Miles Davis Albums (68)
'Amsterdam Concert'
Release Date 4/26/2005
Tracks 10
Label Lonehill Jazz
See Album Tracklist and Review
'In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, Complete, Vol. 1'
Release Date 6/3/2003
Tracks 13
Label Sony
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
It's finally happened: After all the crazy, edited, packaged, repackaged, remastered, reissued, and resequenced versions of Miles Davis' In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, the concert is available as a two-CD set without any edits whatsoever. The Saturday Night gig is also available as a double set, and all four discs are available in a box. The crew over at Legacy has done a fine job of righting the various wrongs in Columbia's vast jazz catalog over the years, and these two collections make the strongest case yet for that argument. While Friday Night is a bit awkward in that the first and third sets are on disc one and the second on disc two (to keep the integrity of the sets without having to switch discs), this is, after all, a minor hassle -- no points off. Sonically, there is no comparison in sound to the earlier version, when this band -- with Hank Mobley on tenor, Wynton Kelly on piano, Jimmy Cobb on drums, and Paul Chambers on bass -- tore up San Francisco's most (in)famous jazz club with a set that balanced bebop, hard bop, and ballads without the stops. Along with burning versions of "Oleo" and Miles' signature tunes from the era -- such as "All of You" and "On Green Dolphin Street" -- are four previously (except on bootlegs) unreleased performances of "If I Were a Bell," "Neo," "I Thought About You," and the ending "Theme." What is most remarkable is the way Kelly fits into this particular blend of the Miles band. Kelly's interplay with Chambers is especially brilliant, because his sense of blues phrasing inside counterpoint harmony is edgy and large, with left-hand chords in the middle register rather than sharp right-hand runs to accentuate choruses. Davis himself has never played with more intensity and muscularity on record than he does here. He is absolutely fierce throughout both evenings. Kelly plays more like a drummer than a pianist, using gorgeously percussive left-hand comps and fills to add bottom to the front line's solos. Mobley displays his bebop rather than hard bop and groove sides here, and reveals his intricate knowledge of the bop phraseology; he sounds free of the baggage and responsibility that he replaced John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. His solos on "If I Were a Bell" and "No Blues" are simply revelatory. This is an underappreciated group because of its relatively short life, but as evidenced here, the bandmembers swung fast and hard and never looked back. Hearing a dropped bassline, an out-of-time cymbal flourish, and a shortened series of phrases by Miles because he miscounted -- you guess the track -- adds to the charm of this being recorded as it was, without any cleanup. It is difficult to recommend this set over Saturday Night or vice versa; Miles fans will need both to fully appreciate how special this engagement with this particular band was. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, Vol. 1'
Release Date 3/6/2001
Tracks 6
Label SME
See Album Tracklist and Review
'At Newport 1958'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 7
Label Columbia/Legacy
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Thanks to the research that went into the box set The Complete Miles Davis/John Coltrane Sessions there's a the definitive Newport 1958 date that features the debut live performances to the Miles Davis Sextet's two newest members: drummer Jimmy Cobb and pianist Bill Evans. The gig was part of a festival tribute to Duke Ellington, but that didn't stop Davis from showing off -- aggressively -- what his new band was capable of (six months later he would show the world when the band went to record Kind of Blue). This is a revelatory performance for fans of Evans. When Cobb kicks off into Charlie Parker's "Au-Leu-Cha," the tempo is breakneck. Davis' solo is all fire, pure heat, and inspiration. The melody goes by in a blink, and Cobb and Chambers carry the dictum to go faster as Davis gives way first to Coltrane, already moving his angular lines to the harmonic breaking point and doing them not in scales but in modes, fast and footloose. He's down in the groove before giving it to Cannonball Adderley to show off his bebop chops -- which he possesses in spades. He's out of the Bird book to be sure, but his tone is stunning and he's loose, free as a bird as he leaps from one idea to the next before the melody shifts the tune back to Earth for only a second. The sextet doesn't stop when it literally rocks through Thelonious Monk's "Straight No Chaser." Evans' harmonic invention on the tune couldn't be further from the composer's, but it hardly matters. His melodic fire and ability to move tonal mountains in the harmonic intervals is near effortless. Coltrane's solo is notable in that he's squeaking and squawking for the first time on record, and Adderley's for how rich and melodic it is. By the time Evans gets to his solo, he's down in Monk's blues all right, but they're so ornate and beautiful, they swing, sway, and are full of color, as nuanced as they come. There is no academia in his approach -- it's all emotion and sophistication. The rest of the set follows suit: "Fran-Dance," "Two Bass Hit," "Bye Bye Blackbird" (which has never sounded like this before or since), and the blistering "The Theme" all burn with white heat. It's obvious Davis was pulling out all the stops for this audience, bringing down the house, and perhaps realizing himself just what this band was capable of musically. Who knows? It doesn't matter, fans can finally have an accurate record of this performance that has been scattered over other issues, misdated, miscredited, and badly mastered. This volume finally sets straight what happened on that afternoon in 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'At Newport 1958'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 7
Label Columbia/Legacy
