Doo-Bop (1992)

A moment of silence, please, for at least the idea behind Miles Davis' incomplete last album, Doo-Bop. Miles wanted to capture the sound of today's urban streets. So he hooked up with hip-hop producer Easy Mo Bee (he was also working with Prince but didn't finish anything). The result focuses almost entirely on Miles, who solos with impeccable logic and wistful finesse over smoothly intricate hip-hop rhythm tracks. But those tracks are too smooth, and all too quickly the album starts to sound like elegant aural wallpaper, background music for the VIP room of a sleek new night spot. Dorky added raps — one of them limply calls Miles ''a multitalented and gifted musician/Who can play any position'' hardly help. Better this, I guess, than Miles' last few albums, freighted with songs (and backup bands) nobody needed to hear. But I wish Miles had really trusted the street, and risked collaborating with hip-hop or techno producers wild enough to throw him some curves.