Send "Miles Davis " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Hard bop's bestWalter Bishop Jr, Art Blakey, Paul Chambers, Kenny Clarke, John Coltrane, Tommy Flanagan, Red Garland, Roy Haynes, Percy Heath, Milt Jackson, Philly Joe Jones, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver. Those are just some of the names that appear on Concord Music Group’s The Definitive Miles Davis On Prestige, a collection of 24 songs that chronicle the jazz legend’s time with the label during the early 1950s. And honestly, after that list of players, do you really need to hear anymore? The only true problem with the release is that “definitive” and “Miles Davis” don’t ever seem to work well together. Jazz fans everywhere will debate the credibility of this collection’s track listing. What should have been included here? What didn’t belong there? The entire notion that anything definitive could be attached to one of the most influential musicians in the history of American music is truly a bit absurd. So the gripes are warranted. Considering this is a release aimed at chronicling a time when Davis was at his most expansive or fearless, narrowing the list down to a mere 24 isn’t just impossible. It’s also not fair. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a great (if not excellent) attempt at trying to gather the best of what the trumpeter did while signed to Prestige. The band, in whichever combination it appears, is stellar. The time period, one which saw Davis do what he could to rebound from an alleged heroin addiction, is renowned. And the genre, one that features hard bop in its finest moments, is simply timeless. Argue the track listing all you want. Nobody can dispute the guy is a genius....full text |
| Blogcritics |
| What I love about The Definitive Miles Davis on Prestige is how the two-disc set serves as a one-stop shopping primer on Davis' early period. With a dozen tunes on each disc, spanning a brief (but incredibly productive) five-year period, a new fan can develop a solid idea of what the jazz trumpeter was all about at that stage in his career. That's not to say this new Concord Music Group release is intended for "new fans" only. With an artist as prolific as Miles Davis, it can be awfully daunting (and cost prohibitive) to snatch up everything he recorded between the 1940s and his final studio album in 1991. Think of Definitive as a comprehensive sampler of his Prestige Records body of work, recorded between 1951 and 1956. This is classic hard bop, with a host of significant jazz musicians featured throughout. Sonny Rollins figures prominently on tenor saxophone throughout the first disc, while John Coltrane is Davis' tenor player on the disc two material. Davis' old boss, Charlie "Bird" Parker even makes a cameo on "Compulsion," the final time Davis and Parker would record together. The credits on disc one read like a "who's who" of jazz greats, including Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Thelonious Monk. The second disc draws from recordings made by Davis' first great quintet: Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums, and the aforementioned Coltrane on tenor sax. Much of disc two finds Davis leading his quintet through readings of tunes from the Great American Songbook. Davis as a composer does not factor heavily in Definitive, though a few early classic originals are present (including "Tune-Up," "Dig," "Four," and "Solar"). If Miles Davis had stopped exploring new directions in music after 1956, the recordings found on The Definitive Miles Davis on Prestige would easily be enough to secure his place among jazz legends. Of course, he went on to change the course of music several times, influencing literally countless musicians. But these early recordings track Davis as he developed his indelible voice and unparalleled skills as a bandleader....full text |
| Popshifter |
| For the most part, I tend to be attracted to bluesy lyrics that grip my gut and pull me involuntarily into sound and words. Instrumental jazz, like classical music, usually blends into background for me. Yet, I was introduced to the trumpeter/band leader Miles Davis by a dear ex-housemate, whose taste for adventure extends from Frank Zappa to Hot Chip. With that recommendation in mind, I committed to the experience of a two-disc set—The Definitive Miles Davis on Prestige. Originally recorded during the early 1950s while Davis was under contract with Prestige records, disc one is a five-year compilation of various sessions with ad-hoc ensembles, including such familiar names as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk. Although each song features a different set of players recording during various time periods, the coherence of Davis’s band leadership yields smooth transitions and a consistent and holistic feeling. Many of these works were contributed by individual players and demonstrate originality in composition and style, such as “Walkin’” (which inspires images of a confident person taking a stroll, head up, one foot in front of the other and taking one’s time) or “In Your Sweet Way” (which comes off both seductive and soft, featuring Davis playing with a Harmon mute). While the liner notes include reproductions of album cover images and biographical commentary for each song on the first disc, the second disc is treated as a whole work, featuring the Prestige history of the band Davis established around 1955: Sonny Rollins, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and then later, John Coltrane. By the mid-1950s, Davis was focusing more on the standards and ballads of the time rather than original compositions. Still, one may not expect Oklahoma’s “Surrey With a Fringe on Top” to be included as the second track. The piece is neither the traditional interpretation as belted out by Hugh Jackman in 1999 nor the karaoke version from When Harry Met Sally. Like bluegrass, jazz takes the rules and breaks them. Under Davis’ direction, his bandmates twist the melody and add their own improvisation with precise, brassy attitude....full text |
Miles Davis lyrics
