Miles Davis | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, Miles Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. But if his approach to his instrument was constant, his approach to jazz was dazzlingly protean. To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-40s to the early 90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period, and he often led the way in those changes, both with his own performances and recordings and by choosing sidemen and collaborators who forged new directions. It can even be argued that jazz stopped evolving when Davis wasnt there to push it forward. Davis was the son of a dental surgeon, Dr. Miles Dewey Davis, Jr., and a music teacher, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, and grew up in the black middle class of East St. Louis after the family moved there shortly after his birth. He became interested in music during his childhood and by the age of 12 began taking trumpet lessons. While still in high school, he started to get jobs playing in local bars and at 16 was playing gigs out of town on weekends. At 17, he joined Eddie Randles Blue Devils, a territory band based in St. Louis. He enjoyed a personal apotheosis in 1944, just after graduating from high school, when he saw and was allowed to sit in with Billy Eckstines big band, which was playing in St. Louis. The band featured trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, the architects of the emerging bebop style of jazz, which was characterized by fast, inventive soloing and dynamic rhythm variations. It is striking that Davis fell so completely under Gillespie and Parkers spell, since his own slower and less flashy style never really compared to theirs. But bebop was the new sound of the day, and the young trumpeter was bound to follow it. He did so by leaving the Midwest to attend the Institute of Musical Art in New York City (renamed Juilliard) in September 1944. Shortly after his arrival in Manhattan, he was playing in clubs with Parker, and by 1945 he had abandoned his academic studies for a full-time career as a jazz musician, initially joining Benny Carters band and making his first recordings as a sideman. He played with Eckstine in 1946-1947 and was a member of Parkers group in 1947-1948, making his recording debut as a leader on a 1947 session that featured Parker, pianist John Lewis, bassist Nelson Boyd, and drummer Max Roach. This was an isolated date, however, and Davis spent most of his time playing and recording behind Parker. But in the summer of 1948, he organized a nine-piece band with an unusual horn section. In addition to himself, it featured an alto saxophone, a baritone saxophone, a trombone, a French horn, and a tuba. This nonet, employing arrangements by Gil Evans and others, played for two weeks at the Royal Roost in New York in September. Earning a contract with Capitol Records, the band went into the studio in January 1949 for the first of three sessions and produced 12 tracks that attracted little attention at first. The bands relaxed sound, however, affected the musicians who played it, among them Kai Winding, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, J.J. Johnson, and Kenny Clarke, and it had a profound influence on the development of the cool jazz style on the West Coast. (In February 1957, Capitol finally issued the tracks together on an LP called Birth of the Cool.) Davis, meanwhile, had moved on to co-leading a band with pianist Tadd Dameron in 1949, and the group took him out of the country for an appearance at the Paris Jazz Festival in May. But the trumpeters progress was impeded by an addiction to heroin that plagued him in the early 50s. His performances and recordings became more haphazard, but in January 1951 he began a long series of recordings for the Prestige label that became his main recording outlet for the next several years. He managed to kick his habit by the middle of the decade, and he made a strong impression playing "Round Midnight" at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, a performance that led major-label Columbia to sign him. The prestigious contract allowed him to put together a permanent band, and he organized a quintet featuring saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, who began recording his Columbia debut, Round About Midnight, in October. As it happened, however, he had a remaining five albums on his Prestige contract, and over the next year he was forced to alternate his Columbia sessions with sessions for Prestige to fulfill this previous commitment. The latter resulted in the Prestige albums The New Miles Davis Quintet, Cookin, Workin, Relaxin, and Steamin, making Davis first quintet one of his better-documented outfits. In May 1957, just three months after Capitol released the Birth of the Cool LP, Davis again teamed with arranger Gil Evans for his second Columbia LP, Miles Ahead. Playing flügelhorn, Davis fronted a big band on music that extended the Birth of the Cool concept and even had classical overtones. Released in 1958, the album was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, intended to honor recordings made before the Grammy Awards were instituted in 1959. In December 1957, Davis returned to Paris, where he improvised the background music for the film LAscenseur pour lEchafaud. Jazz Track, an album containing this music, earned him a 1960 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance, Solo or Small Group. He added saxophonist Cannonball Adderley to his group, creating the Miles Davis Sextet, which recorded Milestones in April 1958. Shortly after this recording, Red Garland was replaced on piano by Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb took over for Philly Joe Jones on drums. In July, Davis again collaborated with Gil Evans and an orchestra on an album of music from Porgy and Bess. Back in the sextet, Davis began to experiment with modal playing, basing his improvisations on scales rather than chord changes. This led to his next band recording, Kind of Blue, in March and April 1959, an album that became a landmark in modern jazz and the most popular album of Davis career, eventually selling over two million copies, a phenomenal success for a jazz record. In sessions held in November 1959 and March 1960, Davis again followed his pattern of alternating band releases and collaborations with Gil Evans, recording Sketches of Spain, containing traditional Spanish music and original compositions in that style. The album earned Davis and Evans Grammy nominations in 1960 for Best Jazz Performance, Large Group, and Best Jazz Composition, More Than 5 Minutes; they won in the latter category. By the time Davis returned to the studio to make his next band album in March 1961, Adderley had departed, Wynton Kelly had replaced Bill Evans at the piano, and John Coltrane had left to begin his successful solo career, being replaced by saxophonist Hank Mobley (following the brief tenure of Sonny Stitt). Nevertheless, Coltrane guested on a couple of tracks of the album, called Someday My Prince Will Come. The record made the pop charts in March 1962, but it was preceded into the best-seller lists by the Davis quintets next recording, the two-LP set Miles Davis in Person (Friday & Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, San Francisco), recorded in April. The following month, Davis recorded another live show, as he and his band were joined by an orchestra led by Gil Evans at Carnegie Hall in May. The resulting Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall was his third LP to reach the pop charts, and it earned Davis and Evans a 1962 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Large Group, Instrumental. Davis and Evans teamed up again in 1962 for what became their final collaboration, Quiet Nights. The album was not issued until 1964, when it reached the charts and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group or Soloist with Large Group. In 1996, Columbia Records released a six-CD box set, Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings, that won the Grammy for Best Historical Album. Quiet Nights was preceded into the marketplace by Davis next band effort, Seven Steps to Heaven, recorded in the spring of 1963 with an entirely new lineup consisting of saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Victor Feldman, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Frank Butler. During the sessions, Feldman was replaced by Herbie Hancock and Butler by Tony Williams. The album found Davis making a transition to his next great group, of which Carter, Hancock, and Williams would be members. It was another pop chart entry that earned 1963 Grammy nominations for both Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Soloist or Small Group and Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group. The quintet followed with two live albums, Miles Davis in Europe, recorded in July 1963, which made the pop charts and earned a 1964 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Small Group or Soloist with Small Group, and My Funny Valentine, recorded in February 1964 and released in 1965, when it reached the pop charts. By September 1964, the final member of the classic Miles Davis Quintet of the 60s was in place with the addition of saxophonist Wayne Shorter to the team of Davis, Carter, Hancock, and Williams. While continuing to play standards in concert, this unit embarked on a series of albums of original compositions contributed by the bandmembers themselves, starting in January 1965 with E.S.P., followed by Miles Smiles (1967 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Small Group or Soloist with Small Group [7 or Fewer]), Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky (1968 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Small Group or Soloist with Small Group), and Filles de Kilimanjaro. By the time of Miles in the Sky, the group had begun to turn to electric instruments, presaging Davis next stylistic turn. By the final sessions for Filles de Kilimanjaro in September 1968, Hancock had been replaced by Chick Corea and Carter by Dave Holland. But Hancock, along with pianist Joe Zawinul and guitarist John McLaughlin, participated on Davis next album, In a Silent Way (1969), which returned the trumpeter to the pop charts for the first time in four years and earned him another small-group jazz performance