Birdland 1951 [Original recording remastered]

Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 27, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B00016MCBI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,775 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No description available.
Genre: Jazz Music
Rating:
Release Date: 0000-00-00
Media Type: Compact Disk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars With Miles perhaps there is no bottom of the barrel ..., February 7, 2004

By 

J. Lund "jazzbrat" (SoCal, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birdland 1951 (Audio CD)

One might look at this CD, see that it collects mostly oft-bootlegged radio broadcasts from the early-1950s, and figure Blue Note is scraping the bottom of the barrel to cash in on Miles Davis' legendary and ever-marketable status as a musical trendsetter. Well, to any extent that the above may be true, the overriding factor is that the music itself is of a very high quality on the three 1951 Birdland NYC airchecks collected here.

Davis may have been fighting heroin addiction in 1951, but his playing is strong, confident, and quite aggressive compared to most of his studio dates of this era. His playing sounds as much the forerunner of Clifford Brown or Freddie Hubbard than of his own more impressionistic playing heard on later albums including KIND OF BLUE. Not only is Davis' playing strong, but he has quite a few jazz legends in the sextets assembled for these club dates, all of whom are also in good form (e.g., Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, J.J. Johnson). The tunes are mostly bop-era standards, with several tunes heard more than once.

The sound quality has been cleaned up to the point where the listener can focus on the musical quality without having one's concentration broken by unwanted noises (the Feb. 1951 session with the most imperfections is still relatively easy on the ears...only a handful of brief rough spots). I don't know if in-between songs chatter was edited out or not available, but this CD focuses solely on the musical performances. Overall, there are quite a few Miles CD I would recommend over BIRDLAND 1951, which despite the fine musical performances is probably for collectors only. That doesn't mean the music here isn't excellent, only that Davis went on to even greater heights in the four decades following these club dates.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes flaws have a charm of their own, March 20, 2004

By 

Clare Quilty (a little pad in hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birdland 1951 (Audio CD)

Yeah, the sound quality isn't too hot on these recordings, but... I kind of think that lends it an odd kind of charm. I don't expect too many other listeners or fans of Miles to find the scratchiness as endearing as I did, but it sounds as good as anything else does on the beat-up old boombox in my work room.

Plus, four songs from a Feb. 51 session that hasn't been previously available: "Out of the Blue," "Half Nelson," a take of "Move" and the awesome "Tempus Fugit."

3.0 out of 5 stars Soars low, April 18, 2009

By 

IRate - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birdland 1951 (Audio CD)

3 1/2

Barring a mostly abysmal sound quality (which in all fairness can help emulate its '51 pedigree), this energetic live disc captures Davis in a surprisingly aggressive mode, never relenting through ten tracks of hardcore hard-bop.