First Miles

By the time Miles Davis recorded "The Musings Of Miles", he'd expanded and refined his approach to the bop idiom which had nurtured him, and the cool approach - which he'd championed. He learned to refine and edit his line, discovered what aspects of his style were derivative and which were truly his own, and, most importantly, zeroed in on his own signature sound and style of phrasing.

By the time Miles Davis recorded "The Musings Of Miles", he'd expanded and refined his approach to the bop idiom which had nurtured him, and the cool approach - which he'd championed. He learned to refine and edit his line, discovered what aspects of his style were derivative and which were truly his own, and, most importantly, zeroed in on his own signature sound and style of phrasing.

In the summer of 1955, after Davis performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, who offered him a contract if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

4 CD Set, 32 tracks, 36-page booklet. Documentation in German, English, French, Spanish and Italian. Ice and fire they were: a two-horned paradox. Offstage, one was quiet, pensive, self-critical to a fault, practising obsessively. The other was cocksure, demanding; running with friends rather than running scales. But on the bandstand and on record, they reversed roles. John Coltrane, with saxophone in hand, became the unbridled one: long-winded, garrulous. When Miles Davis raised his trumpet, he played the sensitive introvert, blowing brief, hushed tones, exuding vulnerability. Their names now command reverence, and rarely induce less than eulogy. The music they created together during an almost five-year union still resonates, entrances, influences and sells, sells, sells.

This album was the first to be released showcasing Miles Davis and his new quintet. However it was not the first that Davis recorded with this quintet: before Davis could leave Prestige for his new record label, Columbia, he had to fulfill the remainder of his contract.

Miles Davis' recordings from the years of 1951-1954 are often overlooked for a number of reasons. Davis had a somewhat erratic lifestyle at the time, and these recordings do not feature the first 'classic' quintet. Even though Davis did not record nearly as often as in later years, what was recorded is quite outstanding.

Jack Johnson, later reissued as A Tribute to Jack Johnson, is a 1971 studio album and soundtrack by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. In 1970, Davis was asked by boxing promoter Bill Cayton to record music for a documentary he was producing, on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. Johnson's saga resonated personally with the musician, who wrote in the album's liner notes of Johnson's mastery as a boxer, his affinity for fast cars, jazz, clothes, and beautiful women, his unreconstructed blackness, and his threatening image to white men. This was the second film score Davis had composed, after Ascenseur pour l'échafaud in 1957.

"A Tribute to Jack Johnson" is a soundtrack composed by Miles Davis to accompany a documentary film about the life of boxer Jack Johnson. For the score, Davis said he wanted to put together what he called "the greatest rock and roll band you have ever heard." The line-up featured John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock (guitars), Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea (keyboards), Bennie Maupin (clarinet), and Jack DeJohnette and Billy Cobham (drums). Produced by Teo Macero, the soundtrack was recorded in two sessions between February and April of 1970. Both sessions took place at the 30th Street Studio in New York City.

Miles Davis' recordings from the years of 1951-1954 are often overlooked for a number of reasons. Davis had a somewhat erratic lifestyle at the time, and these recordings do not feature the first 'classic' quintet. Even though Davis did not record nearly as often as in later years, what was recorded is quite outstanding.