Jazz Articles about Miles Davis

Miles Davis Quintet: Cookin'

by Martin Gladu
March 26, 2007

Miles Davis dared to be different. Staying true to his lifelong pugilistic passion/inspiration, he shook the jazz world many times throughout his career. To many he is remembered as the Prince Of Darkness, the raspy-voiced and hip-ly dressed maverick that poured out cool licks from his Harmon-muted red trumpet. But, above and beyond his larger-than-life persona and reported irreverence of his later years, Miles Davis remains a rare master of musical form as well as a forward-thinking iconic leader.

Miles Davis Quintet: Cookin'

by Chris May
February 26, 2007

I may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but I've finally worked out why Blue Note and Prestige are issuing so many of their iconic mid-'50s albums remastered by original sessions engineer Rudy Van Gelder. Partly it's to encourage those of us who already own the discs to buy them one more time; but more importantly, it gives the two companies an unbeatable edge over the growing number of knock-off labels operating outside the fifty-year copyright rule. The ...

It's About That Time: Miles Davis On And Off The Record

by David Rickert
February 2, 2007

Richard Cook It's About That Time: Miles Davis On And Off The Record ISBN: 978-0-19-532266-8 Oxford University Press 373 pages Hardcover, January 2007

Miles Davis is one of the most thoroughly researched and documented musicians of all time. So a writer who wants to present him in a new light needs either to have a new approach or some significant writing chops. Happily, Richard Cook demonstrates both in It's About ...

Miles Davis: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions

by George Kanzler
January 6, 2007

The Miles Davis Quintet The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions Prestige Records 2006 (1955-56)

Miles (aka The New Miles Davis Quintet), Workin', Relaxin', Steamin' and Cookin' were the titles of the original Miles Davis Quintet LPs for Prestige that make up the first three (of four) CDs of this yet-again repackaging of what have become among the most familiar sides of Davis' recorded oeuvre. (The other studio album by this band was 'Round About Midnight ...

Miles Davis: Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet

by David Miller
November 23, 2006

It usually takes me two listens to determine what I think of an album. The great ones usually convince me with one run-through, though. Upon popping Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet into the stereo, I knew from the opening notes of “It Never Entered My Mind that I was in for something special. The rest of the song and, subsequently, the album was mere confirmation. Workin' is culled from the four albums worth of material recorded ...

Miles On A Good Day

by Rob Mariani
November 10, 2006

The men's room at Birdland was, like the rest of the club, pretty much about economies of scale. A pair of urinals too close together. One cramped toilet stall. One gray-jacketed, tired old attendant who maybe could feel the vibrations through the walls when Philly Joe was playing “Two Bass Hit." But there was no way of telling if he cared about the music or the people playing it. The Miles Davis Sextet--the Kind of Blue ensemble--was on ...

Miles Davis: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions

by CJ Shearn
November 10, 2006

The Miles Davis Quintet The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions Prestige Records 2006 (1955-56)

This box set includes the final five albums trumpeter Miles Davis made for Prestige. Davis recorded as a leader for the label from 1951-1956 and the albums capture an artist in the process of finding his own voice. They also present Davis recording with his first real working group, on material the band had regularly been performing on live dates. And ...