Track Listing

1. Springsville
2. Maids of Cadiz
3. Duke
4. My Ship
5. Miles Ahead
6. Blues for Pablo
7. New Rhumba
8. Meaning of the Blues
9. Lament
10. I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You)
11. Springsville [Remake Take 7][*]
12. Blues for Pablo [Take 1][*]
13. Meaning of the Blues/Lament [Rehearsal][*]
14. I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone But You) [*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9090 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
These 1957 recordings were the first of Miles Davis's collaborations with arranger Gil Evans for Columbia, renewing a relationship that had begun with the Birth of the Cool sessions in 1949. It was perhaps the most important relationship ever forged between a jazz soloist and an arranger, for Evans excelled at finding fresh material (like Delibes's "The Maids of Cadiz") and then adding subtle voicings and blending unusual instruments to highlight Davis's central voice. Everything Evans does enhances the trumpeter's keen sense of space and his evocative sound. He could construct complex arrangements and make them fly (as on the opening "Springsville," by John Carisi), contrast Davis's voice with tuba or bass clarinet, or create the longing, Spanish-inflected "Blues for Pablo," a precursor to their later Sketches of Spain. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

a gem
"Miles Ahead +19" is an unusual lp when first listened to. It's not quite jazz, not quite orchestral work. It's a beautiful hybrid of the 2 that has stood the test of time well. Gil Evans asserts his mastery of composition as well as his understanding of what Miles can coax out of his trumpet (and flugelhorn on this cd), and does both masterfully.

The coup of this cd is that it has been properly re-mastered and restored to what it was in 1957. Several bad releases made this lp unlistenable for a long time (I have a mono lp copy that I got 15 years ago and it sounds terrible), but Columbia has finally solved that problem.

This lp can also be had as part of the superb Miles Davis/Gil Evans box set that covers this, "Porgy and Bess," "Sketches of Spain," and "Quiet Nights," as well as a few tracks they did in the late 60's. Highly recommended... and if you can't get that set, then of course, this lp is very much recommended.

10 Stars
What in god's name more is there to say about this recording to someone who has not listened to it, and listened to it all the way through? How about an anecdote from Miles' autobiography--the joy he felt when Dizzy Gillespie came knocking on his door and asked for another copy because he had worn the first one out. "It's the best," he said. I think I've listened to it more than any other CD I own. Miles on the flugelhorn is perfect. Gil Evans' arrangements are perfect. The choice of tunes--from Dave Brubeck's "The Duke" to Ahmad Jamal's "New Rhumba" to Evans' indescribably beautiful "Blues for Pablo"--are all perfect. Listen to it, and listen to it again.

Miles Davis+19=Brilliant
This is one of those records that trancends time. It is unlike anything that a casual jazz fan may have heard. This record was recorded in bits and pieces and was heavily edited and overdubbed. Thus it has been difficult to transfer the album onto a cd. The original stereo issue of this cd was a butchered job that contained substantially different takes and passages than the original LP (which was released in mono). A second issue (in mono this time) was better, but still included substantial differences from the original. This definitive version restores almost everything in the original LP (but it is still not exactly the same as the 1957 LP). This is beautifully simple music recorded in tight complex arrangements by the great Gil Evans. But despite what you may read below, it is not a Big Band album. It is an album by an expanded small group that takes the ideas put forth by Evans and Gerry Mulligan in the Birth of the Cool sessions (which used a nonet) to the next step. It provides almost a perfectly textured background to Miles's flugelhorn.