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Standards and Signification Between Jazz and Fusion: Miles Davis and "I Fall in Love Too Easily," 1963-1970

In an article published in Jazz Perspectives, John Paul Meyers analyzes the performances of Miles Davis at a key moment in the 1960s: when Davis was straddling the post-bop, free jazz, and fusion styles. Meyers shows that “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” more so than any other standard, served as a durable vehicle for Davis's musical goals throughout the mid-1960s. By 1970, however, these goals seem to have shifted as Davis moved, step by step, away from a model of jazz performance based on improvisation on a familiar, pre-existing tune or structure. Hence, “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” and all other jazz standards were dropped from the band's book as Davis pursued other means of communicating with his audience.