Jazz Articles about Miles Davis

Miles Davis: The Essential Miles Davis

by Todd S. Jenkins
August 1, 2001

There can't be too many musical tasks as daunting as trying to trim Miles Davis' prodigious output down into two discs worth of “essentials". No matter how much time and thought went into this amazing package, arguments are sure to ensue for years to come. That said, reissue producers Michael Cuscuna and Bob Belden have done a most commendable job of distilling Miles' essence. From his 1945 sessions with Charlie Parker through his 1986 smash hit Tutu, all the major ...

Miles Davis: The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions

by Jim Santella
August 1, 2001

Three previously unissued performances and six months of Miles Davis' recording activity mark this 3-CD set as something special. This was a transitional time for the bandleader. It marked the beginning of a fusion. The package documents this period very well. Davis wanted a new sound. With several keyboards and significant changes in personnel, he got it. The trumpeter introduced his musical changes gradually. The more radical shift would come later. These sessions are pleasant and full of intrigue. In ...

Miles Davis: The Essential Miles Davis

by Michael Fortuna
July 1, 2001

It is possible to boil a musician's extensive career down into two CDs.This year, in honor of what would have been trumpeter Miles Davis' 75th birthday, Columbia/Legacy Recordings has compiled The Essential Miles Davis, a collection that spans nearly four decades of Davis' eclectic career.From “So What" to “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," Davis never stopped experimenting with new ideas and sounds.He made the blues his own. He added orchestra instruments to his lineup. ...

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

by Michael Fortuna
July 1, 2001

As jazz's bebop movement flourished during the late 1940s with its fast-paced rhythms from virtuosos like trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Miles Davis headed off in a new direction. Taking cues from the innovations learned in Parker's group, Davis, along with his nonet, recorded 12 songs in a two-year span that, when released together on one album, became known as Birth of the Cool. This landmark album has been issued on CD several ...

Miles Davis: The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions

by Todd S. Jenkins
June 1, 2001

Another Miles classic re-excavated with grand results. In A Silent Way was an astonishing step further towards a fusion of jazz and rock for Miles Davis, and for jazz in general, when it was released in 1969. The acoustic instruments of Davis, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland and Tony Williams were combined with John McLaughlin’s electric guitar, Joe Zawinul’s organ, and the twin electric pianos of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. Each LP side held a medley of two themes. Miles’ ...

Miles Davis: Jazz at the Plaza

by AAJ Staff
June 1, 2001

Partying at the Plaza! That’s what the Miles Davis Sextet was doing in the late summer of 1958--celebrating the success, popularity, and ubiquity of Jazz music. This set captures the exuberance and creativity of one of Jazz’s great outfits during this highpoint for improvised music.

Miles Davis: Big Fun

by Todd S. Jenkins
June 1, 2001

One of the less-remembered, underappreciated releases in Miles’ discography, revamped for the new century and ready to open some ears.

A few months after the Bitches Brew sessions that broke jazz-rock out like Phoenix from the flames, Miles Davis returned to the Columbia recording studios with the intent to push his music in yet another startling direction. This time around, Miles took inspiration from classical Indian music, interpolating it into rock and jazz structures as the Beatles, altoist Toby Harriott, ...