Customer Reviews

Birdland 1951

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

 

 

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.

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 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.

These are great recordings. The sound quality is quite good for air-checks from Birdland. We have all heard lots of air checks featuring Charlie Parker from this time. This sound is quite abit better than so many renditions of those live Bird sessions.

I really love the live performance recordings. They are not perfect, but they are so much fun. I really appreciate Blue Note putting out these recordings. Enjoy them while they are still available at a reasonable price.

Smokin' jazz by some of the giants, and from a relatively poorly documented period of Miles's career, no less. The sound quality, though, ranges from barely acceptable to horrid. At least Blue Note is kind enough to say as much on the back of the jewel case. Certainly more for Miles completists than casual fans.

The playing on this CD is stellar. But the sound is so dreadful, that it really eliminates the enjoyment for me. It sounds on some tracks like the sound of a screeching tape going through the tape recorder is part of the recording. "Half Nelson" (track 5) in particular has this screech and it occurs also on several other tracks such a "Tempus Fugit." The playing is extraordinary with Sonny Rollins' sax blowing me away. However, because of this sound level, I'm going to return this and opt for other Davis recordings. Taxi!

I have not heard this one, but I Know that Miles was the coolest!