One could sum this up with a single sentence: Miles is cool. This CD is subtitled "The Very Best Of," which is somewhat of a stretch, but this one succeeds as a great single-disc selection of Davis' cool jazz for a party.
Miles Davis' career covers 50 years and encompassed roles including bandleader, trumpeter and composer. Davis' Kind of Blue is often cited as the ultimate jazz album, the one jazz CD a music fan should have in his collection if only one were an option. Given his influence on classic jazz, it's hard to imagine condensing his best work into a skimpy 13 track CD. Only in its extreme ambition does this collection fail; it succeeds glowingly as a teaser, an overview of the great man's work that is easy to listen to and includes enough well-known material to keep a casual fan interested. It adds other quality album tracks and lesser known material that both help respect the artist's "cool" reputation while being strong enough to motivate a new listener to explore.
The compilation starts with "So What" from Kind of Blue, that title's only representative here, which starts the album off with an easy swinging tone. Other well known tunes represented here include "Summertime," the Gershwin number from Porgy and Bess; and "Milestones," the fantastic up-tempo masterpiece. The fantastic "Seven Steps to Midnight" features an up tempo bass line and great interaction between Miles' horn and the piano, and shows his evolution after the disbandment of the Kind of Blue quintet. Mixed in with the other classic selections is a rarity for Davis single disc compilations, the relaxing track "Générique" from the 1957 French film Ascenseur pour L'Echafaud. Altogether, there's plenty of great music to keep listeners entertained, relaxed and amazed.
Article comments
1 - Vern Halen
Although you didn't mention it, I assume there's material from his early 60's quintet, Wayne Shorter, et.al. - as much as I love Coltrane, I always loved the overall strength of his "Miles Smiles" group.
Skipped the jazz/rock experiments? Very odd indeed! Many rockers came to learn about jazz through Bitches Brew or On the Corner - should have had at least one cut on a career compilation you'd think.
2 - Connie Phillips
This article has been placed at the Advance.net websites, a site affiliated with about 12 newspapers.
One such site is here.
3 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article is an Editor's Pick this week!
4 - JP
I saw that..thanks! I'm flattered.
And Vern, yes -- though E.S.P. appears to be the only representation.