Blog.H34 : Music, Design, Culture » Spotlight on Miles Davis

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In celebration of the birthday of Miles Davis, I’ve done a special post of a few of my top 5 favorite picks from his catalog. I got into Miles Davis a little late, but I always had an appreciation for Jazz. Philadelphia’s 90.1FM has the most amazing Jazz programming on week nights, you can catch it online as well. I wish I’d had more time to get as deep into Jazz as I have with other genres. Miles Davis is one of Jazz’s most prominent composers, his discography is massive and staggering, spanning decades on the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s. While everyone has their favorite period of Miles, mine is without a doubt, his earlier work, from the mid 50’s until the mid 60’s. My picks all come from this period, but only because they are my absolute favorites, his catalog has something for everyone.

This first track I heard on an album called Plays For Lovers, a collection of his mid-fifties love-themed material released in 2003. It was first released in 1955 as far as I can tell. The song begins like walking outside on a damp and cloudy spring morning, and then settles into a laid-back and leisurely cool-out. So much imagery from the mid-century gets sparked when I hear a song like this, it’s got a casual refinement to it that’s content and subdued, definitely easier on the wailing trumpet than some of Davis’ other material.

His 1957 release Miles Ahead is a landmark jazz record, the first in his extensive late-50’s collaborations with pianist and composer Gil Evans. While the track My Ship is often overlooked among so many other notable tracks like Miles Ahead, The Maids of Cadiz and Springville, I have always been struck in particular by the first uneasy minute of this song. It is comforting, yet almost unnerving, as the song sort of drifts off into a hazy daydream, coming back to reality at 0:30 as if noticing something that catches the eye, and slowly following the eye as it creeps up whatever it is that caught it. This song is also pretty laid back, it starts with dull tension and eases into care-free relaxation, and then it ends right back where it began, bringing you back down to earth just in time to catch the album’s title track.

So What is another one of Miles’ most celebrated tracks from this particular era, first released in 1959. This song is the signature play-it-cool jazz track, it hums along at a confident and stylish pace, timeless and wise. At this point, it’s becoming obvious that I am partial to his less wild and frenetic pieces, with tracks like this, who couldn’t love that side of his catalog, but I’m not 100% committed…

This next track is from his famous two-night performance in San Francisco at the Blackhawk in April of 1961. This track shows a new sound emerging, much more free-spirited and flowing from tempo to tempo, Miles’ own take on the second be-bop wave. One of my favorite parts of all his material occurs in the last minute of the song, where everything sort of tumbles like a rain of hundreds of sheets of music all falling down. Drummer Jimmy Cobb also gives us a terribly entertaining drum breakdown right in the beginning about 37 seconds in, that always put a smile on my face. And even if you don’t like this track, you gotta love this album art.

Finally, a pick from 1965 album E.S.P. I was originally lured in by the track Iris’ inviting opening piano line, almost similar to the beginning of Just Squeeze Me. This one, however, quickly shows that it’s heading in bolder directions once his trumpet enters the mix. More pronounced and assertive, Miles holds the listener firmly in his grasp, taking you for a ride with fluttering and swooping notes that alternate between complementing the track and dominating it. There is a lot of passion in his playing, which eventually subsides back into the mix, as the piano guides us deftly through the next section. Finally, composer Wayne Shorter returns to the front, bringing the track back around to close out a beautiful and multi-faceted tune.