Grammy nomination. With his next album, Bitches Brew, Davis turned more overtly to a jazz-rock style. Though certainly not conventional rock music, Davis electrified sound attracted a young, non-jazz audience while putting off traditional jazz fans. Bitches Brew, released in March 1970, reached the pop Top 40 and became Davis first album to be certified gold. It also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement and won the Grammy for large-group jazz performance. He followed it with such similar efforts as Miles Davis at Fillmore East (1971 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Group), A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, On the Corner, and In Concert, all of which reached the pop charts. Meanwhile, Davis former sidemen became his disciples in a series of fusion groups: Corea formed Return to Forever, Shorter and Zawinul led Weather Report, and McLaughlin and former Davis drummer Billy Cobham organized the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Starting in October 1972, when he broke his ankles in a car accident, Davis became less active in the early 70s, and in 1975 he gave up recording entirely due to illness, undergoing surgery for hip replacement later in the year. Five years passed before he returned to action by recording The Man with the Horn in 1980 and going back to touring in 1981. By now, he was an elder statesman of jazz, and his innovations had been incorporated into the music, at least by those who supported his eclectic approach. He was also a celebrity whose appeal extended far beyond the basic jazz audience. He performed on the worldwide jazz festival circuit and recorded a series of albums that made the pop charts, including We Want Miles (1982 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Soloist), Star People, Decoy, and Youre Under Arrest. In 1986, after 30 years with Columbia, he switched to Warner Bros. and released Tutu, which won him his fourth Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance. Aura, an album he had recorded in 1984, was released by Columbia in 1989 and brought him his fifth Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Soloist (on a Jazz Recording). Davis surprised jazz fans when, on July 8, 1991, he joined an orchestra led by Quincy Jones at the Montreux Jazz Festival to perform some of the arrangements written for him in the late 50s by Gil Evans; he had never previously looked back at an aspect of his career. He died of pneumonia, respiratory failure, and a stroke within months. Doo-Bop, his last studio album, appeared in 1992. It was a collaboration with rapper Easy Mo Bee, and it won a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Instrumental Performance, with the track "Fantasy" nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Released in 1993, Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux won Davis his seventh Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance. Miles Davis took an all-inclusive, constantly restless approach to jazz that had begun to fall out of favor by the time of his death, even as it earned him controversy during his lifetime. It was hard to recognize the bebop acolyte of Charlie Parker in the flamboyantly dressed leader with the hair extensions who seemed to keep one foot on a wah-wah pedal and one hand on an electric keyboard in his later years. But he did much to popularize jazz, reversing the trend away from commercial appeal that bebop started. And whatever the fripperies and explorations, he retained an ability to play moving solos that endeared him to audiences and demonstrated his affinity with tradition. He is a reminder of the musics essential quality of boundless invention, using all available means. Twenty-four years after Davis death, he was the subject of Miles Ahead, a biopic co-written and directed by Don Cheadle, who also portrayed him. Its soundtrack functioned as a career overview with additional music provided by pianist Robert Glasper and associates. Additionally, Glasper enlisted many of his collaborators to help record Everythings Beautiful, a separate release that incorporated Davis master recordings and outtakes into new compositions. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 41 Title: Young Man With a Horn Released: 1952 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:07:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dear Old Stockholm (04:12) 2 Woody ’n’ You (03:24) 3 Yesterdays (03:44) 4 Chance It (03:03) 5 Donna (03:13) 6 How Deep Is the Ocean? (04:41) 7 Tempus Fugit (03:50) 8 Enigma (03:22) 9 Ray’s Idea (03:43) 10 Kelo (03:17) 11 I Waited for You (03:29) 12 C.T.A. (03:32) 13 Bouncing With Bud (03:02) 14 Wail (03:05) 15 52nd Street Theme (02:48) 16 Dance of the Infidels (02:52) 17 Humph (02:54) 18 Misterioso (03:22) 19 ’round Midnight (03:12) 20 Well, You Needn’t (02:58) |
 | Album: 2 of 41 Title: Blue Haze Released: 1954 Tracks: 8 Duration: 36:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ill Remember April (07:56) 2 Four (04:03) 3 Old Devil Moon (03:13) 4 Smooch (03:06) 5 Blue Haze (06:13) 6 When Lights Are Low (03:28) 7 Tune Up (03:56) 8 Miles Ahead (04:29) |
| Blue Haze : Allmusic album Review : Blue Haze documents two Prestige sessions from May 1953 and March 1954 (plus "Ill Remember April," with altoist Davey Schildkraut, from the April 3, 1954 session that yielded half of Walkin). During this time, a resurgent Miles Davis began to zero in on his own style and sound, taking significant steps away from the rhythmic and harmonic devices of his mentor Dizzy Gillespie. Paralleling his recorded work for Blue Note, Davis was also working with some of the greatest rhythm players in the history of jazz. Blue Haze finds Davis the lone featured horn. "When Lights Are Low" is one of Benny Carters most famous melodies, and the song-like cadences suit the ripe, chipper tone of Davis horn. John Lewis Monk-ish chords signal the sprightly head to "Tune Up," as Percy Heath and Max Roach groove manfully along. "Miles Ahead" is derived from Davis earlier "Milestones" (neither of which should be confused with subsequent titles and tunes for Columbia). Davis loping solo illustrates his leisurely ease in constructing a melody, but his dancing eights with Roach illuminate what fires simmer beneath the surface. Cut by cut, this set documents the trumpeters search for his ideal rhythm mates. Thanks to Heath, Art Blakey, and especially Horace Silver, Davis here sounds far more relaxed, swinging, and rhythmically complex on his famous melody "Four." Their interplay on "Old Devil Moon" is a study in give and take, tension and release. And aroused as he is by Heaths booming blues beat, Blakeys ghostly sizzle cymbal, and Silvers taut accompaniment, Davis turns the title tune into as expressive a film noir blues as youre likely to hear this side of Raymond Chandler. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 41 Title: Blue Moods Released: 1955 Tracks: 4 Duration: 26:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Nature Boy (06:18) 2 Alone Together (07:22) 3 Theres No You (08:11) 4 Easy Living (05:03) |
| Blue Moods : Allmusic album Review : In the 50s, the party line among New York jazz critics was that hard bop was the "true faith" and that cool jazz was lightweight and unemotional. But Miles Davis knew better. The trumpeter (whose Birth of the Cool sessions of 1949-1950 proved to be incredibly influential) was smart enough to realize that cool jazz and hard bop were equally valid parts of the house that Charlie Parker built, and he had no problem working with cool jazzmen one minute and hard boppers the next. Recorded for Charles Mingus Debut label in 1955, Blue Moods is an excellent example of cool jazz. However, not all of the musicians who join Davis on this album were full-time members of jazzs cool school. Although vibist Teddy Charles was cool-oriented, Mingus (upright bass) and Elvin Jones (drums) were never considered cool players -- and the lyrical trombonist Britt Woodman was, in the 50s, best known for his association with Duke Ellington. Nonetheless, the things that characterized cool jazz -- subtlety, restraint, and understatement -- characterize Blue Moods. Mingus and Jones were certainly capable of being forceful and aggressive, but you wont hear them being intense on this disc; a very laid-back, gently introspective approach prevails on interpretations of "Easy Living," "Alone Together," "Nature Boy," and "Theres No You." Clocking in at 27 minutes, Blue Moods is quite skimpy by most standards -- unfortunately, Fantasy didnt have any alternate takes to add. But even so, Blue Moods offers considerable rewards to those who have a taste for 50s cool jazz. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 41 Title: Miles Davis and Milt Jackson Quintet/Sextet Released: 1955 Tracks: 4 Duration: 31:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dr. Jackle (08:59) 2 Bitty Ditty (06:39) 3 Minor March (08:18) 4 Changes (07:11) |
| Miles Davis and Milt Jackson Quintet/Sextet : Allmusic album Review : Less heralded than their collaboration with Thelonious Monk (as documented on Bags Groove and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants), this August 5, 1955 session with vibraphonist Milt Jackson was Davis last all-star collaboration before the formation of his first classic quintet. It marked a farewell to an older generation of acolytes and fellow travelers; Davis was entering a new era of leadership and international stardom, and generally he would only record with his working groups. Quintet/Sextet is notable for two compositions by Jackie McLean: "Dr. Jackle" and "Minor March" (it appears on his famous 1959 Blue Note date New Soil as "Minor Apprehension"). The former is a Charlie Parker-ish line featuring a masterful Milt Jackson symposium on the blues -- Davis typically lyric approach, a tart, spacious flight from McLean, and a soulful, dancing Ray Bryant. The latter is a mysterious minor figure with jabbing rhythm breaks and a joyous bridge that recalls "Tempus Fugit." McLeans vaulting cadences and fervent cry anticipate the rapture of his mature style, and Bryant takes a harmonically adventuresome solo. Elsewhere, the group digs into the Bud Powell-like changes of Ray Bryants low, slow "Changes" (over the rock-solid groove of Percy Heath and Art Taylor), and the quirky harmonies and angular melodies of Thad Jones "Bitty Ditty." "Changes" inspires a lovely muted statement from Davis, and illustrates Bryants unique blend of blues, sanctified gospel, and bebop. Davis and Jackson combine for pungent voicings on the head to "Bitty Ditty," then demonstrate their elegant mastery of harmony and swing. Both are inspired by the shape of Jones line, and are completely unfazed by its intricacies. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 41 Title: Miles Davis and Horns Released: 1956 Tracks: 9 Duration: 33:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Morpheus (02:22) 2 Down (02:53) 3 Blue Room (alternate take) (02:51) 4 Whispering (03:04) 5 Tasty Pudding (03:21) 6 Willie the Wailer (04:27) 7 Floppy (06:03) 8 For Adults Only (05:34) 9 Blue Room (03:00) |
