Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22164 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2006-08-01
• Released on: 2006-08-01
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Wonderful! Relaxing (but still deep) Miles
This CD is filled with wonderful, slow, relaxing jazz. The kind of music you listen to on a late evening, with someone you care for or in a mood to care for yourself. Miles, Monk & Co. were at the top of their creative energies when this was made. Their music is magical, on the level that mere mortal instrument players rarely achieve -- but then, these were no mere mortals. This music ranks among the best and most formative of all modern jazz, but here's a nice thing: it's so lovely and mellow that your non- jazz lover friends will easily love it also. I saw a gripe here on Amazon that the disc is "only" 27 minutes. Come on! The Beatles' Abbey Road, a milestone of a brilliant album, was 28 minutes long. Yes, this wonderful music is mellow and relaxing, but by no means in the universe is it "elevator" music. This is the real thing, so deep and warm it'll wash through you and soothe your soul, and be so rewarding that you can palay it over and over and still find new things to enjoy. This is great music, by musicians who stand on the pinnacle of all-time, brilliant and unequaled great jazz musicians. And it's nice, relaxing music to boot. You can't go wrong.

underappreciated gem
I just rediscovered this (on a record) after years and years of not hearing it and found it absorbing. Unusual instumentation on the front line (trombone, vibes, trumpet) and slow and restrained playing may leave some befuddled but I was struck by the discpline, beauty and compelling reticence of the playing. I know too much space can feel like hesitancy and a lack of conviction or passion, but the playing here is precise and often quite lovely. While its true this ain't John Coltrane's Elvin Jones these arrangements don't call for energetic splash and emphatic percussive color. Mingus's tone here sounds fat and great and what I liked too was that here was another side of Mingus you don't get to hear that often: that of a sideman. On this date he subordinates his dramatic capacity for leadership and takes on the task of being an ensemble member--very very successfully. Woodward and Charles contribute tasteful solos and Miles is really beginning to dig into the "hanging in air" fragility that makes his playing of a couple year's hence so memorable. Just a lovely (yes, short) recording.

Miles' best album.
Miles was appreciated by critics because he was an innovator, and critics like anything different.

This, on the other hand, is not innovative. It is just like every other mainstream jazz album, noteworthy only for its excellence.

Very nice to listen to late at night when you want to relax.