Miles Ahead [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Original Release Date: 1957
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002AGM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,475 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Jazz > Orchestral Jazz
  • #23 in Music > Jazz > Avant Garde & Free Jazz
  • #25 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Contemporary Big Band

Editorial Reviews

DAVIS MILES MILES AHEAD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gem, September 23, 2000

By 

Sean M. Kelly (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miles Ahead (Audio CD)

"Miles Ahead +19" is an unusual lp when first listened to. It's not quite jazz, not quite orchestral work. It's a beautiful hybrid of the 2 that has stood the test of time well. Gil Evans asserts his mastery of composition as well as his understanding of what Miles can coax out of his trumpet (and flugelhorn on this cd), and does both masterfully.

The coup of this cd is that it has been properly re-mastered and restored to what it was in 1957. Several bad releases made this lp unlistenable for a long time (I have a mono lp copy that I got 15 years ago and it sounds terrible), but Columbia has finally solved that problem.

This lp can also be had as part of the superb Miles Davis/Gil Evans box set that covers this, "Porgy and Bess," "Sketches of Spain," and "Quiet Nights," as well as a few tracks they did in the late 60's. Highly recommended... and if you can't get that set, then of course, this lp is very much recommended.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 Stars, August 25, 2003

By 

Daniel Fineberg (Northridge, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miles Ahead (Audio CD)

What in god's name more is there to say about this recording to someone who has not listened to it, and listened to it all the way through? How about an anecdote from Miles' autobiography--the joy he felt when Dizzy Gillespie came knocking on his door and asked for another copy because he had worn the first one out. "It's the best," he said. I think I've listened to it more than any other CD I own. Miles on the flugelhorn is perfect. Gil Evans' arrangements are perfect. The choice of tunes--from Dave Brubeck's "The Duke" to Ahmad Jamal's "New Rhumba" to Evans' indescribably beautiful "Blues for Pablo"--are all perfect. Listen to it, and listen to it again.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miles Davis+19=Brilliant, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Miles Ahead (Audio CD)

This is one of those records that trancends time. It is unlike anything that a casual jazz fan may have heard. This record was recorded in bits and pieces and was heavily edited and overdubbed. Thus it has been difficult to transfer the album onto a cd. The original stereo issue of this cd was a butchered job that contained substantially different takes and passages than the original LP (which was released in mono). A second issue (in mono this time) was better, but still included substantial differences from the original. This definitive version restores almost everything in the original LP (but it is still not exactly the same as the 1957 LP). This is beautifully simple music recorded in tight complex arrangements by the great Gil Evans. But despite what you may read below, it is not a Big Band album. It is an album by an expanded small group that takes the ideas put forth by Evans and Gerry Mulligan in the Birth of the Cool sessions (which used a nonet) to the next step. It provides almost a perfectly textured background to Miles's flugelhorn.