| Miles Davis and Horns : Allmusic album Review : Miles Davis first studio session for Prestige Records took place on January 17, 1951, with a front line of Sonny Rollins on tenor and Bennie Green on trombone. Two years later, Davis made his second session of 1953 in the company of two tenor men deeply touched by the work of Lester Young and Charlie Parker: Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, two of Woody Hermans famous Four Brothers. These two sessions, featuring a pair of three-horn front lines, make up the music on Miles and Horns. The John Lewis opener "Morpheus" proceeds from where Birth of the Cool left off, with the horns harmonizing off a sustained bass vamp/cymbal roll, then introducing a Roy Haynes drum break with fleet lines that pave the way for boppish solos. Davis own "Down" is an early snapshot of the trumpeters pensive blues work, with some contrasting Rollins bluster. Other highlights are Lewis spectral chordal prologue to "Blue Room" and his Basie-style intro to "Whispering," a song on which Davis attack and tone really come together. "I Know" is a Rollins feature, with Davis on piano. The 1953 date is a delightful blowing session, with Kenny Clarke providing plenty of percussive salsa, and Al Cohn providing masterful charts. Cohn, Sims, and Davis team up to provide distinctive, rich harmonies on themes such as the slow, soulful "Tasty Pudding" and "For Adults Only," with their introspective features. "Willie the Wailer" borrows its intro from Benny Goodmans "Soft Winds" and provides Davis and Cohn with plenty of swing drive. The call and response of "Floppy" leads to powerful Davis-Clarke interplay, a taut John Lewis solo, and an anthemic Cohn-Sims exchanges. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 41 Title: Collectors Items Released: 1956 Tracks: 7 Duration: 43:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Serpents Tooth (take 1) (07:01) 2 Serpents Tooth (take 2) (06:18) 3 Round Midnight (07:06) 4 Compulsion (05:45) 5 No Line (05:40) 6 Vierd Blues (06:53) 7 In Your Own Sweet Way (04:35) |
| Collectors' Items : Allmusic album Review : This set lives up to its title by including such interesting sessions as the 1953 date on which Miles Davis welcomed the two tenors of Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker; other meetings with Rollins in 1951 and 1956; and a moody 1955 date with bassist Charles Mingus, trombone, vibes, and drums (a young Elvin Jones). Highlights include "No Line," "Vierd Blues," "In Your Own Sweet Way," "Nature Boy," and "Theres No You." Its classic if often overlooked music from a variety of immortal jazzmen. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 41 Title: Dig Released: 1956 Tracks: 7 Duration: 45:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dig (07:38) 2 It’s Only a Paper Moon (05:28) 3 Denial (05:44) 4 Bluing (10:00) 5 Out of the Blue (06:19) 6 Conception (04:03) 7 My Old Flame (06:32) |
| Dig : Allmusic album Review : Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins was present as a member of the Miles Davis sextet (alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, pianist Walter Bishop, bassist Tommy Potter, drummer Art Blakey) on Dig, which was part of a 10/5/51 session, all of which was also on a two-fer. I love this music, but I have to admit it sounds dated. This wasnt Miles Davis best, but Ive always appreciated it for McLeans cutting sax work. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 41 Title: Bags’ Groove Released: 1957 Tracks: 7 Duration: 45:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Bags’ Groove (11:10) 2 Bags’ Groove (take 2) (09:19) 3 Airegin (04:59) 4 Oleo (05:12) 5 But Not for Me (take 2) (04:37) 6 Doxy (04:53) 7 But Not for Me (take 1) (05:40) |
| Bags’ Groove : Allmusic album Review : There are a multitude of reasons why Bags Groove remains a cornerstone of the post-bop genre. Of course there will always be the lure of the urban myth surrounding the Christmas Eve 1954 session -- featuring Thelonious Monk -- which is documented on the two takes of the title track. There are obviously more tangible elements, such as Davis practically telepathic runs with Sonny Rollins (tenor sax). Or Horace Silvers (piano) uncanny ability to provide a stream of chord progressions that supply a second inconspicuous lead without ever overpowering. Indeed, Davis choice of former Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra and concurrent Modern Jazz Quartet members Milt Jackson (vibes), Kenny Clarke (drums), and Percy Heath (bass) is obviously well-informed. This combo became synonymous with the ability to tastefully improvise and provide bluesy bop lines in varied settings. The up-tempo and Latin-infused syncopation featured during the opening of "Airegin" flows into lines and minor-chord phrasings that would reappear several years later throughout Davis Sketches of Spain epic. The fun and slightly maniacally toned "Oleo" features one of Heaths most impressive displays on Bags Groove. His staccato accompaniment exhibits the effortless nature with which these jazz giants are able to incorporate round after round of solos onto the larger unit. Bags Groove belongs as a cornerstone of all jazz collections. Likewise, the neophyte as well as the seasoned jazz enthusiast will find much to discover and rediscover throughout the disc. [Some reissues include both historic takes of "Bags Groove" as well as one additional rendering of the pop standard "But Not for Me."] | ||
 | Album: 9 of 41 Title: Miles Ahead Released: 1957 Tracks: 14 Duration: 52:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Springsville (master) (03:27) 2 The Maids of Cadiz (master) (03:53) 3 The Duke (master) (03:34) 4 My Ship (master) (04:27) 5 Miles Ahead (master) (03:29) 6 Blues for Pablo (master) (05:18) 7 New Rhumba (master) (04:36) 8 The Meaning of the Blues (master) (02:48) 9 Lament (master) (02:14) 10 I Don’t Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone but You) (03:06) 11 Springsville (remake take 7) (03:16) 12 Blues for Pablo (take 1) (03:32) 13 Medley: The Meaning of the Blues / Lament (rehearsal) (05:09) 14 I Don’t Wanna Be Kissed (by Anyone but You) (alternate take) (03:11) |
| Miles Ahead : Allmusic album Review : This album is perhaps most significant for the process it set in motion -- the collaboration between Gil Evans and Miles Davis that would produce Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain, two of Davis best albums. That said, this album is a miracle in itself, the result of a big gamble on the part of Columbia Records, who put together Evans and Davis, who hadnt worked together since recording the critically admired but commercially unsuccessful sides that would later be issued as The Birth of the Cool. Columbia also allowed Evans to assemble a 19-piece band for the recordings, at a time when big bands were far out of fashion and also at a time when the resulting recordings could not be released until two years in the future (because of Davis contractual obligations with Prestige). Davis was also expected to carry the album as its only soloist, and manage not to get lost among a cast of supporting musicians that included a huge horn section. To a large extent, he succeeds. Evans arrangements in particular are well-suited to the format, and he and Davis formed a deep and close partnership where ideas were swapped back and forth, nurtured, and developed long before they were expressed in the studio. Davis gets off to a great start, with the hyper-kinetic "Springsville," which seems to almost perfectly embody Evans and Davis partnership with its light, flexible exchanges between soloist and orchestra. He is strongest on the ballads, though, where his subdued and wistful tone rises high above the hushed accompaniment, especially on "Miles Ahead" and "Blues for Pablo" (which foreshadows the bluesy, Latin-tinged sound of Sketches of Spain). The upbeat "I Dont Want to Be Kissed (By Anyone but You)" is another strong song, but shows the weakness of the format as Davis intersperses a charming, bright, technically challenging solo with a blasting horn section that occasionally buries him. It is a fine end, however, to an album that gave a hint of the greatness that would come as Evans and Davis fine-tuned their partnership over the course of the next several years. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 41 Title: ’Round About Midnight Released: 1957-03-04 Tracks: 6 Duration: 39:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 ’round Midnight (05:57) 2 Ah‐Leu‐Cha (05:52) 3 All of You (07:03) 4 Bye Bye Blackbird (07:56) 5 Tadd’s Delight (04:28) 6 Dear Old Stockholm (07:49) |
