Great Sessions

Performer: Miles Davis
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder; Doug Hawkins
Producer: Alfred Lion
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Miles Davis; John Lewis, Gerry Mulligan, Gil Coggins, Gunther Schuller, Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson , Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Kai Winding, Kenny Clarke, Al Haig, Al McKibbon, Lee Konitz, Max Roach, Oscar Pettiford, Percy Heath, Art Blakey, Nelson Boyd, Junior Collins, John Barber, Joe Shulman, Sandy Siegelstein. The Miles Davis installment of the BLUE NOTE'S GREAT SESSIONS series brings together three discs of the legendary trumpeter's work from the late 1940s and early '50s. Davis didn't record much during this time, and he never released solo albums on Blue Note thereafter, but his BIRTH OF THE COOL album, included here, made an indelible mark on the history of jazz. Featuring brilliant arrangements by composer Gil Evans, instruments like the French horn and tuba, and a restrained "cool" style that stood in stark contrast to the frenetic bebop then in vogue, BIRTH OF THE COOL sounds as fresh and startling today as it did in 1949. The other two discs included, MILES DAVIS VOL. 1 and MILES DAVIS VOL. 2, find Davis working in an excellent hard bop mode, and are marked by superb playing from Davis, saxophonist Jackie McLean, trombonist J.J. Johnson, pianist Horace Silver, and drummer Art Blakey, among others. Blue Note's Great Sessions: Miles Davis packages three of the innovative trumpeter's most iconic early recordings from the '50s. Included is the legendary Birth of the Cool, Miles Davis, Vol. 1, and Miles Davis, Vol. 2. These are must-hear recordings for avid Davis fans, and the Rudy Van Gelder editions showcased within this collection feature remastered sound and original album art. ~ Matt Collar

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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