Pride Of Taranna Series Pt. 19: Sonic Boom #5-8: Miles Davis – Eight Classic Albums 4CD  

I got this 4CD set of 8 Miles Davis albums for $12.99!!! And I’ve been walking around the neighbourhood, and playing this stuff in the house and car, for days now, just listening to nothing but Miles and I have to tell you, it makes the world a beautiful place… 

Alright this post is a whopper, so I’ll try to keep it short enough. Just know there’s a ton more information out there on the interwubs about all of these albums. Also, the short version of my opinion of all four discs is WAHOO!, but I know you wanna know a bit more, so, here’s what’s on this set:

CD1

First we have Blue Period (1951, released 1953), all of it stellar. And then Kind Of Blue (1959). I know, right? Like, how many times have I played that album? Does it matter? PLAY IT AGAIN!

CD2

First up is Young Man With A Horn (1952), which was Miles’ second studio album. Wiki says at this time he was struggling with his heroin addiction so this was his only output that year. All I can say is the tracks here are stunning and show no sign of trouble. This is followed by the Workin’ album (1956). Let me list the players here and, in this way, you’ll know what I thought of it: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Exactly.

CD3

We start with Miles Davis Volume 2 (1953), which is more tracks from the session at Blue Note which also yielded Young Man With A Horn (see CD2). The session included players like Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, J.J. Johnson, and Horace Silver (among many), so it’s just frickin’ gorgeous. All of this is followed by the Steamin’ album (recorded 1956, released 1961), and uses the same brilliant quintet as Workin’ (see CD2). Again, just gorgeous, especially their run through of Monk’s Well, You Needn’t. Oh my. 

CD4

This disc opens with Miles Davis Volume 3 (1954), which was the last session for Blue Note, a quartet with Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Percy Heath, and Art Blakey. Right? I mean COME ON. They did Well, You Needn’t here, too. Those six tracks on Vol.3 are followed by Collectors Items (1956), the result of two sessions that year which used different musicians. Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker appear on tracks here, as well as other names like Tommy Flannagan, Walter Bishop, and Art Taylor that jazz fans will know.  By reports I read, Parker was drinking A LOT of alcohol at this point, and the sessions were difficult. It ended up being a posthumous release for Parker, as it dropped a year after his death. The tunes, though, are glorious, including a bunch of Davis compositions, as well as Monk’s ‘Round Midnight, and Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way.

In Sum:

Wow. Just… wow.