| ’Round About Midnight : Allmusic album Review : Given that Round About Midnight was Miles Davis debut Columbia recording, it was both a beginning and an ending. Certainly the beginning of his recording career with the label that issued most if not all of his important recordings; and the recording debut of an exciting new band that had within its ranks Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, pianist Red Garland, and an all but unknown tenor player named John Coltrane. The title track was chosen because of its unique rendition with a muted trumpet, and debuted at the Newport Jazz Festival the summer before to a thunderous reception. The date was also an ending of sorts because by the time of the albums release, Davis had already broken up the band, which re-formed with Cannonball Adderley a year later as a sextet, but it was a tense year. Musically, this sound is as unusual and as beautiful as it was when issued in 1956. Davis had already led the charge through two changes in jazz -- both cool jazz and hard bop -- and was beginning to move in another direction here that wouldnt be defined for another two years. Besides the obvious lyrical and harmonic beauty of "Round About Midnight" that is arguably its definitive version even over Monks own, there are the edges of Charlie Parkers "Au Leu-Cha" with its Bluesology leaping from every chord change in Red Garlands left hand. Coltranes solo here too is notable for its stark contrast to Davis own: he chooses an angular tack where he finds the heart of the mode and plays a melody in harmonic counterpoint to the changes but never sounds outside. Cole Porters "All of You" has Davis quoting from Louis Armstrongs "Basin Street Blues" in his solo that takes out the tune, and Coltrane has never respected a melody so much. But its in "Bye-Bye Blackbird" that we get to hear the band gel as a unit, beginning with Davis playing through the melody, muted and sweet, slightly flatted out until he reaches the harmony on the refrain and begins his solo on a high note. Garland is doing more than comping in the background; hes slipping chord shapes into those interval cracks and shifting them as the rhythm section keeps "soft time." When Coltrane moves in for his break, rather than Davis spare method, he smatters notes quickly all though the melodic body of the tune and Garland has to compensate harmonically, moving the mode and tempo up a notch until his own solo can bring it back down again. Which he does with a gorgeous all-blues read of the tune utilizing first one hand and then both hands to create fat harmonic chords to bring Davis back in to close it out. Its breathtaking how seamless it all is. Theres little else to say except that Round About Midnight is among the most essential of Davis Columbia recordings. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 41 Title: Porgy and Bess Released: 1958 Tracks: 15 Duration: 58:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Buzzard Song (04:09) 2 Bess, You Is My Woman Now (05:12) 3 Gone (03:39) 4 Gone, Gone, Gone (02:03) 5 Summertime (03:20) 6 Oh Bess, Oh Wheres My Bess (04:30) 7 Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus) (04:42) 8 Fishermen, Strawberry and Devil Crab (04:07) 9 My Mans Gone Now (06:16) 10 It Ain’t Necessarily So (04:23) 11 Here Come de Honey Man (01:20) 12 I Loves You, Porgy (03:42) 13 There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon for New York (03:24) 14 I Loves You, Porgy (take 1, Second version) (04:16) 15 Gone (take 4) (03:40) |
| Porgy and Bess : Allmusic album Review : Tomes are available annotating the importance of this recording. The musical and social impact of Miles Davis, his collaborative efforts with Gil Evans, and in particular their reinvention of George Gershwins Porgy and Bess are indeed profound. However, the most efficient method of extricating the rhetoric and opining is to experience the recording. Few other musical teams would have had the ability to remain true to the undiluted spirit and multifaceted nuance of this epic work. However, no other musical teams were Miles Davis and Gil Evans. It was Evans intimate knowledge of the composition as well as the performer that allowed him to so definitively capture the essence of both. The four dates needed to complete work on Porgy and Bess include contributions from several members of his most recent musical aggregate: Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), and Jimmy Cobb (drums). Although the focus and emphasis is squarely on Davis throughout, the contributions of the quartet on "Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus)," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "Theres a Boat Thats Leaving Soon for New York" are immeasurable. They provide a delicate balance in style and, under the direction of Evans, incorporate much of the same energy and intonation here as they did to their post-bop recordings. There is infinitely more happening on Porgy and Bess, however, with much of the evidence existing in the subtle significance of the hauntingly lyrical passages from Danny Banks (alto flute) solos, which commence on "Fishermen, Strawberry and Devil Crab." Or the emotive bass and tuba duet that runs throughout "Buzzard Song." The impeccable digital remastering and subsequent reissue -- which likewise applies to the Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings box set -- only magnifies the refulgence of Porgy and Bess. Likewise, two previously unissued performances have been appended to the original bakers dozen. No observation or collection of American jazz can be deemed complete without this recording. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 41 Title: Milestones Released: 1958 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:08:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dr. Jackle (05:49) 2 Sid’s Ahead (13:02) 3 Two Bass Hit (05:14) 4 Milestones (05:44) 5 Billy Boy (07:15) 6 Straight, No Chaser (10:40) 7 Two Bass Hit (alternate take) (04:32) 8 Milestones (alternate take) (06:01) 9 Straight, No Chaser (alternate take) (10:28) |
| Milestones : Allmusic album Review : What is immedately noticeable upon listening to Miles Davis classic first -- and only -- album with his original sextet is how deep the blues presence is on it. Though its true that the albums title cut is rightfully credited with introducing modalism into jazz, and defining Davis music for years to come, it is the sole selection of its kind on the record. The rest is all blues in any flavor you wish you call your own. For starters, theres the steaming bebop blues of "Dr. Jackle," recorded in 1955 for a Prestige session with Jackie McLean. Davis is still in his role as a trumpet master, showing a muscularity of tone that reveals something more akin to Roy Eldridge or Louis Armstrong than Dizzy or Fats Navarro. The tempo is furious, as all the members of the sextet solo except for Jones. The saxophonists trade choruses and come off sounding like mirrored images of one another in the slower, post-bop blues that is "Sids Ahead," which is followed by "Two Bass Hit," written by Dizzy and John Lewis. Its an off-kilter blues with a wide middle section, no doubt for Lewis piano to fill. But then comes "Milestones" with its modal round and interval, where harmony is constructed from the center up. It is a memorable tune for not only its structure and how it would inform not only Davis own music, but jazz in general for the next seven years. The albums closer is Monks "Straight, No Chaser," which became a signature tune for the sextet even when Garland and Jones left to be replaced by Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb, and later Evans by Wynton Kelly. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 41 Title: Jazz Track Released: 1958 Tracks: 13 Duration: 46:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Générique du film "L’Ascenseur pour l’échafaud" (02:50) 2 L’assassinat de Carala (02:11) 3 Sur l’autoroute (02:19) 4 Julien dans l’ascenseur (02:09) 5 Florence sur les Champs-Élysées (02:52) 6 Dîner au motel (03:58) 7 Évasion de Julien (00:54) 8 Visite du vigile (02:06) 9 Au bar du Petit Bac (02:55) 10 Chez le photographe du motel (03:55) 11 On Green Dolphin Street (09:49) 12 Fran-Dance (05:50) 13 Stella by Starlight (04:44) |
| Jazz Track : Allmusic album Review : The 1958 Jazz Track LP compilation is made up of two unrelated studio sessions. The first side is devoted to ten songs composed by Miles Davis for the soundtrack to the French film LAscenseuer Pour lEchafaud, with pianist René Urtreger, tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen, bassist Pierre Michelot, and drummer Kenny Clarke joining the trumpeter. Unfortunately, the music isnt particularly memorable, in spite of the best efforts of the musicians. The slower numbers seem rather sterile; while even the fast pace of "Sur lAutoroute," featuring the leaders muted horn, leaves little in the way of a lasting impression. The second side represents only a portion of the May 26, 1958, studio session with Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley that has since been reissued in full on CD. The softly stated treatment of "On Green Dolphin Street," with Davis muted trumpet, Evans impeccable accompaniment, and Jimmy Cobbs tasteful brushwork is masterful, though Adderley and Coltrane quickly shatter that mood following their respective entrances. The waltz-time treatment of "Fran Dance" (Davis recasting of "Put Your Little Foot Right Out") is fine, though the clear highlight of the record is the gorgeous arrangement of "Stella by Starlight," which Adderley sits out. This LP is now a mere historical footnote since more complete editions of both sessions have been reissued on CD. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 41 Title: Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants Released: 1959-06 Tracks: 5 Duration: 42:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Man I Love (take 2) (07:59) 2 Swing Spring (10:46) 3 Round Midnight (05:25) 4 Bemsha Swing (09:33) 5 The Man I Love (take 1) (08:29) |
| Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants : Allmusic album Review : Including sessions recorded the same day as those on Bags Groove, this album includes more classic performances from the date that matched together trumpeter Miles Davis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist Thelonious Monk, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Kenny Clarke. Davis and Monk actually did not get along all that well, and the trumpeter did not want Monk playing behind his solos. Still, a great deal of brilliant music occurred on the day of their encounter, including "The Man I Love," "Bemsha Swing," and "Swing Spring." | ||
 | Album: 15 of 41 Title: Kind of Blue Released: 1959-08-17 Tracks: 5 Duration: 45:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 So What (09:05) 2 Freddie Freeloader (09:35) 3 Blue in Green (05:28) 4 All Blues (11:33) 5 Flamenco Sketches (09:24) |
| Kind of Blue : Allmusic album Review : Kind of Blue isnt merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, its an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album. To be reductive, its the Citizen Kane of jazz -- an accepted work of greatness thats innovative and entertaining. That may not mean its the greatest jazz album ever made, but it certainly is a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps its that this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace -- each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. Its the pinnacle of modal jazz -- tonality and solos build from chords, not the overall key, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesnt quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after theyve memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band - Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Wynton Kelly -- one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes and chords before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous, filled with performances that still crackle with vitality. Few albums of any genre manage to work on so many different levels, but Kind of Blue does. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily enjoyable. It may be a stretch to say that if you dont like Kind of Blue, you dont like jazz -- but its hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 41 Title: Sketches of Spain Released: 1960 Tracks: 5 Duration: 41:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Concierto de Aranjuez (16:22) 2 Will O the Wisp (03:50) 3 The Pan Piper (04:00) 4 Saeta (04:59) 5 Solea (12:10) |
| Sketches of Spain : Allmusic album Review : Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the albums signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragons house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flügelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis control over his instrument is singular, and Evans conducting is flawless. Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis career, and the albums closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 41 Title: Seven Steps to Heaven Released: 1963 Tracks: 6 Duration: 46:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Basin Street Blues (10:32) 2 Seven Steps to Heaven (06:26) 3 I Fall in Love Too Easily (06:48) 4 So Near, So Far (06:59) 5 Baby Won’t You Please Come Home (08:28) 6 Joshua (07:00) |
| Seven Steps to Heaven : Allmusic album Review : Seven Steps to Heaven finds Miles Davis standing yet again on the fault line between stylistic epochs. In early 1963, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb left to form their own trio, and Davis was forced to form a new band, which included Memphis tenor player George Coleman and bassist Ron Carter. When Davis next entered the studio in Hollywood, he added local drummer Frank Butler and British studio ace Victor Feldman, who ultimately decided not to go on the road with Davis. Its easy to see why Davis liked Feldman, who contributed the dancing title tune and "Joshua" to the session. On three mellifluous standards -- particularly a cerebral "Basin Street Blues" and a broken-hearted "I Fall in Love Too Easily" -- the pianist plays with an elegant, refined touch, and the kind of rarefied voicings that suggest Ahmad Jamal. Davis responds with some of his most introspective, romantic ballad playing. When Davis returned to New York he finally succeeded in spiriting away a brilliantly gifted 17-year-old drummer from Jackie McLean: Tony Williams. On the title tune you can already hear the difference, as his crisp, driving cymbal beat and jittery, aggressive syncopations propel Davis into the upper reaches of his horn. On "So Near, So Far" the drummer combines with Carter and new pianist Herbie Hancock to expand on a light Afro-Cuban beat with a series of telepathic changes in tempo, texture, and dynamics. Meanwhile, Feldmans "Joshua" (with its overtones of "So What" and "All Blues") portends the kind of expressive variations on the basic 4/4 pulse that would become the bands trademark, as Davis and Coleman ascend into bebop heaven. | ||
 | Album: 18 of 41 Title: Quiet Nights Released: 1963-12 Tracks: 10 Duration: 45:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Song #2 (01:41) 2 Once Upon a Summertime (03:28) 3 Aos Pes Da Cruz (04:19) 4 Song #1 (04:37) 5 Wait Till You See Her (04:06) 6 Corcovado (02:45) 7 Summer Night (06:04) 8 The Time of the Barracudas (12:48) 9 Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern) (02:42) 10 Devil May Care (03:27) |
| Quiet Nights : Allmusic album Review : Miles Davis final official collaboration with arranger Gil Evans resulted in their weakest project. There were only 27 minutes of music on the original Quiet Nights LP, and six minutes were taken up by a quintet performance of "Summer Night." The six remaining tracks are enjoyable enough (highlighted by "Once Upon a Summertime" and "Corcovado"), but rather brief, making one wonder why Evans could not have been persuaded to write more material. | ||
 | Album: 19 of 41 Title: E.S.P. Released: 1965 Tracks: 7 Duration: 48:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 E.S.P. (05:31) 2 Eighty-One (06:16) 3 Little One (07:24) 4 R.J. (03:59) 5 Agitation (07:48) 6 Iris (08:33) 7 Mood (08:49) |
| E.S.P. : Allmusic album Review : ESP marks the beginning of a revitalization for Miles Davis, as his second classic quintet -- saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams -- gels, establishing what would become their signature adventurous hard bop. Miles had been moving toward this direction in the two years preceding the release of ESP and he had recorded with everyone outside of Shorter prior to this record, but his addition galvanizes the group, pushing them toward music that was recognizably bop but as adventurous as jazzs avant-garde. Outwardly, this music doesnt take as many risks as Coltrane or Ornette Colemans recordings of the mid-60s, but by borrowing some of the same theories -- a de-emphasis of composition in favor of sheer improvisation, elastic definitions of tonality -- they created a unique sound that came to define the very sound of modern jazz. Certainly, many musicians have returned to this group for inspiration, but their recordings remain fresh, because they exist at this fine dividing line between standard bop and avant. On ESP, they tilt a bit toward conventional hard bop (something thats apparent toward the end of the record), largely because this is their first effort, but the fact is, this difference between this album and hard bop from the early 60s is remarkable. This is exploratory music, whether its rushing by in a flurry of notes or elegantly reclining in Hancocks calm yet complex chords. The compositions are brilliantly structured as well, encouraging such free-form exploration with their elliptical yet memorable themes. This quintet may have cut more adventurous records, but ESP remains one of their very best albums. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 41 Title: Sorcerer Released: 1967 Tracks: 7 Duration: 40:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Prince of Darkness (06:27) 2 Pee Wee (04:49) 3 Masqualero (08:53) 4 The Sorcerer (05:11) 5 Limbo (07:18) 6 Vonetta (05:37) 7 Nothing Like You (01:59) |
| Sorcerer : Allmusic album Review : Sorcerer, the third album by the second Miles Davis Quintet, is in a sense a transitional album, a quiet, subdued affair that rarely blows hot, choosing to explore cerebral tonal colorings. Even when the tempo picks up, as it does on the title track, theres little of the dense, manic energy on Miles Smiles -- this is about subtle shadings, even when the compositions are as memorable as Tony Williams "Pee Wee" or Herbie Hancocks "Sorcerer." As such, its a little elusive, since it represents the deepening of the bands music as they choose to explore different territory. The emphasis is as much on complex, interweaving chords and a coolly relaxed sound as it is on sheer improvisation, though each member tears off thoroughly compelling solos. Still, the individual flights arent placed at the forefront the way they were on the two predecessors -- it all merges together, pointing toward the dense soundscapes of Miles later 60s work. Its such a layered, intriguing work that the final cut, recorded in 1962 with Bob Dorough on vocals, is an utterly jarring, inappropriate way to end the record, even if its intended as a tribute to Miles then-girlfriend (later, his wife), Cicely Tyson (whose image graces the cover). | ||
 | Album: 21 of 41 Title: Miles in the Sky Released: 1968 Tracks: 6 Duration: 1:12:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Stuff (17:03) 2 Paraphernalia (12:41) 3 Black Comedy (07:26) 4 Country Son (13:52) 5 Black Comedy (alternate take) (06:26) 6 Country Son (alternate take) (14:38) |
| Miles in the Sky : Allmusic album Review : With the 1968 album Miles in the Sky, Miles Davis explicitly pushed his second great quintet away from conventional jazz, pushing them toward the jazz-rock hybrid that would later become known as fusion. Here, the music is still in its formative stages, and its a little more earth-bound than you might expect, especially following on the heels of the shape-shifting, elusive Nefertiti. On Miles in the Sky, much of the rhythms are straightforward, picking up on the direct 4/4 beats of rock, and these are illuminated by Herbie Hancocks electric piano -- one of the very first sounds on the record, as a matter of fact -- and the guest appearance of guitarist George Benson on "Paraphernalia." All of these additions are tangible and identifiable, and they do result in intriguing music, but the form of the music itself is surprisingly direct, playing as extended grooves. This meanders considerable more than Nefertiti, even if it is significantly less elliptical in its form, because its primarily four long jams. Intriguing, successful jams in many respects, but even with the notable additions of electric instruments, and with the deliberately noisy "Country Son," this is less visionary than its predecessor and feels like a transitional album -- and, like many transitional albums, its intriguing and frustrating in equal measures. | ||
 | Album: 22 of 41 Title: Nefertiti Released: 1968 Tracks: 6 Duration: 39:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Nefertiti (07:53) 2 Fall (06:38) 3 Hand Jive (08:55) 4 Madness (07:32) 5 Riot (03:05) 6 Pinocchio (05:05) |
