Bluing: Miles Davis Plays The Blues CD

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Jackie McLean (alto saxophone); Sonny Rollins, Lucky Thompson, John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); J.J. Johnson (trombone); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Walter Bishop Jr, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Red Garland, Ray Bryant, Tommy Flanagan (piano); Tommy Potter, Percy Heath, Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers (bass); Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Philly Joe Jones, Arthur Taylor (drums).
Producer: Bob Weinstock.
Compilation producer: Ed Michel.
Engineers include: Rudy Van Gelder.
Recorded between 1951 and 1956. Includes liner notes by Seth Markow.
Digitally remastered by Eddie Bill Harris and Kirk Felton (Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).
Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Jackie McLean (alto saxophone); John Coltrane, Lucky Thompson, Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); J.J. Johnson (trombone); Horace Silver, Ray Bryant, Red Garland, Thelonious Monk, Tommy Flanagan, Walter Bishop, Jr. (piano); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Kenny Clarke, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, Art Taylor (drums).
Audio Remasterer: Joe Tarantino.
Recording information: Apex Studios, New York, NY (10/05/1951-10/26/1956).
Unknown Contributor Role: Richard Duarte.
In 1996, Fantasy came out with a series of reissue CDs featuring various jazz artists "playing the blues." Their Miles Davis CD is a bit surprising, for it leaves out his most famous blues performance ("Walkin'") and has the second (rather than the classic first) take of "Bags' Groove" from a 1954 session with pianist Thelonious Monk and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. The nine numbers (all but one from 1954-1956) are easily available elsewhere and, although the music (which features such sidemen as altoist Jackie McLean, tenors John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Lucky Thompson, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and pianists Red Garland and Horace Silver, among others) is sometimes classic. ~ Scott Yanow
In 1996, Fantasy came out with a series of reissue CDs featuring various jazz artists "playing the blues." Their Miles Davis CD is a bit surprising, for it leaves out his most famous blues performance ("Walkin'") and has the second (rather than the classic first) take of "Bags' Groove" from a 1954 session with pianist Thelonious Monk and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. The nine numbers (all but one from 1954-1956) are easily available elsewhere and, although the music (which features such sidemen as altoist Jackie McLean, tenors John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Lucky Thompson, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and pianists Red Garland and Horace Silver, among others) is sometimes classic, there are better ways to acquire it. ~ Scott Yanow
This compilation of classic Prestige tracks spans from 1951 to 1956 and focuses specifically on Davis's mixing of bebop's intricate rhythms and adventurous phrasing with traditional twelve-bar blues. Flanked by some of the best jazz men of the century (Art Blakey, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Red Garland and Sonny Rollins among them), Davis blazes his way through these superb recordings with moods that alternate between the breakneck brilliance of "Blue n' Boogie" (replete with dazzlingly inventive solos by Davis and saxophonist Lucky Thomson) to the nonchalant cool of "Green Haze." Vibraharpist Milt Jackson's bright, swing-infected solos and Monk's trademark idiosyncracies create a nice counterpoint to Davis's astringent lines on tracks such as "Bag's Groove" and "Dr. Jackle."
The CD is graced by the inclusion of two tracks taken from sessions with Miles' now legendary Quintet (note that "Trane's Blues" is merely the previous track, "Vierd Blues," at a faster tempo, though the differences between Coltrane's and Rollins' playing is marked). BLUING is full of treats (including Coltrane's energetic bursts of melodic idea) and is threaded together by the spare, introspective trumpeting of the leading innovator of the post bop era.Q (6/97, p.150) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "Arguably the cream of the crop of Prestige's Plays The Blues Series..."