Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (1957) [2006]

This album is perhaps most significant for the process it set in motion – the collaboration between Gil Evans and Miles Davis that would produce Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain, two of Davis' best albums. That said, this album is a miracle in itself, the result of a big gamble on the part of Columbia Records, who put together Evans and Davis, who hadn't worked together since recording the critically admired but commercially unsuccessful sides that would later be issued as The Birth of the Cool. Columbia also allowed Evans to assemble a 19-piece band for the recordings, at a time when big bands were far out of fashion and also at a time when the resulting recordings could not be released until two years in the future (because of Davis' contractual obligations with Prestige).

Davis was also expected to carry the album as its only soloist, and manage not to get lost among a cast of supporting musicians that included a huge horn section. To a large extent, he succeeds. Evans' arrangements in particular are well-suited to the format, and he and Davis formed a deep and close partnership where ideas were swapped back and forth, nurtured, and developed long before they were expressed in the studio. Davis gets off to a great start, with the hyper-kinetic "Springsville," which seems to almost perfectly embody Evans' and Davis' partnership with its light, flexible exchanges between soloist and orchestra. He is strongest on the ballads, though, where his subdued and wistful tone rises high above the hushed accompaniment, especially on "Miles Ahead" and "Blues for Pablo" (which foreshadows the bluesy, Latin-tinged sound of Sketches of Spain). The upbeat "I Don't Want to Be Kissed (By Anyone but You)" is another strong song, but shows the weakness of the format as Davis intersperses a charming, bright, technically challenging solo with a blasting horn section that occasionally buries him. It is a fine end, however, to an album that gave a hint of the greatness that would come as Evans and Davis fine-tuned their partnership over the course of the next several years.


Tracks:

01 - Springsville (J. Carisi) [master]; May 23, 1957
02 - The Maids Of Cadiz (L. Delibes) [master (take 6)]; May 6, 1957
03 - The Duke (D. Brubeck) [master (take 3)]; May 6, 1957
04 - My Ship (K. Weill-I. Gershwin) [master (take 10)]; May 10, 1957
05 - Miles Ahead (M. Davis-G. Evans) [master (takes 15_11)]; May 10, 1957
06 - Blues For Pablo (G. Evans) [master (take 4)]; May 23, 1957
07 - New Rhumba (A. Jamal) [master (takes 11_12]; May 23, 1957
08 - The Meaning Of The Blues (L. Worth-B. Troup) [master (take 2)]; May 27, 1957
09 - Lament (J.J. Johnson) [master (take 2)]; May 27, 1957
10 - I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You) (H. Spina-J. Elliott) [master (takes 4_5_13)]; May 27, 1957

Personnel:

Miles Davis – Flugelhorn
Bernie Glow – Lead trumpet
Ernie Royal – Trumpet
Louis Mucci – Trumpet
Taft Jordan – Trumpet
John Carisi – Trumpet
Frank Rehak – Trombone
Jimmy Cleveland – Trombone
Joe Bennett – Trombone
Tom Mitchell – Bass trombone
Willie Ruff – French Horn
Tony Miranda – French Horn
Jim Buffington - French horn
Bill Barber – Tuba
Lee Konitz – Alto sax
Danny Bank – Bass clarinet
Romeo Penque – flute and clarinet
Sid Cooper – Flute and clarinet
Paul Chambers – double bass
Art Taylor – Drums
Wynton Kelly - piano
Gil Evans – Arranger and Conductor