| Nefertiti : Allmusic album Review : Nefertiti, the fourth album by Miles Davis second classic quintet, continues the forward motion of Sorcerer, as the group settles into a low-key, exploratory groove, offering music with recognizable themes -- but themes that were deliberately dissonant, slightly unsettling even as they burrowed their way into the consciousness. In a sense, this is mood music, since, like on much of Sorcerer, the individual parts mesh in unpredictable ways, creating evocative, floating soundscapes. This music anticipates the free-fall, impressionistic work of In a Silent Way, yet it remains rooted in hard bop, particularly when the tempo is a bit sprightly, as on "Hand Jive." Yet even when the instrumentalists and soloists are placed in the foreground -- such as Miles extended opening solo on "Madness" or Hancocks long solo toward the end of the piece -- this never feels like showcases for virtuosity, the way some showboating hard bop can, though each player shines. Whats impressive, like on all of this quintets sessions, is the interplay, how the musicians follow an unpredictable path as a unit, turning in music that is always searching, always provocative, and never boring. Perhaps Nefertitis charms are a little more subtle than those of its predecessors, but that makes it intriguing. Besides, this album so clearly points the way to fusion, while remaining acoustic, that it may force listeners on either side of the fence into another direction. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 41 Title: Filles de Kilimanjaro Released: 1969-01-29 Tracks: 5 Duration: 56:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Frelon brun (Brown Hornet) (05:40) 2 Tout de suite (14:07) 3 Petits Machins (Little Stuff) (08:07) 4 Filles de Kilimanjaro (Girls of Kilimanjaro) (12:03) 5 Mademoiselle Mabry (Miss Mabry) (16:33) |
| Filles de Kilimanjaro : Allmusic album Review : Since its billed as "Directions in Music by Miles Davis," it should come as little surprise that Filles de Kilimanjaro is the beginning of a new phase for Miles, the place that he begins to dive headfirst into jazz-rock fusion. It also happens to be the swan song for his second classic quintet, arguably the finest collective of musicians he ever worked with, and what makes this album so fascinating is that its possible to hear the breaking point -- though his quintet all followed him into fusion (three of his supporting players were on In a Silent Way), its possible to hear them all break with the conventional notions of what constituted even adventurous jazz, turning into something new. According to Miles, the change in "direction" was as much inspired by a desire to return to something earthy and bluesy as it was to find new musical territory, and Filles de Kilimanjaro bears him out. Though the album sports inexplicable, rather ridiculous French song titles, this is music that is unpretentiously adventurous, grounded in driving, mildly funky rhythms and bluesy growls from Miles, graced with weird, colorful flourishes from the band. Where Miles in the Sky meandered a bit, this is considerably more focused, even on the three songs that run over ten minutes, yet it still feels transitional. Not tentative (which In the Sky was), but certainly the music that would spring full bloom on In a Silent Way was still in the gestation phase, and despite the rock-blues-n-funk touches here, the music doesnt fly and search the way that Nefertiti did. But thats not a bad thing -- this middle ground between the adventurous bop of the mid-60s and the fusion of the late 60s is rewarding in its own right, since its possible to hear great musicians find the foundation of a new form. For that alone, Filles de Kilimanjaro is necessary listening. | ||
 | Album: 24 of 41 Title: In a Silent Way Released: 1969-10 Tracks: 2 Duration: 38:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Shhh / Peaceful (18:18) 2 In a Silent Way / It’s About That Time (19:53) |
| In a Silent Way : Allmusic album Review : Listening to Miles Davis originally released version of In a Silent Way in light of the complete sessions released by Sony in 2001 (Columbia Legacy 65362) reveals just how strategic and dramatic a studio construction it was. If one listens to Joe Zawinuls original version of "In a Silent Way," it comes across as almost a folk song with a very pronounced melody. The version Miles Davis and Teo Macero assembled from the recording session in July of 1968 is anything but. There is no melody, not even a melodic frame. There are only vamps and solos, grooves layered on top of other grooves spiraling toward space but ending in silence. But even these dont begin until almost ten minutes into the piece. Its Miles and McLaughlin, sparely breathing and wending their way through a series of seemingly disconnected phrases until the groove monster kicks in. The solos are extended, digging deep into the heart of the ethereal groove, which was dark, smoky, and ashen. McLaughlin and Hancock are particularly brilliant, but Coreas solo on the Fender Rhodes is one of his most articulate and spiraling on the instrument ever. The A-side of the album, "Shhh/Peaceful," is even more so. With Tony Williams shimmering away on the cymbals in double time, Miles comes out slippery and slowly, playing over the top of the vamp, playing ostinato and moving off into more mysterious territory a moment at a time. With Zawinuls organ in the background offering the occasional swell of darkness and dimension, Miles could continue indefinitely. But McLaughlin is hovering, easing in, moving up against the organ and the trills by Hancock and Corea; Wayne Shorter hesitantly winds in and out of the mix on his soprano, filling space until its his turn to solo. But John McLaughlin, playing solos and fills throughout (the piece is like one long dreamy solo for the guitarist), is what gives it its open quality, like a piece of music with no borders as he turns in and through the commingling keyboards as Holland paces everything along. When the first round of solos ends, Zawinul and McLaughlin and Williams usher it back in with painterly decoration and illumination from Corea and Hancock. Miles picks up on another riff created by Corea and slips in to bring back the ostinato "theme" of the work. He plays glissando right near the very end, which is the only place where the band swells and the tune moves above a whisper before Zawinuls organ fades it into silence. This disc holds up, and perhaps is even stronger because of the issue of the complete sessions. It is, along with Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, a signature Miles Davis session from the electric era. | ||
 | Album: 25 of 41 Title: Bitches Brew Released: 1970 Tracks: 27 Duration: 4:19:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Pharaoh’s Dance (20:04) 2 Bitches Brew (26:59) 1 Spanish Key (17:29) 2 John McLaughlin (04:25) 3 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (14:04) 4 Sanctuary (10:56) 1 Pharaoh’s Dance (20:04) 2 Bitches Brew (26:59) 3 Spanish Key (17:29) 4 John McLaughlin (04:25) 1 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (14:04) 2 Sanctuary (10:56) 3 Spanish Key (alternate take) (10:20) 4 John McLaughlin (alternate take) (06:39) 5 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (single edit) (02:49) 6 Spanish Key (single edit) (02:49) 7 Great Expectations (single edit) (02:41) 8 Little Blue Frog (single edit) (02:36) 1 Bill Graham Intro (00:12) 2 Directions (09:31) 3 Bitches Brew (09:15) 4 The Mask (03:55) 5 It’s About That Time (07:30) 6 Sanctuary (01:35) 7 Spanish Key / The Theme (06:32) 8 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (04:39) 9 Bill Graham Outro (00:22) |
| Bitches Brew : Allmusic album Review : Thought by many to be among the most revolutionary albums in jazz history, Miles Davis Bitches Brew solidified the genre known as jazz-rock fusion. The original double LP included only six cuts and featured up to 12 musicians at any given time, some of whom were already established while others would become high-profile players later, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Airto, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Don Alias, Bennie Maupin, Larry Young, and Lenny White among them. Originally thought to be a series of long jams locked into grooves around keyboard, bass, or guitar vamps, Bitches Brew is actually a recording that producer Teo Macero assembled from various jams and takes by razor blade, splice to splice, section to section. "Pharaohs Dance" opens the set with its slippery trumpet lines, McLaughlins snaky guitar figures skirting the edge of the rhythm section and Don Alias conga slipping through the middle. Corea and Zawinuls keyboards create a haunted, riffing modal groove, echoed and accented by the basses of Harvey Brooks and Holland. The title cut was originally composed as a five-part suite, though only three were used. Here the keyboards punch through the mix and big chords ring up distorted harmonics for Davis to solo rhythmically over, outside the mode. McLaughlins comping creates a vamp, and the bass and drums carry the rest. Its a small taste of the deep voodoo funk to appear on Davis later records. Side three opens with McLaughlin and Davis trading fours and eights over a lockstep hypnotic vamp on "Spanish Key." Zawinuls lyric sensibility provides a near chorus for Corea to flit around in; the congas and drummers juxtapose themselves against the basslines. It nearly segues into the brief "John McLaughlin," featuring an organ playing modes below arpeggiated blues guitar runs. The end of Bitches Brew, signified by the stellar "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," reflects the influence of Jimi Hendrix with its chunky, slipped chords and Davis playing a ghostly melody through the funkiness of the rhythm section. It seemingly dances, becoming increasingly more chaotic until it nearly disintegrates before shimmering into a loose foggy nadir. The disc closes with "Sanctuary," completely redone here as a moody electric ballad that was reworked for this band while keeping enough of its integrity to be recognizable. Bitches Brew is so forward-thinking that it retains its freshness and mystery in the 21st century. | ||
 | Album: 26 of 41 Title: On the Corner Released: 1972-10-11 Tracks: 4 Duration: 54:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 On the Corner / New York Girl / Thinkin of One Thing and Doin Another / Vote for Miles (19:59) 2 Black Satin (05:20) 3 One and One (06:09) 4 Helen Butte / Mr. Freedom X (23:18) |
