cd reviews

Deciding which Miles Davis tracks are "essential" is a controversial and invariably subjective process, but this two-disc Columbia/Legacy compilation benefits from the input of reputable authorities such as Michael Cuscuna and Bob Belden. With over twice as many selections as the Ken Burns Jazz title devoted to Davis (all but four tracks overlap), this one provides a more thorough survey of the protean trumpeter's career. It's nearly two and a half hours of music, and worth the additional bucks.

That said, no compilation will ever deliver the aesthetic satisfaction of listening to one of Davis' album masterworks in its entirety. (take note: the pianist on "Petits Machins (Little Stuff)" is Chick Corea, not Herbie Hancock.) ~ David R. Adler

Miles Davis's final Columbia release was this two-LP set, an unusual effort from his fusion years.

Palle Mikkelborg composed a challenging nine-part suite that finds the trumpeter in fairly inspired form, joined by a colorful big band.

Guitarist John McLaughlin and bassists Niels Pedersen and Bo Stief have some solos but otherwise the spotlight is entirely on Davis, who mostly rises to the occasion. ~ Scott Yanow.

Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius.

It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bass line 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. It's 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 doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance.

They return because this is an exceptional band -- Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb -- 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 and still crackle with vitality.

Kind of Blue works on many different levels. 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 don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz -- but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

The third LP volume of music taken from the Miles Davis Quintet's stay at the Plugged Nickel in Chicago.

This CD finds the young group (comprised of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams) stretching out on "If I Were a Bell," "Stella by Starlight," "Walkin'" and "Miles," whipping through the melodies quickly and then really tearing into the chord changes a la Ornette Coleman. Rarely again would Miles Davis be captured on record playing standards; the emphasis was shifting to continuous medleys full of original material. ~ Scott Yanow.

The fourth of the six studio albums by the Miles Davis quintet of the 1960s was their last all-acoustic session.

Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Tony Williams contributed all of the music to this adventurous set including such classics as "Nefertiti," "Riot," and "Pinocchio." This CD is brief at under 40 minutes but the music is consistently stimulating and unpredictable. It's funny that this group's playing had little influence on the music of 1967 but by 1987 it was becoming the mainstream of jazz. ~ Scott Yanow

Since it's 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 it's 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), it's 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 doesn't fly and search the way that Nefertiti did. But that's 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 it's possible to hear great musicians find the foundation of a new form. For that alone, Filles de Kilimanjaro is necessary listening. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide ...

This controversial but memorable recording is mostly a duet between Miles Davis and the many overdubbed instruments of producer Marcus Miller (although violinist Michel 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. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide ...

The old Savoy catalogue gets bounced around from one distributor to the next like an unwanted foster child, with everyone starting from scratch once they get a hold of it. By 1999, it was Atlantic's turn -- and hot on the heels of other label retrospectives, they have compiled a very good three-CD anthology of Savoy's jazz activities over 15 years in the middle of the 20th century.

Like other smallish independents, Savoy was the fiefdom of one man, a operator named Herman Lubinsky, but Bob Porter's liner notes leave us with the impression that Savoy created a rich legacy in spite of its cheapskate owner "who, however reluctantly, paid for it" (did Porter, a prolific record producer, have any unpleasant dealings with Lubinsky back then?). Decently remastered, the set opens around the tail end of the swing era, already capturing some major figures in small-combo jazz (Ben Webster, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet) and moves on to a detailed portrait of the emergence of bop just after the war. While rarely sticking with artists for very long to track their progress, Savoy (and the labels it absorbed) was a hugely important player in the early days of bop, managing to capture some of the earliest work of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Stan Getz, George Shearing, and Dexter Gordon. For some real atmosphere, check out Slim Gailliard's "Slim's Jam" of 1945, where the garrulous musician/jive-talker banters and introduces none other than Diz and Bird. Indeed, some of Parker's most famous worldshakers, like "Now's The Time, " Ko-Ko, " "Chasin' The Bird" and "Bird Gets the Worm" are here, although they have never really been away for long despite the number of times Savoy has changed owners. The set also tracks the hard bop, mid-late-'50s, including numbers by Milt Jackson, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Byrd, Donald Byrd, Herbie Mann and other major figures. There are no unreleased goodies, not much that truly ventures out beyond hard bop (Charles Mingus' "Eulogy For Rudy Williams" being the most "far-out" track), and only after the opening of Disc Three does the canvas of each track expand beyond the length of a single. The set comes in a compact, laminated mini-box with mid-century-style cover art. ~ Richard S. Ginell

