Night Beat

Miles Davis's mid 50's quintet.

 By 1960 Miles Davis was at the top of the Jazz food chain, he sold more albums and made more money than any of his contemporaries. This lofty position was earned through a remarkably consistent run of albums beginning with Cookin' in early 1957, the line up for that album was this:

Miles Davis – trumpet, bandleader
Paul Chambers – double bass
John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
Red Garland – piano
Philly Joe Jones – drums









They were the settled group of musicians Davis was trying to assemble since he made Birth Of The Cool in 1950 with a little help from Gerry Mulligan. Thereafter followed some lean years, a decline in the quality of musical output and reputation thanks in no small part to a long-term heroin addiction. Of the assembled quintet, John Coltrane was the stand-out soloist, a musician Davis had previously worked with but had to let go due Coltrane's own heroin habit.
          Paul Chambers' presence in the rhythm section at the time was likened to Jimmy Blanton's tragically short two year stint with Ellington's orchestra in the late 1930's. Both men changed people's perceptions of what the bass could contribute to a jazz performance. Garland's light, rapid piano technique and Jones' percussive adaptablility made for a much coveted rhythm section, a fact they exploited by freelancing on occasion to very good effect.



Art Pepper recorded Art Pepper meets The Rhythm Section in 1957. The album prove to be a much-needed success and helped resuscitate Pepper's faltering career and demonstrate the level of musicianship Davis had in his ranks.













The Prestige albums (Cookin', Relaxin', Steamin' and Workin') were all warmly received, they come across as top-notch studio knockabout, a really vibrant mix of standards, up-tempo bop and ballads. For me personally, Davis' ballad choices are highlights, particularly 'When I fall in love' on Steamin' and the band's magisterial take on Richard Rogers' 'It never entered my mind' from Workin'. Davis and Garland both deliver exceptional solos, particularly Garland's piano lines which are commanding but still warm and soothing.







Miles Davis' debut for the Columbia label Round About Midnight is a cut above but not a classic. His take on Thelonious Monk's brooding 'Round Midnight' and bright, clean versions of 'Bye bye Blackbird' and 'Dear old Stockholm' stand out. It's Davis' third LP for Columbia that really shows the progress the group had made, Milestones released in September 1958 marked a definite change of direction for Davis' music. There were still the peerless hard bop workouts, but in the title track Davis begins to explore the possibilities that shifting to slower moving harmonics could have for his compositions, a more 'modal' approach to jazz allowed his group to improvise their solos with greater freedom and Miles himself change how he played. Always an emotive and affecting soloist - his technique was not always comfortable with the break-neck tempos of hard bop (having said that Milestones is considered a classic of that genre), a more modular approach enabled him to play with less notes and more feeling.

Miles 1958 was recorded shortly after Porgy & Bess, the album shows Davis' continued experimentation with modal jazz and conscious move away from bebop, gone are drummer Philly Joe Jones and pianist Red Garland having been replaced by Jimmy Cobb and Bill Evans respectively. The logical conclusion and great culmination of this gifted group of musicians was released on August 17th 1959, Kind of Blue was a collection of entirely modal jazz pieces - a gorgeous, spacious sound is created by producer Teo Macero and Miles Davis and John Coltrane's solos are peerless throughout. It's the presence of Bill Evans that I think really knits the whole thing together, his playing maintains a wonderful tension throughout 'All Blues' never letting up for the full eleven and a half minutes, the sheer pathos he displays on 'Blue in Green' is admirable to say the least, creating the perfect backdrop for Davis and Coltrane's jaw-dropping solos. 'So What' is the only track where Paul Chamber and Jimmy Cobb are let off the leash, a mid-tempo opener that sets the tone beautifully, the rhythm section will have you nodding your head but Miles Davis' solos in particular scale the heights. The stand out piece for me personally is the alternate take of 'Flamenco Sketches', everyone involved plays in such sympathy to one another, Chamber's gulping bass notes and Davis' measured solos create a lovely, weightless feel to proceedings but the solos from Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley in particular elevate the whole thing. Adderley's Somethin Else from the previous year is regarded as something of a dry run for Kind of Blue and he plays masterfully throughout but I don't think he ever nails it the way he does on the alternate take of 'Flamenco Sketches'. Miles' biographer Eric Nisenson summed it up best when he called it, '' One of the most important, as well as sublimely beautiful albums in the history of Jazz''.

Amen to that.