| On the Corner : Allmusic album Review : Could there be any more confrontational sound in Miles Davis vast catalog than the distorted guitars and tinny double-timing drums reacting to a two-note bass riff funking it up on the first track from On the Corner? Before the trumpet even enters the story has been broken off in the middle -- deep street music melding with a secret language exchanged by the band and those who can actually hear it as music. Here are killer groove riffs that barely hold on as bleating trumpet and soprano sax lines (courtesy of Dave Liebman on track one) interact with John McLaughlins distortion-box frenzy. Michael Hendersons bass keeps the basic so basic it hypnotizes; keyboards slowly enter the picture, a pair of them handled by Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, as well as Ivory Williams synthesizer. Finally, Colin Walcott jumps in with an electric sitar and there are no less than five drummers -- three kits (Al Foster, Billy Hart, and Jack DeJohnette), a tabla player, and Mtume. Its a four-tune suite, On the Corner is, but the separations hardly matter, just the shifts in groove that alter the time/space continuum. After 20 minutes, the set feels over and a form of Miles strange lyricism returns in "Black Satin." Though a tabla kicks the tune off, theres a recognizable eight-note melody that runs throughout. Carlos Garnett and Bennie Maupin replace Liebman, Dave Creamer replaces McLaughlin, and the groove rides a bit easier -- except for those hand bells shimmering in the background off the beat just enough to make the squares crazy. The respite is short-lived, however. Davis and band move the music way over to the funk side of the street -- though the street funkers thought these cats were too weird with their stranded time signatures and modal fugues that begin and end nowhere and live for the way the riff breaks down into emptiness. "One and One" begins the new tale, so jazz breaks down and gets polished off and resurrected as a far blacker, deeper-than-blue character in the form of "Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X," where guitars and horns careen off Hendersons cracking bass and Fosters skittering hi-hats. It may sound weird even today, but On the Corner is the most street record ever recorded by a jazz musician. And it still kicks. | ||
 | Album: 27 of 41 Title: Get Up With It Released: 1974 Tracks: 8 Duration: 2:04:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 He Loved Him Madly (32:17) 2 Maiysha (14:53) 3 Honky Tonk (05:55) 4 Rated X (06:51) 1 Calypso Frelimo (32:09) 2 Red China Blues (04:08) 3 Mtume (15:12) 4 Billy Preston (12:34) |
| Get Up With It : Allmusic album Review : When Get Up with It was released in 1974, critics -- let alone fans -- had a tough time with it. The package was a -- by then customary -- double LP, with sessions ranging from 1970-1974 and a large host of musicians who had indeed played on late-60s and early-70s recordings, including but not limited to Al Foster, Airto, John McLaughlin, Reggie Lucas, Pete Cosey, Mtume, David Liebman, Billy Cobham, Michael Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Fortune, Steve Grossman, and others. The music felt, as was customary then, woven together from other sources by Miles and producer Teo Macero. However, these eight selections point in the direction of Miles saying goodbye, as he did for six years after this disc. This was a summation of all that jazz had been to Davis in the 70s and he was leaving it in yet another place altogether; check the opening track, "He Loved Him Madly," with its gorgeous shimmering organ vamp (not even credited to Miles) and its elaborate, decidedly slow, ambient unfolding -- yet with pronounced Ellingtonian lyricism -- over 33 minutes. Given three guitar players, flute, trumpet, bass, drums, and percussion, its restraint is remarkable. When Miles engages the organ formally as he does on the funky groove that moves through "Maiysha," with a shimmering grace that colors the proceedings impressionistically through Lucas, Cosey and guitarist Dominique Gaumont, its positively shattering. This is Miles as he hadnt been heard since In a Silent Way, and definitely points the way to records like Tutu, The Man with the Horn, and even Decoy when he re-emerged. Thats not to say the harder edges are absent: far from it. Theres the off-world Latin funk of "Calypso Frelimo" from 1973, with John Stubblefield, Liebman, Cosey, and Lucas turning the rhythm section inside out as Miles sticks sharp knives of angular riffs and bleats into the middle of the mix, almost like a guitarist. Davis also moves the groove here with an organ and an electric piano to cover all the textural shapes. Theres even a rather straight -- for Miles -- blues jam in "Red China Blues" from 1972, featuring Wally Chambers on harmonica and Cornell Dupree on guitar with a full brass arrangement. The set closes with another 1972 session, the endearing "Billy Preston," another of Davis polyrhythmic funk exercises where the drummers and percussionists -- Al Foster, Badal Roy, and Mtume -- are up front with the trumpet, sax (Carlos Garrett), and keyboards (Cedric Lawson), while the strings -- Lucas, Henderson, and electric sitarist Khalil Balakrishna -- are shimmering, cooking, and painting the groove in the back. Billy Preston, the organist who the tune is named after, is nowhere present and neither is his instrument. It choogles along, shifting rhythms and meters while Miles tries like hell to slip another kind of groove through the bands armor, but it doesnt happen. The track fades, and then there is silence, a deafening silence that would not be filled until Miles return six years later. This may be the most "commercial" sounding of all of Miles electric records from the 70s, but it still sounds out there, alien, and futuristic in all the best ways, and Get Up with It is perhaps just coming into its own here in the 21st century. | ||
 | Album: 28 of 41 Title: Big Fun Released: 1974 Tracks: 8 Duration: 2:22:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Great Expectations (27:24) 2 Ife (21:35) 3 Recollections (18:57) 4 Trevere (05:57) 1 Go Ahead John (28:27) 2 Lonely Fire (21:21) 3 The Little Blue Frog (09:11) 4 Yaphet (09:41) |
| Big Fun : Allmusic album Review : Despite the presence of classic tracks like Joe Zawinuls "Great Expectations," Big Fun feels like the compendium of sources it is. These tracks are all outtakes from other sessions, most notably Bitches Brew, On the Corner, and others. The other element is that many of these tracks appeared in different versions elsewhere. These were second takes, or the unedited takes before producer Teo Macero and Miles were able to edit them, cut and paste their parts into other things, or whatever. That is not to say the album should be dismissed. Despite the numerous lineups and uneven flow of the tracks, there does remain some outstanding playing and composing here. Most notably is "Great Expectations" from 1969, which opens the album. Here the lineup is Miles, Steve Grossman, Bennie Maupin, John McLaughlin, Khalil Balakrishna, and Bihari Sharma on sitar and tambura, Herbie, Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Harvey Brooks, Billy Cobham, and Airto. Creating a series of vamps from drones and a small melodic figure, there is very little in the way of groove or melodic development until the middle section, where a series of modalities enters the composition. The second album in the set features "Go Ahead John," an outtake from Jack Johnsons sessions that is 28 minutes in length. Its a riff-based groover, with McLaughlin and his wah-wah pedal setting the pace with Steve Grossman on soprano. The basic motif is the blues, floating around E and Bb flat, but there are modulations introduced by Miles into Db flat that add a kinkier dimension into the proceedings as well. Dave Holland is the bass player, and DeJohnette is the drummer. There is no piano. Whats most interesting about this date is how it prefigures what would become "Right Off" from Jack Johnson. It doesnt have the same fire, nor does it manage to sustain itself for the duration, but there are some truly wonderful sections in the piece. This is for Miles fans only, especially those of his electric period, because it fills in the puzzle. The reissue added four bonus tracks to the original double-LP set, but other than "Recollections" by Zawinul, they shed little light on the mystique and development of the intensely creative music being developed in 1969 and 1970. Others should be directed to Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, Jack Johnson, or Live Evil as starting points. | ||
 | Album: 29 of 41 Title: Water Babies Released: 1976-11-02 Tracks: 6 Duration: 1:03:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Water Babies (05:08) 2 Capricorn (08:32) 3 Sweet Pea (08:02) 4 Two Faced (18:03) 5 Dual Mr. Anthony Tillmon Williams Process (13:23) 6 Splash (10:05) |
| Water Babies : Allmusic album Review : This studio LP was first released almost a decade after it was recorded. The first half features the 1967 Quintet (with Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams) performing three otherwise unknown Shorter compositions. The flip side finds Davis in 1968 leading the same group (with possibly Chick Corea and Dave Holland replacing Hancock and Carter) on two early fusion jams that look a bit toward Bitches Brew. Although not an essential set, this album fills in some gaps during Daviss transitional period from adventurous acoustic playing to early electric performances. | ||
 | Album: 30 of 41 Title: The Man with the Horn Released: 1981 Tracks: 6 Duration: 52:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Fat Time (09:56) 2 Back Seat Betty (11:16) 3 Shout (05:51) 4 Aida (08:12) 5 The Man With the Horn (06:35) 6 Ursula (10:43) |
| The Man with the Horn : Allmusic album Review : Miles Davis first comeback record finds the trumpeter a bit shaky (he would improve album by album during the next few years) and has a few poppish throwaway tracks; it is doubtful if anyone really remembers the title cut or "Shout." But with Bill Evans on soprano and electric bassist Marcus Miller, the other four selections are more rewarding with Davis forming the nucleus of his new band. | ||
 | Album: 31 of 41 Title: Star People Released: 1983 Tracks: 6 Duration: 59:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Come Get It (11:21) 2 It Gets Better (09:52) 3 Speak (08:34) 4 Star People (18:48) 5 Unl (05:57) 6 Star on Cicely (04:29) |
