Miles Davis - Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings - 2 CD set

2024

Focusing on a transformative period in Miles Davis' career, the 2024 anthology Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings rounds up all of the tracks the legendary jazz trumpeter made for the label that year. Certainly, 1954 was an important time for Davis. The rising jazz star had just recovered from heroin addiction, a nagging habit he had struggled with on and off since the late '40s. Clean and fit (he had also started working out in a gym and boxing), he returned to the studio for a handful of sessions that showcased his strong trumpet chops, as well as a renewed creative approach that found him moving further away from bebop and embracing more of the spare lyricism and bluesy swagger that would come to define his work from the late '50s into the '60s.

It was a style that took deep inspiration from the work of pianist Ahmad Jamal, whose classical-informed playing was a major catalyst for the cool jazz movement. While still evincing a cool atmosphere and often utilizing his distinctive Harmon mute played close to the microphone, Davis' playing in 1954 was more confident, a style imbued with the rhythmic grooves and bluesy harmonies that prefigured the sleek-edged hard bop and modalism to come. It was also a vibe that would come into full flower on his subsequent albums Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin'. Here, he surrounded himself with equally confident and forward-thinking luminaries, including players like pianist Horace Silver, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Kenny Clarke, among others.

These are tracks that were first released on such 10" LPs as Miles Davis Quartet, Miles Davis Quintet, Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis All Stars, Vols. 1 & 2. Soon after, they were compiled on more well-known albums, Blue Haze, Walkin', Bags' Groove, and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants. Included are classic recordings like Davis' original versions of "Four" and "Solar," his iconic version of "Walkin'," and puckishly sparring collaborations with Rollins, including "Oleo" and "Doxy." All of these are considered essential recordings, and there is nothing but superb playing throughout the Prestige box. It also doesn't hurt that we get a nice book of photos and liner notes with writing by Ashley Kahn and Dan Morgenstern, all of which helps put the recordings in context. That said, given that Davis recorded some of the tracks on these albums in 1953, such as side A of Blue Haze, those recordings are not included here. Furthermore, these are just his Prestige sessions and do not include any of his similarly classic 1954 sessions for Blue Note. Still, this was arguably the year Miles Davis came into his own as a bandleader and entered his first truly auteur period, something Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings spotlights nicely.

Matt Collar