Miles Davis - 2025 - Miles '55. The Prestige Recordings

(100:00; Craft Recordings)






















I am not brave enough to say that Miles Davis is the most important jazz musician of all time, but I will say that it is widely acclaimed that his 1959 ‘Kind of Blue’ is indeed the finest jazz album ever released, and I definitely agree with that notion. This triple album remastered set goes back to 1955 and revisits ‘The Musings Of Miles’, ‘Miles Davis Quintet/Sextet’, and ‘Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet’. The first of these was recorded on June 7th and finds Miles joined by Red Garland (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums). There is such incredible purity, life and emotion in Miles’s playing that I know I would recognise his playing anywhere, but like any good leader he does not hog the limelight but instead makes sure there is plenty of room for the others to shine, with the rhythm section being incredibly busy while Red provides support or awaits his time to take over on the solo. Just six songs, 35 minutes of brilliance. 

Less than two months later and Davis was involved in an all-star session which did not include any of his regular band, with ‘Quintet/Sextet’ being credited to Miles Davis & Milt Jackson who provided vibraphone. The rest of the band was Jackie McLean (alto saxophone on just two numbers, hence the title), Ray Bryant (piano), Percy Heath (bass) and Art Taylor (drums). This is actually one of my least favourite albums from Miles, as not only is he sharing the billing but also the musical headline and when I am playing one of his albums I want to hear him playing, not a vibraphone. This would have been quite a different release if he was the only lead soloist, of that I am sure.

The final album finds us experiencing his new band, which included John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded towards the end of ’55 this album did not appear until 1956, and it demonstrated the power of working with a regular group of musicians. There was little rehearsal time, it was all about getting into the studio and laying it down, and that they did with aplomb, working through standards they all knew well (apart from Miles’ “The Theme”). 

The remastering has allowed the tracks to shine, and it is difficult to remember these were recorded with basic equipment some 70 years ago. My only complaint is that while each album is kept distinctly different, and there are no additional tracks, only ‘Quintet/Sextet’ is sequenced correctly, with the other two albums now playing in a very different order, what is the point or need for that? Anyway, putting that to one side, this is now a cheap way of getting three of a jazz great’s early releases. 

Kev Rowland, November 2025

Links:
https://www.milesdavis.com/
https://craftrecordings.com/

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