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Thanks to the research that went into the box set The Complete Miles Davis/John Coltrane Sessions there's a the definitive Newport 1958 date that features the debut live performances to the Miles Davis Sextet's two newest members: drummer Jimmy Cobb and pianist Bill Evans. The gig was part of a festival tribute to Duke Ellington, but that didn't stop Davis from showing off -- aggressively -- what his new band was capable of (six months later he would show the world when the band went to record Kind of Blue). This is a revelatory performance for fans of Evans. When Cobb kicks off into Charlie Parker's "Au-Leu-Cha," the tempo is breakneck. Davis' solo is all fire, pure heat, and inspiration. The melody goes by in a blink, and Cobb and Chambers carry the dictum to go faster as Davis gives way first to Coltrane, already moving his angular lines to the harmonic breaking point and doing them not in scales but in modes, fast and footloose. He's down in the groove before giving it to Cannonball Adderley to show off his bebop chops -- which he possesses in spades. He's out of the Bird book to be sure, but his tone is stunning and he's loose, free as a bird as he leaps from one idea to the next before the melody shifts the tune back to Earth for only a second. The sextet doesn't stop when it literally rocks through Thelonious Monk's "Straight No Chaser." Evans' harmonic invention on the tune couldn't be further from the composer's, but it hardly matters. His melodic fire and ability to move tonal mountains in the harmonic intervals is near effortless. Coltrane's solo is notable in that he's squeaking and squawking for the first time on record, and Adderley's for how rich and melodic it is. By the time Evans gets to his solo, he's down in Monk's blues all right, but they're so ornate and beautiful, they swing, sway, and are full of color, as nuanced as they come. There is no academia in his approach -- it's all emotion and sophistication. The rest of the set follows suit: "Fran-Dance," "Two Bass Hit," "Bye Bye Blackbird" (which has never sounded like this before or since), and the blistering "The Theme" all burn with white heat. It's obvious Davis was pulling out all the stops for this audience, bringing down the house, and perhaps realizing himself just what this band was capable of musically. Who knows? It doesn't matter, fans can finally have an accurate record of this performance that has been scattered over other issues, misdated, miscredited, and badly mastered. This volume finally sets straight what happened on that afternoon in 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The music on this double CD, released domestically for the first time in 1997, was only previously out in Japan and was formerly among the rarest of Miles Davis recordings. Featured is one of the trumpeter's most controversial bands, a noisy ensemble with three guitarists (Reggie Lucas, Pete Cosey, and Dominique Gaumont), electric bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, percussionist Mtume, Dave Liebman on tenor, soprano, and flute, and guest tenorman Azar Lawrence. The spontaneous music has plenty of repetitive funk sounds from the guitars and bits of aimless rambling, along with some strong moments from Davis and Liebman. If drastically edited, the double CD would have made a killer single disc, for there are some very interesting stretches when magic occurs, but these are often succeeded by overlong vamps. Worth checking out, but not essential. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
'Live Around the World'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 11
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
This single CD gives one a definitive look at Miles Davis' live show from his last three years. Using funky but unpredictable rhythm sections and leaving space for plenty of solos, Davis created a unique brand of fusion that has yet to be satisfactorily duplicated. Among his more notable sidemen during this era are altoist Kenny Garrett, Foley on lead bass (which he used as a lower-toned guitar), one or two keyboardists chosen from Joey DeFrancesco, Adam Holzman, Robert Irving III, Kei Akagi, and John Beasley, various bassists, drummers, and percussionists, and on "Amandla," the tenor of Rick Margitza. Davis is in consistently strong form throughout the numbers, which include "In a Silent Way," "New Blues," "Human Nature," "Tutu," and "Time After Time." Quite often the live versions of these songs are more creative and exciting than the ones previously issued. This highly recommended CD (released in 1996) concludes with one number ("Hannibal") from Davis' final performance; it is not given a date but is most likely from just a few weeks before his death at age 65. No Miles Davis collection is complete without this important set. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
After George Coleman left the Miles Davis Quintet, tenor-saxophonist Sam Rivers took his place for a short period including a tour of Japan. Davis did not care for Rivers's avant-garde style (they failed to develop any chemistry) and soon replaced him, but this live LP (originally only issued in Japan) survived to document this brief association. The music (five lengthy versions of standards) is actually of high quality with both Davis and Rivers in fine form and the young rhythm section (pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams) pushing the trumpeter/leader to open up his style. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Davis's second recording since ending his six-year retirement was one of his best of the 1980s. Unlike his bands from the 1970s, this particular unit leaves plenty of space and plays much more melodically. Guitarist Mike Stern lets loose some fury, but electric bassist Marcus Miller is not reluctant to walk now and then in a straight-ahead fashion, drummer Al Foster and percussionist Mino Cinelu are tasteful, and Bill Evans gets in a few good spots on soprano. As for Davis, he was gradually regaining his earlier form. This double LP is highlighted by "Back Seat Betty," a side-long investigation of "My Man's Gone Now" and two versions of Davis's childlike "Jean Pierre." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
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 England's acid jazz scene than anything in the trumpeter's recent canon. Those who've howled over the post-Bitches Brew work will find no solace here; instead, chalk this up as one of Miles' most entertaining efforts. ~ Steve Aldrich, All Music Guide
