Miles Davis - Miles Ahead 1957

01  Springsville
02  The Maids Of Cadiz
03  The Duke
04  My Ship
05  Miles Ahead		play
06  Blues For Pablo
07  New Rhumba
08  The Meaning Of The Blues
09  Lament		play
10  I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You)
11  Springsville (Alternate Take)
12  Blues For Pablo (Alternate Take)
13  The Meaning Of The Blues/Lament (Alternate Take)
14  I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You) (Alternate Take)	

Personnel:
Walter Bishop, Jr.  -  Piano 
Jimmy Cleveland  -  Trombone 
Miles Davis  -  Trumpet, Flageolet, Flugelhorn 
Philly Joe Jones  -  Drums 
Wynton Kelly  -  Piano 
Lee Konitz  -  Sax (Alto) 
John Lewis  -  Piano 
Charles Mingus  -  Piano 
Max Roach  -  Drums 
Sonny Rollins  -  Sax (Tenor) 
Horace Silver  -  Piano 
Art Taylor  -  Drums 
Taft Jordan  -  Trumpet 
Frank Rehak  -  Trombone 
Ernie Royal  -  Trumpet 
Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones  -  Trombone 
Percy Heath  -  Bass 
Willie Ruff  -  Horn, French Horn 
Danny Bank  -  Clarinet (Bass) 
Billy Barber  -  Tuba 
Art Blakey  -  Drums 
James Buffington  -  Horn, French Horn 
Eddie Caine  -  Clarinet, Flute 
Johnny Carisi  -  Trumpet 
Paul Chambers  -  Bass 
Sid Cooper  -  Bass, Clarinet, Flute 
Bernie Glow  -  Trumpet 
James Jordan  -  Trumpet 
Tony Miranda  -  Horn, French Horn 
Thomas Mitchell  -  Trombone, Trombone (Bass) 
Louis Mucci  -  Trumpet 
Charlie Parker  -  Sax (Tenor) 
Romeo Penque  -  Bass, Clarinet, Flute, Oboe 
Tom Mitchell  -  Bass, Trombone, Trombone (Bass)

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. --- Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide

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