Miles Ahead
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| Miles Ahead | ||
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| Studio album by Miles Davis | ||
| Released | 1957 | |
| Recorded | May 6, 1957 to August 22, 1957 | |
| Genre | Cool jazz | |
| Length | 51:57 | |
| Label | Columbia Records | |
| Producer(s) | Gil Evans and Miles Davis | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Miles Davis chronology | ||
| 'Round About Midnight (1956) |
Miles Ahead (1957) |
Milestones (1958) |
Miles Ahead is a cool jazz album by Miles Davis released in May of 1957. This was the first album Davis recorded with Gil Evans, with whom he would go on to release albums like Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain. Gil Evans combined the ten pieces that make up the album in a kind of suite, each following the preceding one without interruption. Davis is the only soloist on Miles Ahead, which also features a prominent horn section.
The album features Miles (on flugelhorn) and his band for the recordings consisting of Bernie Glow (lead trumpet), Ernie Royal, Louis Mucci, Taft Jordan, and John Carisi (trumpets); Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, and Joe Bennett (trombones); Tom Mitchell (bass trombone); Willie Ruff and Tony Miranda (horns, with Jimmy Buffington replacing Miranda on one session); Bill Barber (tuba); Lee Konitz (alto sax); Danny Bank (bass clarinet); Romeo Penque and Sid Cooper (flute and clarinet, with Edwin Caine replacing Cooper on one session); Paul Chambers (bass); Art Taylor (drums). The album features songs from four separate recording dates each with slight modifications of the band members.
A fifth recording date involved Davis alone (re-)recording material to cover/patch mistakes/omissions in his solos using overdubbing. The fact that this album was originally produced in mono makes these inserted overdubbings rather obvious in the new stereo setting.
On the alternate take of "Springsville", Wynton Kelly features on piano as part of a version that underwent a re-write for the next recording session. Only about 10 seconds of his playing is heard on this track, although about 5 seconds of this can be heard in the master track. Nevertheless, Kelly's contribution to the album was left uncredited until the reissues came out.
[edit] Miscellanea
- Miles was reportedly unhappy about the album's original cover, which featured a photo of a young white woman aboard a sailboat. He made his displeasure known to Columbia executive George Avakian, asking, "Why'd you put that white bitch on there?" Avakian later stated that the question was made in jest.
[edit] Track listing
- "Springsville" (Carisi)
- "The Maids of Cadiz" (Delibes)
- "The Duke" (Dave Brubeck)
- "My Ship" (Gershwin/Weill)
- "Miles Ahead" (Davis/Evans)
- "Blues for Pablo" (Evans)
- "New Rhumba" (Jamal)
- "The Meaning of the Blues" (Troup/Worth)
- "Lament" (J.J. Johnson)
- "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You)" (Elliott/Spina)
The CD reissue available currently contains alternate takes of "Springsville", "Miles Ahead" (incorrectly labelled as being one of "Blues for Pablo"), a complete rehearsal take of "The Meaning of the Blues" and "Lament"(recorded as a continuous track by Avakian as an insurance policy) and "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You)".