This Is Jazz, Vol. 22: Miles Davis Plays Ballads is a pleasant collection of some of Miles' best ballad recordings, from his famous "Flamenco Sketches" to his latter-day cover of "Time After Time."

The budget-line collection showcases a surprising number of styles and eras from Davis, including his quintet with Coltrane, several collaborations with Gil Evans and his classic mid-'60s quintet, making it a useful primer for the curious.

Jazz scholars and Miles fanatics should be warned that the disc contains no rare material, and it has no real value for them. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Although they had made a few slightly earlier cuts that would later be issued on Columbia, the first full-length album by the Miles Davis Quintet is quite intriguing in that it gives one a look at tenor saxophonist John Coltrane when he still had a hesitant style.

This audiophile CD reissue has the same music that is currently available on an Original Jazz Classics set: five jazz standards plus "The Theme." Unlike Coltrane, who would develop rapidly within the next year, Miles was already very much in his prime, sounding quite lyrical on "Just Squeeze Me" and "There Is No Greater Love," and the classic rhythm section (pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones) was quickly starting to gel. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide ...

Although Davis's health was shaky at the time of this two-CD set (recorded the same day as the weaker Agharta), he has a few strong trumpet solos on these two very lengthy pieces ("Zimbabwe" and "Gondwana");

Davis would drift into retirement for six years shortly after this concert. The music is actually quite rewarding (at least it will be for listeners with open ears) with the dense ensembles and heated solos (Sonny Fortune on soprano, alto, and flute and the guitars of Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas) being quite dangerous, as opposed to the safe fusion of the 1990s.

Pangaea is the finest recording from the least-understood period of Davis's career (1971-1975). ~ Scott Yanow

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 jazz's avant-garde. Outwardly, this music doesn't take as many risks as Coltrane or Ornette Coleman's 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 that's 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 it's rushing by in a flurry of notes or elegantly reclining in Hancock's 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Recorded the same day as Pangaea but not up to its level, this two-LP set features Davis just prior to his six-year retirement.

He actually sounds a bit weak on this set (although he takes a rare straightahead solo on "Interlude") but altoist Sonny Fortune has his moments. The dense and rockish ensembles (with the guitars of Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas) will scare most jazz listeners away. ~ Scott Yanow

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 ...

In conjunction with the release of Ken Burns' ten-part, 19-hour epic PBS documentary Jazz, Columbia issued 22 single-disc compilations devoted to jazz's most significant artists, as well as a five-disc historical summary.

Since the individual compilations attempt to present balanced overviews of each artist's career, tracks from multiple labels have thankfully been licensed where appropriate. Miles Davis is one of the most difficult jazz artists to anthologize well, especially within the confines of a single disc. Though merely finding a way to give equal time to the many phases of Davis' career is nearly impossible, this volume of the Ken Burns Jazz series tries mightily and more or less succeeds.

The compilation follows the trumpeter's winding path through bop, proto-cool jazz, orchestral jazz, modal jazz (the legendary Kind of Blue period), hard bop (his hugely influential quintet of the '60s), and electric jazz fusion. Needless to say, the single-disc format doesn't allow for much time spent on any of these periods, and thus doesn't make for a very cohesive listen. Still, Ken Burns Jazz is surprisingly effective given what it's trying to accomplish, and provides a strong idea of the tremendous variety in Davis' oeuvre. Since the Davis volume of the series hops around so much, it's finally more of a jumping-off point than self-contained listening experience.

The compilation allows neophytes to get their feet wet, sample small bites of Davis' many stylistic changes, and then purchase the individual works from the periods that most interest them. ~ Steve Huey, .