Discography

MILESTONES

A SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY

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The rarest of jazz artists, and a master of the recording studio, Miles Davis left a legacy of LPs spanning 46 years. The secret of his astonishing longevity lies in his majestically individual responses to changing times. He heard, he reacted, he conquered-and not once or twice, but at least four times, altering the entire musical world, not just jazz, in the bargain. Listeners pursuing Davis for the first time might begin with the most famous, seminal records, but they would miss out on some masterpieces that, while not cataclysmic, best capture Davis' crafty lyricism and brooding charm-and a few quirky records that show him groping toward yet another breakthrough. Here is a selective guide to Miles Davis' many musical masks. Each deserves an A or A+. * BIRTH OF THE COOL (Capitol) In 1949, the 23-year-old Davis assembled some of the best jazz composers and players in New York, almost all of them older and more experienced than he was, for the first of three nine-piece sessions that ushered in the lapidary abstractions of cool jazz. The 12 selections were beautifully mastered for this reissue. * MILES DAVIS CHRONICLE (Prestige) But how cool can you get? In 1954, Davis led another all-star band in a performance of a blues, ''Walkin','' that was so earthy and dramatic it helped codify a countermovement known as hard bop. ''Walkin''' is just one of the peaks among these 94 selections from Davis' Prestige years, 1951-56. Much of the development of modern jazz is imprinted in these eight CDs, including the marathon debut of Davis' greatest quintet, with John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Red Garland, and Philly Joe Jones. * PORGY AND BESS (Columbia) All of the collaborations by Davis and the great composer-arranger Gil Evans are landmarks. Miles Ahead, the album that made him famous in 1957 (presently available only in a montage of alternate takes), is the most serene, Sketches of Spain the most starkly expressive and erotic. But Porgy and Bess, Davis and Evans' favorite, runs the widest gamut of emotions, and ends euphorically with the stunningly swinging ''There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York.'' * KIND OF BLUE (Columbia) Possibly the most celebrated jazz LP ever issued, this was the 1959 session that popularized modal jazz, with musicians improvising melodic variations on scales rather than chords. But you didn't have to know that to find such selections as ''So What'' and ''All Blues'' irresistibly seductive. All seven musicians involved -including John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans-would later expand on the lessons heard here, as would two generations of musicians in jazz and rock. Scandalously, Columbia has ravaged the sound with its digital reprocessing. * SOMEDAY MY PRINCE WILL COME (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) It's often considered a way station between the great bands of the late '50s and mid-' 60s, but for sheer romance it has few rivals. Also available on a Columbia CD, but with inferior sound. * CIRCLE IN THE ROUND (Columbia) An odd assortment that traces Davis' unique sojourn between 1955 (the John Lewis-Dizzy Gillespie bop classic, ''Two Bass Hit'') to 1970 and the dawn of fusion (David Crosby's ''Guinnevere''). You can hear him stalk the electric age step by stubborn step. * AURA (Columbia) Recorded in Copenhagen in 1985 and suppressed by Columbia for four years, this is Davis' last great album. Composed by Palle Mikkelborg as a tribute to Miles, this sequence of concertos often recalls the introspective bravura of Davis' work with Gil Evans. * THE MISSING SIXTIES Funny thing about the great Davis bands of the mid-' 60s: Most of the albums with George Coleman or Wayne Shorter on tenor and the rhythm section of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams are out of print. Let's hope they'll be back on reissues. In the meantime, it's worth a trip to a rare-record store to find In Europe, Heard 'Round the World, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson, probably the greatest rock & roll record ever made by a jazz musician. Of his recordings from the '70s and '80s, also out of print, highlights include Get Up With It, We Want Miles, and Star People. All belong to Columbia.

Posted Oct 11, 1991 | Published in issue #87 Oct 11, 1991 | Order Article Reprints