| Star People : Allmusic album Review : On this 1983 release, Miles Davis rediscovers the blues. He really stretches out on "Star People," making dramatic use of silence and placing each note carefully. "Come Get It" is also memorable although "U n I" (which had the potential to catch on) is only heard in a truncated version. In general Davis is in fine form on this set and, although saxophonist Bill Evans is barely heard from (many of his solos were edited out), the contrasting guitars of Mike Stern and John Scofield hold ones interest. | ||
 | Album: 32 of 41 Title: Decoy Released: 1984-08-21 Tracks: 7 Duration: 39:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Decoy (08:34) 2 Robot 415 (01:11) 3 Code M.D. (06:01) 4 Freaky Deaky (04:37) 5 What It Is (live) (04:34) 6 Thats Right (11:15) 7 Thats What Happened (live) (03:33) |
| Decoy : Allmusic album Review : This rather streaky set of music features Miles Davis with keyboardist Robert Irving III (who has since slipped into obscurity) and guitarist John Scofield contributing most of the compositions and the other solos. There are some moments of interest (Branford Marsalis is heard on some cuts on soprano), but it is doubtful if anyone will be reviving "Robot 415," "Freaky Deaky," or "Code M.D." anytime soon. | ||
 | Album: 33 of 41 Title: You’re Under Arrest Released: 1985-07-02 Tracks: 9 Duration: 43:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 One Phone Call / Street Scenes (04:36) 2 Human Nature (04:30) 3 Intro: MD 1 / Something’s on Your Mind / MD 2 (07:18) 4 Ms. Morrisine (04:56) 5 Katia Prelude (00:42) 6 Katia (07:39) 7 Time After Time (03:39) 8 You’re Under Arrest (06:13) 9 Medley: Jean Pierre / You’re Under Arrest / Then There Were None (03:26) |
| You’re Under Arrest : Allmusic album Review : Miles Daviss final Columbia recording (other than Aura which was released several years later) includes his straightforward ballad interpretations of Cyndy Laupers "Time After Time" and the Michael Jackson-associated "Human Nature," two songs he would play in most of his concerts for the remainder of his life. Other tunes (including "Youre Under Arrest," "One Phone Call" and "Ms. Morrisine") were quickly discarded. In addition to Davis (who had regained his earlier chops) tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg, guitarist John Scofield and guest John McLaughlin get in a few decent solos on this competent but not overly memorable effort. | ||
 | Album: 34 of 41 Title: Tutu Released: 1986-09 Tracks: 8 Duration: 42:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Tutu (05:16) 2 Tomaas (05:38) 3 Portia (06:19) 4 Splatch (04:45) 5 Backyard Ritual (04:49) 6 Perfect Way (04:35) 7 Don’t Lose Your Mind (05:49) 8 Full Nelson (05:07) |
| Tutu : Allmusic album Review : The controversial but memorable Tutu is mostly a duet between Miles Davis and the many overdubbed instruments of producer Marcus Miller (although violinist Michal Urbaniak, percussionist Paulinho da Costa, and keyboardist George Duke are among the other musicians making brief apperaances). Certainly the results are not all that spontaneous, but Davis is in top form and some of the selections (most notably the title cut) are quite memorable. | ||
 | Album: 35 of 41 Title: Amandla Released: 1989-05 Tracks: 8 Duration: 43:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Catémbe (05:37) 2 Cobra (05:16) 3 Big Time (05:41) 4 Hannibal (05:51) 5 Jo‐Jo (04:51) 6 Amandla (05:21) 7 Jilli (05:06) 8 Mr. Pastorius (05:42) |
| Amandla : Allmusic album Review : A particularly strong set by late-period Miles Davis, this LP is highlighted by a surprisingly straight-ahead performance titled "Mr. Pastorius." In addition to Davis and his new altoist Kenny Garrett, various guests (including Marcus Miller, guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly, Joey DeFrancesco on keyboards, Rick Margitza on tenor, pianist Joe Sample, and bassist Foley) get their chances to play next to the great legend who is in top form. An excellent effort, it was really his last studio recording with his regular band. | ||
 | Album: 36 of 41 Title: Aura Released: 1989-09-12 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:06:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Intro (04:28) 2 White (06:07) 3 Yellow (06:49) 4 Orange (08:36) 5 Red (09:56) 6 Green (04:24) 7 Blue (06:37) 8 Electric Red (04:18) 9 Indigo (06:01) 10 Violet (09:01) |
| Aura : Allmusic album Review : Miles last recording for the Columbia label before heading for the financial allure of Warner Bros. in the mid-80s was not released until 1989. This critics guess is because largely they had no idea what to do with it. Unlike anything else in his catalog, Aura is a ten-part suite composed by Danish flügelhornist Palle Mikkelborg as a tribute. Influenced deeply by serialism and the inspiration of Gil Evans, Mikkelborg composed a theme from ten notes based on the letters of Davis first and last names. The notes yielded a chord, which led him through the work. Employing a full orchestra and the guitar talents of former Davis collaborator John McLaughlin and famed European bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson, Auras sections are named for the color spectrum, with the addition of white and "electric red." The music is an amalgam of classical impressionism, European new music, jazz, rock, electronic, and other genres. As a tribute and separate orchestral work, its quite moving and beautiful, full of moody interludes and evocations of nuance, color, texture, and dynamic. With Davis added, soloing in his trademark muted, rounded warmth, the music becomes almost breathtaking. The Gil Evans influence is everywhere apparent in the way strings segue into keyboards and float there until the trumpet or wind section comes for them and brings them home. Its easy to be cynical about a work like this, and call it a pastiche of Miles clichés. Far harder is it to place the entirety of Davis career in one place and hear it expressed with so much warmth and elegance, because that career was so mercurial. Mikkelborg gave Miles a fine parting gift when he left Columbia, and listeners are so very fortunate for his generosity. | ||
 | Album: 37 of 41 Title: Someday My Prince Will Come Released: 1990 Tracks: 6 Duration: 41:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Someday My Prince Will Come (09:06) 2 Old Folks (05:17) 3 Pfrancing (08:33) 4 Drad-Dog (04:32) 5 Teo (09:35) 6 I Thought About You (04:55) |
| Someday My Prince Will Come : Allmusic album Review : After both John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley left Miles Davis quintet, he was caught in the web of seeking suitable replacements. It was a period of trial and error for him that nonetheless yielded some legendary recordings (Sketches of Spain, for one). One of those is Someday My Prince Will Come. The lineup is Davis, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and alternating drummers Jimmy Cobb and Philly Jo Jones. The saxophonist was Hank Mobley on all but two tracks. John Coltrane returns for the title track and "Teo." The set opens with the title, a lilting waltz that nonetheless gets an original treatment here, despite having been recorded by Dave Brubeck. Kelly is in keen form, playing a bit sprightlier than the tempo would allow, and slips flourishes in the high register inside the melody for an "elfin" feel. Davis waxes light and lyrical with his Harmon mute, playing glissando throughout. Mobley plays a strictly journeyman solo, and then Coltrane blows the pack away with a solo so deep inside the harmony it sounds like its coming from somewhere else. Mobleys real moment on the album is on the next track, "Old Folks," when he doesnt have Coltrane breathing down his neck. Mobleys soul-stationed lyricism is well-suited to his soloing here, and is for the rest of the album except, of course, on "Teo," where Coltrane takes him out again. The closer on the set, "Blues No. 2," is a vamp on "All Blues," from Kind of Blue, and features Kelly and Chambers playing counterpoint around an eight bar figure then transposing it to 12. Jones collapses the beat, strides it out, and then erects it again for the solos of Davis and Mobley. This is relaxed session; there are no burning tracks here, but there is much in the way of precision playing and a fine exposition of Miles expansive lyricism. | ||
 | Album: 38 of 41 Title: Doo-Bop Released: 1992-06-30 Tracks: 9 Duration: 40:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Mystery (03:56) 2 The Doo-Bop Song (05:01) 3 Chocolate Chip (04:41) 4 High Speed Chase (04:40) 5 Blow (05:07) 6 Sonya (05:32) 7 Fantasy (04:38) 8 Duke Booty (04:56) 9 Mystery (reprise) (01:28) |
| Doo-Bop : Allmusic album Review : If On the Corner suggested hip-hop beats as far back as two decades ago, then consider Doo-Bop as offspring. Miles teaming with producer Easy Mo Bee is a natural -- more in league with Englands acid jazz scene than anything in the trumpeters recent canon. Those whove howled over the post-Bitches Brew work will find no solace here; instead, chalk this up as one of Miles most entertaining efforts. | ||
 | Album: 39 of 41 Title: Autumn Leaves Released: 1993 Tracks: 5 Duration: 59:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Walkin (13:02) 2 Autumn Leaves (13:21) 3 So What (10:52) 4 Round Midnight (06:16) 5 All of You (15:34) |
 | Album: 40 of 41 Title: Members Edition Released: 1996 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:01:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Dont Sing Me the Blues (02:54) 2 Ive Always Got the Blues (03:09) 3 Dont Explain to Me Baby (03:01) 4 Baby, Wont You Make Up Your Mind (02:54) 5 Bye Bye Blackbird (06:49) 6 No Blues (06:24) 7 What Is This Thing Called Love (10:53) 8 Straight No Chaser (03:08) 9 Bird of Paradise (03:06) 10 Embraceable You (03:45) 11 My Old Flame (03:06) 12 Scrapple From the Apple (02:50) 13 You Came Along From Out of Nowhere (04:03) 14 Dont Blame Me (02:42) 15 A Night in Tunisia (02:55) |
 | Album: 41 of 41 Title: Miles Davis Live Released: 1998 Tracks: 8 Duration: 1:11:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Intruders (09:38) 2 New Blues (08:34) 3 Perfect Way (04:41) 4 Tutu (13:10) 5 Splatch (11:32) 6 Time After Time (08:21) 7 Full Nelson (04:08) 8 One Phone Call - Street Scenes (11:09) |