Sunday, July 10, 2011

Miles Davis - Milestones.... (Columbia/CBS - 62308)










In a couple of weeks, I will be listening and writing about several Jazz records which I've bought via Ebay UK from a lady who was selling her husband's record collection. Interestingly enough, the records were relatively cheaper then normal. The records are the first presses for UK (Not US original) and even though she evaluated them very conservatively, the records are in pristine condition for their age.

The record I'm just listening is Milestones....Miles Davis, dated 1958. I find it utterly fascinating that such older records have been kept with utmost care by their owners and this has been one of the reasons I love and admire record collecting. Whenever I see a record older than I am and in better condition than I am, I respect the whole notion more. Sorry for the lack of finding a better suiting word than "notion".

I am listening to this record just on the weekend of the world premiere for "Tribute To Miles" at which Marcus Miller, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter has performed as former collaborators of Miles himself. Truly timely fashion. Unfortunately none of these names performed in the album Milestones...., but another young talent comes into play, John Coltrane.

The album is lovely. Well, that doesn't explain the whole story. I've been listening to it 3 times in a row and still can't get enough of it. You just never can get enough of a joint venture where Miles Davis is the CEO and John Coltrane is the managing director. John Coltrane takes the role of tenor saxophone in this album instead of his beloved alto, but still performs beautifully during the whole album with probably getting to the highest performance during "Milestones" (Previously named "Miles" on the CBS US first press - CL 1193). Other performers include Julian "Cannonball" Adderley on alto saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and "Philly" Joe Jones on drums.

It is a must to listen to this album which is hailed among the cream of Miles's works and is one of the four albums that Miles/Trane duo performed together with elegance. Actually after Sony acquired Columbia Records (Aka CBS), a six cd box set has been released under the name "Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1955-1961". This is a valuable set which every Jazz lover should own. But coming back to the record, I guess I'll listen once more.

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