Miles Davis - The Essential Miles Davis

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Music reviews of The Essential Miles Davis

Music Review: A compact career overview for those on a tight budget
Rating: 5 Stars

As even casual listeners know, Davis opted for the latter, a bold and risky decision that some would debate but many fans are elated by. The first three tracks on disc two offer live and studio examples of Davis' second great mid-1960's combo. 1968's PETITS MACHINS offers a logical bridge between that combo and Davis' soon-to-follow electric-era music. That 1969-75 period is represented by three tracks, including BLACK SATIN from the 1972's ON THE CORNER. In late-1975, Miles left the music scene for a few years...the last three tracks sample his last decade of musical activity, ending with his death in 1991. Davis remained capable of brilliant, emotively-deep solos throughout his life, as the final track PORTIA (1986) indicates.

One can quibble about the choices: I would have liked to have seen Miles' brilliant solo from RIGHT OFF (1970/JACK JOHNSON) included. Furthermore, one or two more discs are needed to really create a 3-D overview of Davis' career. Unlike most artists--who are lucky to come up with a CD's worth of memorable material over their lifetime--Miles Davis' career gets shortchanged even by a two-CD set. Nonetheless, all of the music contained here is outstanding. I see ESSENTIAL benefiting listeners who just don't have the time to investigate Davis' career in detail, yet who want to touch bases on every stage of his eclectic career. Highly recommended: spend a few extra dollars and buy this set rather than the one-disc KEN BURNS overview.

Description of The Essential Miles Davis

Just as Duke Ellington had Billy Strayhorn, Davis had the gifted arranger Gil Evans. Evans created ingenious stringless orchestral soundscapes around Davis's pithy and personal sound on Ahmad Jamal's "New Rhumba" from Miles Ahead, the in-the-pocket swing of Gershwin's "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess, and the Moorish melodies of "The Pan Piper" from Sketches of Spain. Other classic tracks include the sophisticated classicism of "Jeru" from the 1949-50 Birth of the Cool nonets, the spectral and spare "Générique" from the soundtrack to the 1957 French film Ascenseur pour L'Echafaud, and his romantic rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time." Simply put, Miles lives. --Eugene Holley Jr.

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