Miles Davis

Miles Davis – You’re Under Arrest (1985) [Japanese Reissue 2000]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 42:47 minutes | Scans included | 1,76 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 901 MB

Miles Davis’ final Columbia recording (other than Aura which was released several years later) includes his straightforward ballad interpretations of Cyndy Lauper’s “Time After Time” & the Michael Jackson-associated “Human Nature,” 2 songs he would play in most of his concerts for the remainder of his life. Other tunes (including “You’re Under Arrest,” “One Phone Call” & “Ms. Morrisine”) were quickly discarded. In addition to Davis (who had regained his earlier chops) tenor-saxophonist Bob Berg, guitarist John Scofield & guest John McLaughlin get in a few decent solos on this competent, but not overly memorable effort.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Steamin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (1961) [MFSL 2003]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 39:56 minutes | Scans included | 1,24 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 883 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # UDSACD 2019

Although chronologically the last to be issued, this collection includes some of the best performances from the tapes which would produce the albums Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’, and ultimately, Steamin’. A primary consideration of these fruitful sessions is the caliber of musicians — Miles Davis (trumpet), Red Garland (piano), John Coltrane (tenor sax), and Philly Joe Jones (drums) — who were basically doing their stage act in the studio. As actively performing musicians, the material they are most intimate with would be their live repertoire. Likewise, what more obvious place than a studio is there to capture every inescapable audible nuance of the combo’s musical group mind. The end results are consistently astonishing. At the center of Steamin’, as with most outings by this band, are the group improvisations which consist of solo upon solo of arguably the sweetest and otherwise most swinging interactions known to have existed between musicians. “Surrey With the Fringe on Top” is passed between the mates like an old joke. Garland compliments threads started by Davis and Coltrane as their seamless interaction yields a stream of strikingly lyrical passages. There are two well-placed nods to fellow bop pioneers Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie on a revision of their “Salt Peanuts.” Philly Joe Jones’ mimicking cymbal speak — which replicates Gillespie’s original vocals — is nothing short of genius. This rendition is definitely as crazy and unpredictable here as the original. Thelonious Monk also gets kudos on “Well, You Needn’t.” This quintet makes short work of the intricacies of the arrangement, adding the double horn lead on the choruses and ultimately redefining this jazz standard. Although there is no original material on Steamin’, it may best represent the ability of the Miles Davis quintet to take standards and rebuild them to suit their qualifications.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (1961) [Analogue Productions 2010]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD/DST64 2.0 & 3.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 41:49 minutes | Scans included | 2,88 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | 42:14 mins | Scans included | 933 MB

After both John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley left Miles Davis’ quintet, he was caught in the web of seeking suitable replacements. It was a period of trial and error for him that nonetheless yielded some legendary recordings (Sketches of Spain, for one). One of those is Someday My Prince Will Come. The lineup is Davis, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and alternating drummers Jimmy Cobb and Philly Jo Jones. The saxophonist was Hank Mobley on all but two tracks. John Coltrane returns for the title track and “Teo.” The set opens with the title, a lilting waltz that nonetheless gets an original treatment here, despite having been recorded by Dave Brubeck. Kelly is in keen form, playing a bit sprightlier than the tempo would allow, and slips flourishes in the high register inside the melody for an “elfin” feel. Davis waxes light and lyrical with his Harmon mute, playing glissando throughout. Mobley plays a strictly journeyman solo, and then Coltrane blows the pack away with a solo so deep inside the harmony it sounds like it’s coming from somewhere else. Mobley’s real moment on the album is on the next track, “Old Folks,” when he doesn’t have Coltrane breathing down his neck. Mobley’s soul-stationed lyricism is well-suited to his soloing here, and is for the rest of the album except, of course, on “Teo,” where Coltrane takes him out again. The closer on the set, “Blues No. 2,” is a vamp on “All Blues,” from Kind of Blue, and features Kelly and Chambers playing counterpoint around an eight bar figure then transposing it to 12. Jones collapses the beat, strides it out, and then erects it again for the solos of Davis and Mobley. This is relaxed session; there are no burning tracks here, but there is much in the way of precision playing and a fine exposition of Miles’ expansive lyricism.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Sketches Of Spain (1960) [MFSL 2012]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 41:51 minutes | Scans included | 1,69 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 891 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # UDSACD 2086

Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis’ most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 — after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band — Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album’s signature piece, “Concierto de Aranjuez,” after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon’s house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the “Concierto,” Evans’ arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band — Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones — the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flügelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis’ control over his instrument is singular, and Evans’ conducting is flawless. Also notable are “Saeta,” with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis’ career, and the album’s closer, “Solea,” which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession — or parade — with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Seven Steps To Heaven (1963) [Japanese Reissue 2002]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 46:08 minutes | Scans included | 1,4 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 923 MB

Seven Steps to Heaven finds Miles Davis standing yet again on the fault line between stylistic epochs. In early 1963, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb left to form their own trio, and Davis was forced to form a new band, which included Memphis tenor player George Coleman and bassist Ron Carter. When Davis next entered the studio in Hollywood, he added local drummer Frank Butler and British studio ace Victor Feldman, who ultimately decided not to go on the road with Davis. It’s easy to see why Davis liked Feldman, who contributed the dancing title tune and “Joshua” to the session. On three mellifluous standards — particularly a cerebral “Basin Street Blues” and a broken-hearted “I Fall in Love Too Easily” — the pianist plays with an elegant, refined touch, and the kind of rarefied voicings that suggest Ahmad Jamal. Davis responds with some of his most introspective, romantic ballad playing. When Davis returned to New York he finally succeeded in spiriting away a brilliantly gifted 17-year-old drummer from Jackie McLean: Tony Williams. On the title tune you can already hear the difference, as his crisp, driving cymbal beat and jittery, aggressive syncopations propel Davis into the upper reaches of his horn. On “So Near, So Far” the drummer combines with Carter and new pianist Herbie Hancock to expand on a light Afro-Cuban beat with a series of telepathic changes in tempo, texture, and dynamics. Meanwhile, Feldman’s “Joshua” (with its overtones of “So What” and “All Blues”) portends the kind of expressive variations on the basic 4/4 pulse that would become the band’s trademark, as Davis and Coleman ascend into bebop heaven.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Sorcerer (1967) [MFSL 2015]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 40:24 minutes | Scans included | 1,62 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 793 MB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # UDSACD 2145 | Genre: Jazz

Sorcerer, the third album by the second Miles Davis Quintet, is in a sense a transitional album, a quiet, subdued affair that rarely blows hot, choosing to explore cerebral tonal colorings. Even when the tempo picks up, as it does on the title track, there’s little of the dense, manic energy on Miles Smiles — this is about subtle shadings, even when the compositions are as memorable as Tony Williams’ “Pee Wee” or Herbie Hancock’s “Sorcerer.” As such, it’s a little elusive, since it represents the deepening of the band’s music as they choose to explore different territory. The emphasis is as much on complex, interweaving chords and a coolly relaxed sound as it is on sheer improvisation, though each member tears off thoroughly compelling solos. Still, the individual flights aren’t placed at the forefront the way they were on the two predecessors — it all merges together, pointing toward the dense soundscapes of Miles’ later ’60s work. It’s such a layered, intriguing work that the final cut, recorded in 1962 with Bob Dorough on vocals, is an utterly jarring, inappropriate way to end the record, even if it’s intended as a tribute to Miles’ then-girlfriend (later, his wife), Cicely Tyson (whose image graces the cover).

(more…)

Miles Davis – Sorcerer (1967) [Japanese Reissue 2007]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 39:59 minutes | Scans NOT included | 1,62 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans NOT included | 796 MB

Sorcerer, the third album by the second Miles Davis Quintet, is in a sense a transitional album, a quiet, subdued affair that rarely blows hot, choosing to explore cerebral tonal colorings. Even when the tempo picks up, as it does on the title track, there’s little of the dense, manic energy on Miles Smiles — this is about subtle shadings, even when the compositions are as memorable as Tony Williams’ “Pee Wee” or Herbie Hancock’s “Sorcerer.” As such, it’s a little elusive, since it represents the deepening of the band’s music as they choose to explore different territory. The emphasis is as much on complex, interweaving chords and a coolly relaxed sound as it is on sheer improvisation, though each member tears off thoroughly compelling solos. Still, the individual flights aren’t placed at the forefront the way they were on the two predecessors — it all merges together, pointing toward the dense soundscapes of Miles’ later ’60s work. It’s such a layered, intriguing work that the final cut, recorded in 1962 with Bob Dorough on vocals, is an utterly jarring, inappropriate way to end the record, even if it’s intended as a tribute to Miles’ then-girlfriend (later, his wife), Cicely Tyson (whose image graces the cover).

