Miles Davis Ballads & Blues CD

BALLADS & BLUES compiles ballads and slow blues that Miles Davis recorded for Capitol and Blue Note between 1950 and 1958.
Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Cannonball Adderley, Lee Konitz (alto saxophone); Jimmy Heath (tenor saxophone); Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone); J.J. Johnson (trombone); Gunther Schuller (French horn); John Barber (tuba); Gil Coggins, Hank Jones, Horace Silver (piano); Percy Heath, Sam Jones, Al McKibbon, Oscar Pettiford (bass); Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach (drums).
Producers: Alfred Lion, Pete Rugolo.
Compilation producer: Michael Cuscuna.
Engineers: Doug Hawkins, Rudy Van Gelder.
Recorded in New York, New York on March 9, 1950; WOR Studios, New York, New York on May 9, 1952 & April 20, 1953; the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on March 6, 1954 & March 9, 1958.
Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Lee Konitz, Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); Jimmy Heath (tenor saxophone); Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone); Gunther Schuller (French horn); J.J. Johnson (trombone); John Barber (tuba); Gil Coggins, Hank Jones , Horace Silver (piano); Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Art Blakey (drums).
Recording information: New York, NY (03/09/1950-03/09/1958); Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, NJ (03/09/1950-03/09/1958); WOR STudios, New York, NY (03/09/1950-03/09/1958).
What a treat! An incredible compilation for those Davis fans who love his cooler bluesy/modal material. The brilliant producer Michael Cuscuna has combed through the early Davis "Birth of the Cool" sessions (1950), several Blue Note sessions in 1952 and 1954, plus one cut from the classic Adderley/Davis album Somethin' Else to create a cool blues compilation of Davis' stuff stripped of all the bop up-tempo elements. The result is a precursor to Kind of Blue, an album that shows all of the bluesy cool Miles Davis that many of us are so very fond of. Don't miss it. ~ Michael Erlewine
Compiled from Davis' famous BIRTH OF THE COOL recording sessions, as well as three mid-1950's Blue Note sessions and the 1958 SOMETHIN' ELSE session with Cannonball Adderly, BALLADS & BLUES illustrates the fresh new sound Davis was moving on to around the time bebop was coming to an end. These songs are pulled out of context (they were originally grouped with more up-tempo bebop tunes) to illustrate their newness as well as Davis' developing artistry on his trumpet.
By the end of the 1950s, his style would come to epitomize a sophisticated kind of cool. The songs have slow tempos and wide spaces for Davis to play with, especially 1950's "Moon Dreams," which features an orchestra's worth of brass accompanying Davis, and Davis' classic "Weirdo."

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