"Pick a Dozen" isn't just limited to songs. For an artist with dozens of albums, it's no stretch of the imagination to consider we could pick a dozen favorite albums out of those.
Miles Davis had a lot of albums. The bulk were studio recordings. Many were epic live recordings. There are releases that came posthumously, and box sets that include complete sessions from key albums. (The only place I would draw the line is at a mega box set like the Complete Columbia set that included all of Miles' Columbia albums.) All here are fair game for this list as everyone approaches Miles a different way.
I'll list mine, with a description of what I like about them. No particular order. Just how they come to me.
Miles Davis had a lot of albums. The bulk were studio recordings. Many were epic live recordings. There are releases that came posthumously, and box sets that include complete sessions from key albums. (The only place I would draw the line is at a mega box set like the Complete Columbia set that included all of Miles' Columbia albums.) All here are fair game for this list as everyone approaches Miles a different way.
I'll list mine, with a description of what I like about them. No particular order. Just how they come to me.
- Milestones -- I'm no fan of bebop, so few of the early Miles albums appeal to me. But this one has a special swinging quality to it which makes it a fun listen. Miles was starting to stretch beyond his bebop roots and this album starts with tentative toe-dipping into blues and modality. The title track and "Two Bass Hit" are my favorites here.
- Birth of the Cool -- Originally released as a series of 78 RPM records recorded in 1949 and 1950, this featured a groundbreaking nonet of what would be come major jazz all-stars, and also spawn the "west coast cool" style of jazz. While as of late I have not been all that fond of the work of Gil Evans (I find many of his works to be too tedious of a listen these days), this one works quite well.
- Kind of Blue -- It's almost a cliche to mention this album as The Greatest Jazz Album of All Time, or suggest every jazz lover should have it in their collection. Yet I find I often return to it again and again over the years--the high praise is properly bestowed upon this record. It is peaceful, calming album, one I can rely on to evoke a certain mood whenever I play it. Heavily based on modal themes, and featuring the work of Bill Evans on all but one track, it's certainly the highlight of Miles' entire catalog in my collection.
- A Tribute to Jack Johnson -- Coming after the pivotal Bitches Brew, this one finds Miles tackling rock and roll head-on, each side of the LP being one long track. You would think after almost 27 minutes that Side 1, "Right Off," would run out of things to say, but the heat keeps turning up higher and higher with each passing minute. The legendary "story" in the liner notes is a bit of an exaggeration, as the two tracks on the record were assembled by Teo Macero from four sessions recorded early in 1970. With "Right Off," John McLaughlin provides the fire, and Herbie Hancock hopping onto a Farfisa found in the studio tosses gasoline onto the flames, with Billy Cobham propelling it through to the end. This group, on record, outplayed most rock bands back in the day. Pure energy! A "Complete" box set of this albums' sessions is available, interesting listening for those who want to hear the original sessions from which this album was patched together from.
- In A Silent Way -- Another cliche album, yet again it lives up to its hype. I've always thought of it as a mood piece. It wasn't as different as Bitches Brew, but it was a stepping stone to that pivotal album. Like many Miles albums from this era, there are a few edits throughout, including reprising the introduction of "Shhh/Peaceful" towards the end of that track. Both tracks evolve throughout their length, so there's no loss of interest here. It is this way with many of Miles' albums from this era--you continue listening since you expect something will happen...and it does.
- Bitches Brew -- I had a difficult history with this album, as the first few versions I purchased never sounded all that good. Turns out that's inherent in this album, and that stuffy, vague sound will never totally go away. Some recent versions have more clarity, making it easier to hear what is happening in the murk. This isn't an album you'll put on right away and instantly "get." It may take a handful, if not dozens, of listings before you totally understand what is happening here. This was the pivotal album in the jazz fusion movement, the one that really separated the stuffy jazz purists from the forward thinkers who embraced the fusion of jazz and rock. I've grown to like it, and am fond of a bonus track from one of the reissues, "Feio," as it fits into the same mood. There is a "Complete" release of the sessions, spread across four CDs and 21 tracks; fascinating if you want to hear the tunes before Teo Macero's sloppy editing formed the album into its final format.
- On The Corner -- If the Jack Johnson album was a full-on attack of rock, this album similarly fused disparate styles--jazz. funk and soul--like no other. Probably Miles' funkiest recording, again with an all-star cast including multiple drum kits, sitar (courtesy of Oregon's Colin Walcott!), John McLaughlin on guitar, and plenty of others. It's also not an easy listen, but has multiple layers moving beneath each other.
- Tutu -- The latter day recordings of Miles on Columbia cast him in a pop/jazz context. While Miles liked the melodies, the albums were rather lightweight. On a new label, Warner Bros., Miles teamed up with bassist and composer Marcus Miller for a set of new songs that each break new ground, and Miles invests more into his horn playing here. I played the heck out of this album when it was first released and it remains a favorite today.
- Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974 -- This posthumous was controversial in the Miles canon. Purists were screaming about Miles' works being desecrated. But they failed to see the irony in their childish rants: Teo Macero edited together many of Miles' albums, even rather sloppily at times, so those original albums themselves were assemblages of existing sessions hastily patched together. Panthalassa does much the same, only this time it's Bill Laswell remixing the tunes from their original multitrack sources, adding new parts from elsewhere on the studio multitracks, and recombining them in new ways. Laswell pulled material from In A Silent Way, On The Corner and Get Up With It, even uncovering an unreleased track in the process. It wasn't a pointless exercise either, in my opinion--Laswell's edits make the tunes, assembled as suites, flow together nicely. It is like viewing the music from a new angle and, as presented, it is a nice option to have on hand.
- Doo-Bop -- This album was the result of a failed release, Rubberband, which Miles had recorded as his third album for Warner but was subsequently rejected. Miles teamed with producer Easy Mo Bee, Miles recorded a handful of tracks before his passing, with the final two ("Fantasy" and "High Speed Chase") composed posthumously using solo snippets from the shelved Rubberband. It was pretty much critically panned when it was released, yet I heard this album and Herb Alpert's North on South St. which essentially take similar paths, melding street rhythms to jazz horn. Doo-Bop isn't Miles' best work, but on the other hand, I still enjoy playing this one, enjoying the grooves behind the music as much as Miles' left-of-center soloing.
- Seven Steps to Heaven -- This was an album recorded about the time Miles began building his second great quintet, with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter on board. The title tune was a mainstay on local jazz radio and for that, I have really enjoyed this album over the years.
- Aura -- An unusual pick. It was Miles' last recording for Columbia, recorded in 1985 but not released until 1989 where he'd already released Tutu for Warner. This was an orchestrated recording, with Danish flugelhornist/arranger Palle Mikkelborg creating the backdrop over which Miles would perform. Each track was named after a color in the spectrum, a series of "moods" to make up the album.