Miles Davis - Doo-Bop

Doo-Bop was jazz innovator Miles Davis' final studio album, which would have marked the beginning of the artist's turn to hip-hop-oriented tracks. However, Davis died on September 28, 1991, before the album was completed. Only six tunes for the album had been completed.[1] To finish off the album, producer Easy Mo Bee was asked to take some of the unreleased trumpet performances (stemming from what Davis called the RubberBand Session), and build tracks that Miles 'would have loved' around the recordings. The album's posthumous songs (as stated in the liner notes) are "High Speed Chase" and "Fantasy." A reprise of the song "Mystery" rounded out the album's nine-track length.

The project stemmed from Davis sitting in his New York apartment in the summer with the windows open, listening to the sound of the streets. He wanted to record an album of music that captured these sounds. In early 1991, Davis called up his friend Russell Simmons and asked him to find some young producers who could help create this kind of music, leading to Davis' collaboration with Easy Mo Bee. The result of this collaboration, Doo-Bop, was released by Warner Bros. Records on June 30, 1992, and received mixed reviews. The album won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance

Miles Davis - Blue Haze

Blue Haze is an album recorded in 1953 and 1954 by Miles Davis, for Prestige Records. The first track on the album is from the 3 April 1954 session which resulted in half of the album Walkin' (and was originally included on the 10" vinyl version of that album). The remainder is the result of two sessions on 19 May 1953 and 15 March 1954, the first being a quintet with John Lewis, Charles Mingus (on piano, not bass), Percy Heath and Max Roach, and the second a quartet with Horace Silver, Heath, and Art Blakey. Tracks 2 and 7 are wrongly credited as Davis compositions - they are both in fact by Eddie Vinson (see also Donna Lee for possible explanation of this). However, Vinson supposedly wrote these tunes for Davis, and this is probably how the confusion has occurred.

1.I'll Remember April D. Raye, G. DePaul and P. Johnston 7:52
2.Four M. Davis and E. Vinson 4:00
3.Old Devil Moon B. Lane and E.Y. Harburg 3:22
4.Smooch M. Davis and C. Mingus 3:04
5.Blue Haze M. Davis 6:08
6.When Lights are Low B. Carter and C. Williams 3:25
7.Tune Up M. Davis and E. Vinson 3:52
8.Miles Ahead M. Davis and G. Evans 4:28

Miles Davis & Milt Jackson - Quintet & Sextet (1955)

Miles Davis & Milt Jackson - Quintet & Sextet (1955)

Lesser heralded than their collaboration with Monk (as documented on BAGS' GROOVE and MILES DAVIS AND THE MODERN JAZZ GIANTS), this August 5, 1955 session with vibraphonist Milt Jackson was Miles' last all-star collaboration before the formation of his first classic quintet. It marked a farewell to an older generation of acolytes and fellow travellers. Miles was entering a new era of leadership and international stardom, and generally he would only record with his working groups.

QUINTET/SEXTET is notable for two compositions by Jackie McLean: "Dr. Jackle" and "Minor March" (it appears on his famous 1959 Blue Note date NEW SOIL as "Minor Apprehension"). The former is a Charlie Parker-ish line featuring a masterful Milt Jackson symposium on the blues--Miles' typically lyric approach, a tart, spacious flight from McLean, and a soulful, dancing Ray Bryant. The latter is a mysterious minor figure with jabbing rhythm breaks and a joyous bridge that recalls "Tempus Fugit." McLean's vaulting cadences and fervent cry anti****te the rapture of his mature style, and Bryant takes a harmonically adventuresome solo.

Elsewhere the group digs into the Bud Powell-like changes of Ray Bryant's low, slow "Changes" (over the rock solid groove of Percy Heath and Art Taylor), and the quirky harmonies and angular melodies of Thad Jones' "Bitty Ditty." "Changes" inspires a lovely muted statement from Davis, and illustrates Bryant's unique blend of blues, sanctified gospel and bebop. Davis and Jackson combine for pungent voicings on the head to "Bitty Ditty," then demonstrate their elegant mastery of harmony and swing. Both are inspired by the shape of Jones' line, completely unfazed by its intricacies.

Tracklist:

01 Minor League 7:05
02 Ezz-Thetic 10:41
03 Grant's Tune 7:00
04 Solid 7:23
05 The Kicker 6:23
06 Wives And Lovers 9:00

Personnel:
Miles Davis ( trumpet )
Milt Jackson ( vibraphone )
Jackie McLean ( alto saxophone )
Ray Bryant ( piano )
Percy Heath ( bass )
Art Taylor ( drums )

Miles Davis - Seven Steps to Heaven (1963)

Opis:
"Seven Steps To Heaven" is one of those albums that you have to take in stride and listen to track by track and not so much as a cohesive album. Miles was in a state of flux in 1963. His quintet with Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb had been disbanded, and Miles had been recording with Gil Evans. When the time came for a new lp, Miles was still working on getting a steady group together. So, in fact, this lp is in fact 2 ep's, as 2 different groups play on this lp, each with a very different character from the other.

