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This is probably the best jazz cd that I have ever owned and is an excellent introduction to Miles Davis. Miles' soothing horn accompanied by Evans' mellow orchestra should be in every listener's repertoire. These are the sounds musicians strive their entire lives to attain.

I'll start by saying that I have given this disc as a gift to a number of friends. It is just some of the most beautiful music ever. Miles' horn over Evans' orchestra and arrangements produces something difficult to describe in words. It can be appreciated on so many levels--by the most knowledgable jazz fan as well as folks who don't know anything about the music. It is both accessible and complex. It can be carefully listened to in order to plumb the depths of the arrangements and mastery of mood and structure. Or it can be used as background music to a romantic dinner or friendly conversation. Once you listen to this music, you will be thankful for your ears....

As I say above, this collection is a nice intro for newer fans to Miles's work - specifically with the beautifully mild arrangements of Gil Evans.
Miles is a chameleon with regard to styles and this collection focuses on ensamble (spelling?) playing with choice cuts from POGRY & BESS, MILES AHEAD and SKETCHES OF SPAIN (my least fav out of Miles's incredible cannon of music - but then again, even a subpar Miles puts many others to shame).The one thing that is nice about this collection is it includes an excerpt from the longer "Time of the Barracudas" suite.
If you're new to Miles it's a wonderful intro focusing on his "cooler" side.
Enjoy cats!

Of course there are some disappointments--e.g. the exclusion of "New Rhumba" from "Milestones," of "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" from "Porgy and Bess" and of the penetrating "Saeta" from "Sketches"--but this is a downright satisfying collection, one that I go to far more frequently than to the complete LP's, all three of which I own. The inclusion of the lengthy but poignant Adagio from "Concierto de Aranjuez," perhaps the singlemost moving performance on all three albums, is more than I could have hoped for.

The audio has been freshened up a bit, most notably the added brilliance in the upper brass, so if you're a regular frequenter of this collection, without which any assessment of Miles Davis would be glaringly incomplete, go for all 3 CD's.

Miles and Evans' accomplishment here rivals that of Sinatra and Nelson Riddle. These are not simply solo stars being backed by an orchestra. Both performers are featured as solo artists in complete programs that are of such a whole as to constitute an orchestral tone poem, or unified and continuous piece. Moreover, if we look more carefully at both the Miles/Evans programs and those of Sinatra/Riddle ("In the Wee Small Hours," "Close to You," "Only the Lonely"), we sense a degree of elegiac sadness, of profound loss, of tragic perspective that runs completely counter to widely held views of the 1950's as the so-called "happy days." This was a post-War period of acutely felt changes, leading to the projects of artists to recover and renew what had been most vital about the American experience and resulting in meditative, searching, profound works of popular art such as have not since been seen or heard.

Whether Miles and Gil (or Sinatra and Riddle, for that matter) hold up today and are still capable of capturing new generations remains to be seen. Perhaps the question becomes: would a listener who was totally unfamiliar with the "persona" of Miles Davis or Frank Sinatra respond simply to the incredible beauty of performances such as these? I would like to think so, though I suspect it will be a limited response--and even then only by individuals who listen patiently and actively and who, above all, see music as a revelation of what is most personal, vital and enduring in the human heart.

Miles sounds Incredible here.Gil Evans Orchestra is right on time thru this must have.The Music Between these two is timeless.Miles Davis Never had Limits with his Music.that's What Made Him Original&A Genius.

This would be my favorite CD of Miles' work if Kind of Blue did not exist. The funky rich brasses behind Miles that Gil Evans puts down are impeccable. What a rich background for My Ship and Summertime. Could not get these out of my head after hearing them. Miles is a complex character and who would put Evans and Miles together, but it is magic.