Miles Ahead (album)

Template:For {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: Template:Start date<ref name=MilesDavis.com>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=CashBox>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet1957Bags' Groove1957studioMiles AheadMilesAhead original.jpgMiles DavisTemplate:Start date<ref name=MilesDavis.com>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=CashBox>Template:Cite news</ref>May 6–August 22, 1957Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City*Cool jazz

• third stream<ref name="Kanzler"/>37:21ColumbiaGeorge Avakian, Cal Lampleyx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

Miles Ahead is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released on October 21, 1957, by Columbia Records.<ref name=MilesDavis.com/><ref name=CashBox/> It was Davis' first collaboration with arranger Gil Evans, following the Birth of the Cool sessions. Along with their subsequent collaborations Porgy and Bess (1959) and Sketches of Spain (1960), Miles Ahead is one of the most famous recordings of Third Stream, a fusion of jazz, European classical, and world musics.<ref name="Kanzler">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Davis played flugelhorn throughout.

Background

Recording and composition

Evans combined the ten pieces that make up the album into a suite, each flowing into the next without interruption; the only exception to this rule was on the title track since it was placed last on side A (this has been corrected on the CD versions). Davis is the only soloist on Miles Ahead, which features a large ensemble consisting of sixteen woodwind and brass players. Art Taylor played drums on the sessions and the then current Miles Davis Quintet member Paul Chambers was the bassist.

The album was originally recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio on May 6, 10, 23 and 27, 1957. On August 22, 1957, Davis re-recorded material to cover or patch mistakes or omissions in his solos using overdubbing. The fact that this album was originally produced in mono makes these inserted overdubbings rather obvious in the new stereo setting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Album cover

Davis was reportedly unhappy about the album's original cover, which featured a photograph of a young white woman and child aboard a sailboat. He made his displeasure known to Columbia executive George Avakian, asking, "Why'd you put that white bitch on there?"<ref>Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe, Miles: The Autobiography, Simon and Schuster, 1989, Template:ISBN.</ref> Avakian later stated that the question was made in jest. For later releases of the record, however, the original cover-photo has been replaced by a photograph of Davis.

Critical reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave Miles Ahead a four-star rating out of a possible four stars, and called the album "a quiet masterpiece... with a guaranteed place in the top flight of Miles albums."<ref name="penguin">Template:Cite book</ref>

Of Davis' flugelhorn, Kevin Whitehead of Cadence wrote that it "seemed to suit [Davis] better than trumpet: more full-bodied, less shrill, it glosses over his technical deficiencies."<ref name="whitehead">Template:Cite book</ref> The Penguin Guide, on the other hand, opined that "the flugelhorn's sound isn't so very different from his trumpet soloing, though palpably softer-edged.... [S]ome of the burnish seems to be lost."<ref name="penguin" />

Tony Hall of Disc said the album "one of the finest records of the decade" and rated five stars and plus.<ref name="Disc" />

Track listing

1. "Springsville" (John Carisi) – 3:27
2. "The Maids of Cadiz" (Léo Delibes) – 3:53
3. "The Duke" (Dave Brubeck) – 3:35
4. "My Ship" (Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin) – 4:28
5. "Miles Ahead" (Davis, Evans) – 3:29
6. "Blues for Pablo" (Evans) – 5:18
7. "New Rhumba" (Ahmad Jamal) – 4:37
8. Medley Pt. 1: "The Meaning of the Blues" (Bobby Troup, Leah Worth) – 2:48
9. Medley Pt. 2: "Lament" (J. J. Johnson) – 2:14
10. "I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone but You)" (Harold Spina, Jack Elliot) – 3:05

Bonus tracks on the 1997 CD reissue: Template:Ordered list

Personnel

• Miles Davis – flugelhorn
• Gil Evans – conductor, arranger
  • Bernie Glow – lead trumpet
  • John Carisi, Taft Jordan, Louis Mucci, Ernie Royal – trumpet
  • Joe Bennett, Jimmy Cleveland, Frank Rehak – trombone
  • Tom Mitchell – bass trombone
  • Jim Buffington, Tony Miranda, Willie Ruff – French horn
  • Bill Barber – sousaphone
  • Lee Konitz – alto saxophone
  • Danny Bank – bass clarinet
  • Sid Cooper, Romeo Penque – flute, clarinet
  • Wynton Kelly – piano
  • Paul Chambers – bass
  • Art Taylor – drums

Source: Template:Discogs release.