Group 1- Miles, George Coleman (tenor), Victor Feldman (piano), Ron Carter, (Bass), Frank Butler (dr) (tracks 1,3,5). This group is quite traditional in outlook, and the tracks played show this. Miles' beautifully heartfelt performances are backed perfctly by Feldman's supple and understated piano. This group proved that Miles could pack a wallop on the standards. The tenor of Coleman and Carter's bass compliment Miles and Feldman very well. As a fan of jazz, I very much enjoy what this very short lived quintet did (2 days in April 1963 was the life of this group).

Group 2- Miles, Coleman, Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams. 4/5 of what would be the 2nd great quintet are in action on tracks 2,4,6. The character of the band is immediatly felt on "Seven Steps to Heaven" (group 1 also recorded the song, as well as "So Near So Far"- track 4- and "Summer Nights", which landed on the "Quiet Nights" lp; perhaps at some point both takes of both of these songs will be on a remastered version of this lp to showcase the very different interpretations of the songs by the old and new guard), as Ron Carter's walking bass is pushed by Williams' drumming. Herbie Hancock's style is also apparent- a more open style as opposed to Feldman's more traditional block chord style.



This album definitely is an overlooked classic. The original versions of "Joshua" and the title track are worth the price of admission; "So Near, So Far" is absolutely beautiful. Add to that a chance to hear the underrated Victor Feldman on the ballad portion of the album (especially "I Fall in Love Too Easily"). But the greatest thing about this recording is the debut of what was the rhythm section to end all rhythm sections: even this early as a unit, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and the late Tony Williams sound awesome.

Tracklist:

01 Basin Street Blues
02 Seven Steps to Heaven
03 I Fall in Love too Easily
04 So Near, So Far
05 Baby Won't You Please Come Home
06 Joshua

Personnel:
Miles Davis (trumpet);
George Coleman (tenor saxophone);
Victor Feldman, Herbie Hancock (piano);
Ron Carter (bass instrument);
Frank Butler, Tony Williams (drums).

Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (1957)

[b]Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (1957)[/b]

Opis:
Album ten wyznacza drugi etap współpracy z Gilem Evansem. Pierwszy zaoowocował albumem Birth of the Cool. Do drugiego będą jeszcze należały Porgy and Bess i Sketches of Spain.

Jest to właściwie płyta koncepcyjna; 10 kompozycji tworzy jazzową suitę.

Album został nagrany na czterech sesjach. Jednak w trakcie postprodukcji Davis zadecydował o piątej sesji. Popoprawiał wszystkie pomyłki i opuszczenia w czasie jego solowych partii poprzez nałożenie "łat". Ponieważ nieoczekiwanie album był monofoniczny można te wstawki łatwiej wyłowić niż na poprawionym wydaniu stereofonicznym.

Na oryginalnym albumie nie był w ogóle wymieniony pianista Wynton Kelly, którego partia fortepianowa na alternatywnym "Springsville" znalazła się w "Springsville" wydanym na albumie.

Oryginalny album ukazał się z całkowicie niepasującą do płyty okładką przedstawiającą młodą białą kobietę na żaglówce[1]. Wszystkie późniejsze wydania miały już na okładce fotografię Milesa Davisa.



Tracklist:

1. Springsville (J. Carisi) [3:27]
2. The Maids of Cadiz (L. Delibes) [3:53]
3. The Duke (D. Brubeck) [3:35]
4. My Ship (I. Gershwin/K.Weill) [4:28]
5. Miles Ahead (M. Davis/G. Evans) [3:29]
6. Blues for Pablo (G. Evans) [5:18]
7. New Rhumba (A. Jamal) [4:37]
8. The Meaning of the Blues (R. Troup/L. Worth) [2:48]
9. Lament (J.J. Johnson) [2:15]
10. I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (by Anyone but You) (H. Spina/J. Elliott) [3:05]


Miles Ahead is a jazz album by Miles Davis that was released in 1957 under Columbia label as CL 1041. This was the first album following Birth of the Cool that Davis recorded with Gil Evans, with whom he would go on to release albums such as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain. Gil Evans combined the ten pieces that make up the album in a kind of suite, each following the preceding one without interruption. Davis is the only soloist on Miles Ahead, which also features a prominent horn section.

A fifth recording date involved Davis alone (re-)recording material to cover or patch mistakes or omissions in his solos using overdubbing. The fact that this album originally was produced in mono makes these inserted over-dubbings rather obvious in the new stereo setting.