(more…)

Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (1961) [Japanese Reissue 2007]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 41:50 minutes | Scans included | 1,76 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 895 MB

After both John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley left Miles Davis’ quintet, he was caught in the web of seeking suitable replacements. It was a period of trial and error for him that nonetheless yielded some legendary recordings (Sketches of Spain, for one). One of those is Someday My Prince Will Come. The lineup is Davis, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and alternating drummers Jimmy Cobb and Philly Jo Jones. The saxophonist was Hank Mobley on all but two tracks. John Coltrane returns for the title track and “Teo.” The set opens with the title, a lilting waltz that nonetheless gets an original treatment here, despite having been recorded by Dave Brubeck. Kelly is in keen form, playing a bit sprightlier than the tempo would allow, and slips flourishes in the high register inside the melody for an “elfin” feel. Davis waxes light and lyrical with his Harmon mute, playing glissando throughout. Mobley plays a strictly journeyman solo, and then Coltrane blows the pack away with a solo so deep inside the harmony it sounds like it’s coming from somewhere else. Mobley’s real moment on the album is on the next track, “Old Folks,” when he doesn’t have Coltrane breathing down his neck. Mobley’s soul-stationed lyricism is well-suited to his soloing here, and is for the rest of the album except, of course, on “Teo,” where Coltrane takes him out again. The closer on the set, “Blues No. 2,” is a vamp on “All Blues,” from Kind of Blue, and features Kelly and Chambers playing counterpoint around an eight bar figure then transposing it to 12. Jones collapses the beat, strides it out, and then erects it again for the solos of Davis and Mobley. This is relaxed session; there are no burning tracks here, but there is much in the way of precision playing and a fine exposition of Miles’ expansive lyricism.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (1961) [Japan 2000]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 59:05 minutes | Scans included | 2,22 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,09 GB

After both John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley left Miles Davis’ quintet, he was caught in the web of seeking suitable replacements. It was a period of trial and error for him that nonetheless yielded some legendary recordings (Sketches of Spain, for one). One of those is Someday My Prince Will Come. The lineup is Davis, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and alternating drummers Jimmy Cobb and Philly Jo Jones. The saxophonist was Hank Mobley on all but two tracks. John Coltrane returns for the title track and “Teo.” The set opens with the title, a lilting waltz that nonetheless gets an original treatment here, despite having been recorded by Dave Brubeck. Kelly is in keen form, playing a bit sprightlier than the tempo would allow, and slips flourishes in the high register inside the melody for an “elfin” feel. Davis waxes light and lyrical with his Harmon mute, playing glissando throughout. Mobley plays a strictly journeyman solo, and then Coltrane blows the pack away with a solo so deep inside the harmony it sounds like it’s coming from somewhere else. Mobley’s real moment on the album is on the next track, “Old Folks,” when he doesn’t have Coltrane breathing down his neck. Mobley’s soul-stationed lyricism is well-suited to his soloing here, and is for the rest of the album except, of course, on “Teo,” where Coltrane takes him out again. The closer on the set, “Blues No. 2,” is a vamp on “All Blues,” from Kind of Blue, and features Kelly and Chambers playing counterpoint around an eight bar figure then transposing it to 12. Jones collapses the beat, strides it out, and then erects it again for the solos of Davis and Mobley. This is relaxed session; there are no burning tracks here, but there is much in the way of precision playing and a fine exposition of Miles’ expansive lyricism.

(more…)

Miles Davis – Porgy and Bess (1959) [MFSL 2019]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 Stereo > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 50:43 minutes | Scans included | 2,06 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,1 GB
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab # UDSACD 2200

Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, originally released on Columbia Records. The album features arrangements by Davis and collaborator Gil Evans from George Gershwin’s 1935 opera of the same name. It is the second collaboration between Davis and Evans and has garnered much critical acclaim since its release, being acknowledged by music critics as the best of their collaborations. Jazz critics have regarded the album as historic.

(more…)