Customer Reviews

Best of Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album has some lively melodius tracks but also gets into some of the more rambling, avant garde, odd sounding compositions which were a prelude to Bitches Brew which was released in 1970. Some this work is certainly challenging to listen to, and this album is not for the jazz novice. This is more likely to be appreciated by the experienced, sophisticated jazz listener, and true Miles buffs who enjoy his various modes of expression. For more of the "straight ahead" fine progressive jazz that Miles could play, I recommend his earlier works from the fifties and early sixties.

The music of Miles Davis's second great quintet represented by the albums E.S.P, Miles Miles, Scorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjero are not only extraordinary recordings, they are quite unlike anything else in recorded jazz.

When it comes to choosing a compliation from this amazing body of work, it's so hard because it's so subjective.

Although I give high marks to all of this music, it would not be my personal preference for a "perfect" compilation. I feel there needs to be more ballads - softer music to counter the harder (both are beautiful; balanced they are magnificent).

So here's another subjective compilation. If you have all the above CDs, you may mix and burn as I do to create new CDs that you can enjoy in a new way that doesn't replace, but augments the originals. Nothing from Filles as that CD really stands alone and the style is quite different than the first five.

Best of the Second Great Quintet

1. Pinocchio (Nefertiti)
2. Fall (Nefertiti)
3. Madness (Nefertiti)
4. Circle (Miles Smiles)
5. Black Comedy (Miles in the Sky)
6. Prince of Darkness (Sorcerer)
7. Masqualero (Sorcerer)
8. Pee Wee (Sorcerer)
9. Mood (E.S.P.)
10. Eighty-One (E.S.P.)
11. Footprints (Miles Smiles)

This will put a smile on your face and a song in your heart!

Which is the "gold standard"? Miles' first quintet with Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones (and, on certain occasions, Julian Adderley, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, and Jimmy Cobb)? Or the 2nd quintet with Shorter, Carter, Williams and Hancock? Your answer to that question might depend on the degree to which you relate to the standards in the American Songbook, the material from which the first quintet drew heavily for its repertory. Even when performing a song like "Stella by Starlight," the 2nd quintet abstracted the song, referencing no more than a phrase or two, and even then very obliquely (there are no standards on the present collection).

One thing is inarguable: both quintets deserve, in fact practically require, the close attention of anyone who values this indigenous American art form. If you suspect you're less engaged by the 2nd quintet than the first, or are leaning toward the 2nd but are reluctant to simply dive in, then this anthology is the perfect means of testing the waters. The following seminal sides are represented: ESP, Miles Smiles, The Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and the Complete Columbia Studio Recordings. The disk contains a 16-page booklet and approximately 70 minutes of telepathic, synchronistic music-making, making it one of the best values (in both new and used editions) on Amazon.

Got this at Borders last night and LOVED IT! I would've liked more tracks but what we have here is just a taste of their greatness that, like I said in the title, only leaves you wanting more and this will probably make you want to buy the three Columbia box sets which are the Complete Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet 1965-'68, Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965(which is one of the best live jazz recordings of them all) and the Complete In a Silent Way Sessions(some of the material on that set has the quintet before they left)Some of the best songs on this are Eighty One, a slow classy blues song and Nefertiti. I love the melody on Nefertiti. It weaves in and out with excellent playing all around, especially Wayne and Miles. The Miles Davis Quintet which only lasted from late 1964 to the spring of 1968 influenced almost a generation of jazz and ranks up there with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the John Coltrane Quartet, Louis Armstrong and his Hot 5 and Hot 7, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messingers,and the Miles Davis Sextet.

When I first listened to this disc, I was put off by its lack of melody. "Nefertiti" has a repeating motif (repeating too often, actually), and "Masqualero" has a melody. The rest seems like open jamming on a chord pattern.

With Miles, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock, repeated listening to the playing and soloing pulls you in, and every note eventually becomes memorable. It gets to the point where you wouldn't want to change a note.

I wasn't familiar with the songs before I got this disc, a veteran Davi listener may have a different reaction.

I Dig This Set Alot.I Enjoy&RESPECT ANY MUSICIAN EVen More that takes Risks&Challenges The Listener on The Journey We Call Music.AND The Genius Of Miles Davis does just that.The Band is Incredible&The music is always Moving into Something New.that's The Mind Of A Work In progress&The Beauty Of Sound Created by this Musical Treasure MR.DAVIS.He is By Far The Most ADDICTIVE MUSICIAN THAT I HAVE EVERY HEARD.Cuz He always Challenged The Space&SOund.Very Few Others Have.I enjoy many periods of His WOrk.Not All But Many.He Is One OF THE GREATEST TEACHERS OF MUSIC THE WORLD HAS EVER HEARD OR SEEN.