Browse Music
Rock & Pop
R&B & Hip-Hop
Country
Blues
Jazz
Classical
Latin
Christian
Soundtracks
Collections
Miles Davis
Birdland 1951
Miles Davis:  Birdland 1951

$6.99
Listen

Album Review

Released: 2004
Label: Blue Note
Selection #: 152045
Previously unreleased live Miles in his hardbop prime. W/Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Kenny Drew, more.
Listen RM WM
1 Move N/A N/A
2 Half Nelson N/A N/A
3 Down N/A N/A
4 Out of the Blue N/A N/A
5 Half Nelson N/A N/A
6 Tempus Fugit N/A N/A
7 Move N/A N/A
8 Move N/A N/A
9 The Squirrel N/A N/A
10 Lady Bird N/A N/A
  
Download Player:    Real Media Real Media    Windows Media Windows Media
Album Review

These ten tracks, taken from radio broadcasts from the legendary Birdland in 1951, represent a particularly fruitful period in Miles Davis' development as a bandleader. There are three different broadcasts included here; two comprising six cuts in total were from June and September and have been issued in various forms on bootlegs over the decades. Four cuts, however, taken from a broadcast on February 17, have never been available in any form and it is these as well the marginally better fidelity of the entire set that makes this worth owning for Miles freaks -- and only Miles freaks. The sextet on the February and June dates included J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Tommy Potter, and Kenny Drew. In September, Charles Mingus, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Billy Taylor, and Big Nick Nicholas joined Davis and Blakey. The fidelity here is listed on the sleeve as "primitive." That's a nice way to say it sucks bad. These are better than Charlie Parker's Dean Benedetti recordings, but not by much. Soundwise, the best that can be said is that one can hear all of the instruments. The performances, however, particularly as delineated in the three different versions of the cut "Move," are stellar. They are inspired, furious, and cutting. Rollins outdoes himself in the June performance of the cut, and the latter band transforms it entirely. For the record, it is the only duplicate selection. Also, the live version of "Tempus Fugit," with its knotty head and punched-up rhythm, is revelatory in the manner of arrangement for those days and points a solid direction for the immediate future -- check the tempos and structure of the solo breaks on the September session for evidence. While this set is exclusively for those Miles fans who have to have absolutely everything, it is nonetheless worth it for those who have the bootlegs because of the heightened fidelity and the new session. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Back To Top
About This Artist
Biography


Other albums by: Miles Davis
Miles Davis & Quincy Jones:  Lift To The Scaffold Listen Miles Davis & Quincy Jones
Lift To The Scaffold

$6.99

Miles Davis:  Volume 2 (Remastered) Miles Davis
Volume 2 (Remastered)

$6.99

Miles Davis & Quincy Jones:  Birth Of The Cool (Remastered) AMG Top Pick Listen Miles Davis & Quincy Jones
Birth Of The Cool (Remastered)

$6.99

more
Related Artists
Louis Armstrong
Chet Baker
Art Blakey
John Coltrane
Chick Corea
Bill Evans
Dizzy Gillespie
Chuck Mangione
John McLaughlin
Charles Mingus
Charlie Parker
more

Any reproduction, publication, further distribution, or public exhibition of materials provided at this site, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.
©2006 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC