'58 Miles Featuring Stella by Starlight
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| '58 Miles | |||||
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| Studio album by Miles Davis | |||||
| Released | 1958 | ||||
| Recorded | May 26, 1958 and September 9, 1958 Columbia's 30th Street Studio The Plaza Hotel New York, New York |
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| Genre | Jazz | ||||
| Length | 63:50 | ||||
| Label | Columbia 47835 |
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| Producer | Teo Macero | ||||
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| Miles Davis chronology | |||||
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'58 Miles Featuring Stella By Starlight is a jazz album by musician Miles Davis, recorded with his sextet on two different sessions and released in 1958. It was reissued on CD as '58 Sessions Featuring Stella By Starlight. It compiles four tracks from the short-lived album entitled Jazz Track and three numbers from the live album Jazz at the Plaza.[2] The complete studio sessions are featured on the six-disc collection The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Album Overview
In the period following the historic Milestones sessions, Miles Davis made some significant personnel changes, documented here in a studio session from May of 1958 and a live gig at The Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel in July. Originally released as parts of Jazz Track, Black Giants, and Jazz at the Plaza, Vol. 1, respectively, '58 Sessions chronicles the transition from the brawny agitation of Milestones, to the cerebral tranquility of Kind of Blue.
From Bill Evans' first rhapsodic, impressionistic chords on "On Green Dolphin Street", to Jimmy Cobb's buttery brush groove behind Miles, it's clear that a different aesthetic is now in place. The trumpeter has his flotation device in place, but Coltrane and "Cannonball" come out smoking, doubling and tripling up their syncopations over Paul Chambers transparent counterpoint, as Evans and Cobb toll away lazily. The contrast between hot melodic variations and cool, laid back swing gives the whimsical "Fran Dance", the romantic "Stella By Starlight", and the jumping "Love for Sale" their elemental tension.
The live sides kick off with Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" taken at a brisk tempo, and though Jimmy Cobb lacks Philly Joe's technocratic flair, he and Paul Chambers just lock in, as the horns launch into whirlwind solos. Evans catches onto a tag line at the end of Cannonball's solo, and rides it for all it's worth, scattering Bud Powell-like clusters to the wind. "My Funny Valentine" is stately and serene, as Coltrane and Adderley sit out and provide Evans and Davis a more meditative backdrop for very sensitive soloing, while "Oleo" jumps along at a wild Paul Chambers tempo, as Evans' fluid orchestral voicings suggest multiple key centers, and the horns bop until they drop.
These sessions are a stepping stone in Davis' transition from hard bop to modal jazz. The spontaneous and complimentary style of performance ethic and trust among Davis and his musicians is at the fundamental core of his work here and would improve onto the Kind of Blue sessions. And though Milestones was Davis' first use of modes and Cannonball Adderly's presence helped make the band became a more powerful sextet, the '58 Sessions introduced Bill Evans to the world of Miles Davis and Evans' influence was apparent from these initial sessions as it would be on 1959's Kind of Blue.[4]
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side one
Recorded in New York, New York on May 26, 1958
- "On Green Dolphin Street" (Kaper, Washington) - 9:48
- "Fran Dance" (Davis) - 5:48
- "Stella By Starlight" (Washington, Young) - 4:41
- "Love for Sale" (Porter) - 11:43
[edit] Side two
Recorded live at The Plaza Hotel, New York, New York on September 9, 1958
- "Straight, No Chaser" (Monk) - 10:57
- "My Funny Valentine" (Hart, Rodgers) - 10:05
- "Oleo" (Rose, Rollins) - 10:48
[edit] Personnel
- Miles Davis – trumpet, leader
- Julian "Cannonball" Adderley – alto saxophone
- John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
- Bill Evans – piano
- Paul Chambers – bass
- Jimmy Cobb – drums
[edit] References
- '58 Sessions Featuring Stella By Starlight album liner notes by Ira Gitler. Sony Music Entertainment Inc..
- ^ "iTunes Review - '58 Sessions Featuring Stella by Starlight" . Apple Inc..
- ^ *Album Liner Notes by Ira Gitler
- ^ AllAboutJazz.com review
- ^ http://www.milesdavis.com/music_kind_of_blue.asp Kind of blue period article at Davis' website
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