The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Miles Davis, John Coltrane | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 11, 2000)
• Original Release Date: April 11, 2000
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004SCH8
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,235 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Between 1955 and 1959, with occasional changes in personnel, trumpeter Miles Davis led a simply extraordinary small band that changed the course of jazz. This quintet/sextet primarily spotlighted tenor saxophonist John Coltrane but also included such greats as alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley; pianists Red Garland, Bill Evans, and Wynton Kelly; bassist Paul Chambers; and drummers Philly Joe Jones and Jimmy Cobb. The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis and John Coltrane comprise such fabled Davis albums as 'Round About Midnight, Milestones, Jazz at the Plaza, Volume 1, Someday My Prince Will Come, and the legendary Kind of Blue. Also included are the Davis-with-Coltrane selections that appeared on Miles and Monk at Newport, Jazz Track, Basic Miles, and Circle in the Round. In all, the set boasts 60 tracks, of which 18 are previously unreleased--14 of them complete takes.

This is sumptuous, vital music that's alternately exhilarating and emotive, rhythmically dynamic and smoothly flowing, complex and easy on the ear. It's music that defies classification. It's neither bebop nor hard bop yet has elements of both and remains contemporary to this day, as evidenced by such timeless numbers as "All Blues" and "So What."

From the opening "Two Bass Hit" on Disc One to the final "Straight, No Chaser" on Disc Six, we hear the dazzling contrast of two preeminent jazz stylists: Davis's singing, luminescent tone and lyrical, often laid-back yet surely swinging improvisations and Coltrane's zealous-toned, bursting-forth solos. Adding additional color and interest are the bebop-based piano work of Garland, the harmonically advanced offerings of pianist Evans, the rich, serpentine lines of alto saxophonist Adderley, the crisp-then-thumping beats from drummers Jones and Cobb, and the globular, hearty tones of Chambers's bass.

The numbers represent a minihistory of modern jazz. There are bebop tunes such as "Budo," "Two Bass Hit," and "Au-Leu-Cha," all given updated and unique airings. There are classic standards such as "All of You," "Stella by Starlight," "Green Dolphin Street, " "Sweet Sue," and "Bye Bye Blackbird," most of which were rediscovered after Davis recorded them. There are ace tunes by such Davis contemporaries as Thelonious Monk ("'Round About Midnight," "Straight, No Chaser") and Jackie McLean ("Little Melonae") that are heard fresh as arranged by the trumpeter. Finally, there are the Davis originals, pieces such as "Milestones" and "All Blues," which are now part of the jazz canon. Each of these numbers is given the kind of insistent, spirited, and deeply musical interpretation that warrants repeated listening.

Rounding out the topnotch package are essays by original producer George Avakian and Kind of Blue drummer Cobb, an insightful track-by-track overview by noted critic Bob Blumenthal, and the original liner notes to Kind of Blue by pianist Evans. --Zan Stewart

Product Description

MILES DAVIS Miles Davis & John Coltrane (2000 US deluxe 58-track digitally remastered SIX CD box set which includes the complete Columbia recordings made between 1955 & 1961 including eighteen previously unreleased tracks & also featuringCannonball Adderley Hank Mobley Bill Evans Red Garland Wynton Kelly Paul Chambers Philly Joe Jones & Jimmy Cobb. Also including a 116-page integral booklet with extensive liner notes full discography of the time period and many rare photographs of all the musicians. This superb set is housed inside a hard back die cut hessian book pack with an etched metal spine inside an outer metal slipcase box K65833-S2)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless Miles...on new, improved, and expanded display!, April 16, 2000

By 

J. Lund "jazzbrat" (SoCal, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane (Audio CD)

It's a given that the music included here is remarkable and timeless (by Miles' or anybody's standards), covering such classic Davis albums as ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT, MILESTONES, JAZZ AT THE PLAZA, AT NEWPORT, JAZZ TRACK, and KIND OF BLUE. How many other recordings from this era can one objectively say still offer surprises upon each successive listen? It's also a given that the sound quality is awesome--some tracks are in first-time REAL stereo, and Miles' piercing muted trumpet sounds more than ever like it is positioned right in your living room! Also, without exception Miles' chosen personnel have something above-the-ordinary to contribute to the quality of the music: from John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Cannonball Adderley to drummers Philly Joe Jones and Jimmy Cobb...and everyone in between! And lastly, the packaging is very compact, attractive and informative (although they'd be easier to read if the booklets were removable).

Probably the question for a potential buyer is: do I need ninety minutes of alternate takes? Often successive takes are difficult to distinguish (such as on Billie Holiday's COMPLETE COMMODORE RECORDINGS), and thus a bit of a chore to sit through even if the music itself is outstanding. However, here the improvisations differ significantly from cut to cut, and the opportunity to hear such peerless musicians as Miles and Trane getting additional opportunities to put their musically-inquisitive minds and deeper-than-deep emotions on display overrides the fact that you're often hearing the "same song" two-plus times in a row. If ever you might opt to splurge for the extras, Miles Davis' music would be it. Actually, it's not much of a splurge, because to get the individual CDs if/when they are reissued--KIND OF BLUE is already available--will cost insignificantly less than to purchase this collection! And here you always have the option to skip over the extras and listen only to the original album tracks (which are noted in the liner notes).

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music that is priceless, April 20, 2000

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane (Audio CD)

It is true that Columbia are milking the cow for all it's worth in regard to recycling the music of Mr Davis - on the other hand when we're talking about some of the best music of the 20th century regardless of genre then I'm not one to complain. I presently have a Mastersound edition of both KIND OF BLUE and MILESTONES courtesy Japan which is the sixth edition of the former and the fourth edition of the latter I have owned. Of all the music I have, KIND OF BLUE and MILESTONES (BILLY BOY is a ring in I reckon) are the albums I have most frequently played over the past 40 years. Still they sound as fresh and wondrous as the day I first heard them. I've bought this present reincarnation of them because: a) the music is placed in context b) MILESTONES is in stereo for the first time; c)I have never heard AT THE PLAZA; d)I'm partial to the husky, minimalist,croakings of Mr Davis himself, his scratchy, gasping TEO at the end of one piece of music echoes in one's head; e) there are two versions of FLAMENCO SKETCHES one of the masterpieces of Modern Music. Mr Davis IS modern jazz. This is "can't live without" music. Genius.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The giants of jazz at a special peak., November 14, 2000

By 

Ed Brickell - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane (Audio CD)

What I'm struck by most after listening to this incredible brick of classic jazz is how happy the music sounds: Davis and Coltrane may have gone on to even greater challenges, but I don't think either of them ever played with such unbridled joy again. As just one example, listen to the alternate take of "Tadd's Delight" at the end of CD #1: loose, swinging like mad, it's one of the most carefree-sounding four minutes and 18 seconds of music you could ever hope to hear. But the energy and enthusiasm are only part of the story: the solos are highly demanding, endlessly inventive, and seem to change every time you hear them.

The whole set documents two of the best musicians ever to walk the earth at a special time in their development -- when they were continuing to push the envelope but were still playing in a more traditional context than they would even just a few years later. While Coltrane eventually shot beyond the confines of earth into interstellar space and Miles The Sorcerer would churn up much darker brews, these CDs still stand among the best jazz ever recorded.

Buy it and be enriched.