Broadcast Sessions 1958-1959 [PA]

Performer: Miles Davis
Producer: The Acrobat In-House Team (Compilation)
Distributor: n/a

Notes: Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Nat Adderley (clarinet); Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone); Bennie Green (trombone); William "Red" Garland, Red Garland, Bill Evans (piano); Paul Chambers (bass instrument); Jimmy Cobb , Philly Joe Jones, Barry Miles (drums); Candido (percussion). Recording information: Birdland, New York, NY (05/17/1958-01/03/1959); Cafe Bohemia, New York, NY (05/17/1958-01/03/1959); The Mosque Theatre, Newark, NJ (05/17/1958-01/03/1959); The Spotlite Lounge, Washington DC (05/17/1958-01/03/1959). Many musicians lived and were musically active during multiple jazz periods, and some of them actually made significant contributions during all of the periods during which they recorded. But few can claim, as Miles Davis could, to have actually helped design the architecture in every case. Bebop, cool, and fusion all have Davis' handprints deep in the cement of their foundations, and this disc documents some of his best work during the second of those periods. In the mid-'50s he started what would be a tumultuous musical relationship with John Coltrane, and what would eventually become one of the greatest combos in jazz history began to coalesce: alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones in addition to Davis and Coltrane. The tracks on this CD were selected from four live-in-the-studio recordings made by Davis' combo shortly after the sessions for the Milestones LP were completed, and it features burning renditions of such period favorites as "Bye Bye Blackbird" (featuring some unfortunately inaudible piano by Bill Evans), "Bag's Groove" (featuring some strangely incongruous Latin percussion), and Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" (in a particularly blistering, hard-charging version). Coltrane is fresh from having kicked his heroin habit and is in especially sharp form here -- these sessions are a major find. ~ Rick Anderson

Down Beat (p.86) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Superbly recorded and garnished with a bohemian ambiance, it has an intimate jazz-club verisimilitude that crackles with historical and emotional context." Billboard (p.30) - "The disc features 10 songs, including two stellar versions of 'Bye Bye Blackbird'....These are significant recordings from a pivotal time in Davis' career." Mojo (Publisher) (p.123) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hese live-on-the-air takes of now-standards like 'Straight,' 'No Chaser,' 'Bag's Groove' and 'Walkin'' are welcomed additions to the Davis canon."

Few musicians have managed to change the course of music--trumpeter Miles Davis did it several times. An early disciple of Charlie Parker, Davis created an austere, understated approach that became the model for cool. His superb albums in the 1950s made him a star, and in the following decade, he brought small-group jazz to the limit before he unapologetically (and, for some, unforgivably) took on jazz-rock. After a break, he re-emerged in the '80s with a mixture of pop and dense, bristling funk. All the while, his refusal to follow anyone but his own muse made him both a hero and an enigma--either way, he was one of the most magnetic, influential figures in American music.

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