (famously recorded by Miles in the late 50's) and 'Dorian Road', a street name in Bristol.

Samples from 'Montecello' by Monty Alexander, Jon Baptise's soundtrack from 'Soul' (2020), 'Kind Of Blue' by Miles Davis and yours truly!

Film clips used; 'Miles Ahead (Dir. Don Cheadle (2015)), 'Soul' (Disney Pixar, '2020')