Search - Miles Davis :: Best of Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968

Best of Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968
Miles Davis
Best of Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (9) - Disc #1

What this disc represents is an abridged version of 1998's mammoth box set for listeners who feel they don't need six whole discs of the classic Quintet--and in many ways they may be right: Miles after all was always an ex...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Miles Davis
Title: Best of Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony
Original Release Date: 6/8/1999
Release Date: 6/8/1999
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, Pop
Styles: Avant Garde & Free Jazz, Bebop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 074646594520, 5099749456525

Synopsis

Amazon.com
What this disc represents is an abridged version of 1998's mammoth box set for listeners who feel they don't need six whole discs of the classic Quintet--and in many ways they may be right: Miles after all was always an experimenter, looking for new ways to test the membrane of jazz before it finally burst, and even his classic works had their flaws. Keeping that in mind, this disc might not be a bad place for a neophyte Miles fan to start. There's no debating this was one of the stellar lineups in all of jazz: Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and of course Miles himself. All the signature tracks from that period are here, but what's surprising is how few of them Miles himself wrote. The complicated "E.S.P.", the track that basically ushered in this era (and not surprisingly the first song on this compilation), was written by Wayne Shorter, at that time a young prodigy (as were virtually all the members of the band). Ditto for the innovative "Nefertiti" and the dramatic "Masqualero." Meanwhile, such tracks as Tony Williams's "Hand Jive" and Hancock's "Riot" pointed the way to the Zen-like octagonal composition that they'd both become famous for in later years. This disc gives a good glimpse of the years when those ideas were forming. To those who followed, the Miles Davis Quintet led the way. --Joe S. Harrington

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CD Reviews

Miles in Transition
08/10/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album has some lively melodius tracks but also gets into some of the more rambling, avant garde, odd sounding compositions which were a prelude to Bitches Brew which was released in 1970. Some this work is certainly challenging to listen to, and this album is not for the jazz novice. This is more likely to be appreciated by the experienced, sophisticated jazz listener, and true Miles buffs who enjoy his various modes of expression. For more of the "straight ahead" fine progressive jazz that Miles could play, I recommend his earlier works from the fifties and early sixties."
Compilation Discs are Tricky
Robert Middleton | Boulder Creek, CA United States | 10/02/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)

"The music of Miles Davis's second great quintet represented by the albums E.S.P, Miles Miles, Scorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjero are not only extraordinary recordings, they are quite unlike anything else in recorded jazz.



When it comes to choosing a compliation from this amazing body of work, it's so hard because it's so subjective.



Although I give high marks to all of this music, it would not be my personal preference for a "perfect" compilation. I feel there needs to be more ballads - softer music to counter the harder (both are beautiful; balanced they are magnificent).



So here's another subjective compilation. If you have all the above CDs, you may mix and burn as I do to create new CDs that you can enjoy in a new way that doesn't replace, but augments the originals. Nothing from Filles as that CD really stands alone and the style is quite different than the first five.



Best of the Second Great Quintet



1. Pinocchio (Nefertiti)

2. Fall (Nefertiti)

3. Madness (Nefertiti)

4. Circle (Miles Smiles)

5. Black Comedy (Miles in the Sky)

6. Prince of Darkness (Sorcerer)

7. Masqualero (Sorcerer)

8. Pee Wee (Sorcerer)

9. Mood (E.S.P.)

10. Eighty-One (E.S.P.)

11. Footprints (Miles Smiles)



This will put a smile on your face and a song in your heart!"
Evidence for the Great Debate
Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 06/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Which is the "gold standard"? Miles' first quintet with Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones (and, on certain occasions, Julian Adderley, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, and Jimmy Cobb)? Or the 2nd quintet with Shorter, Carter, Williams and Hancock? Your answer to that question might depend on the degree to which you relate to the standards in the American Songbook, the material from which the first quintet drew heavily for its repertory. Even when performing a song like "Stella by Starlight," the 2nd quintet abstracted the song, referencing no more than a phrase or two, and even then very obliquely (there are no standards on the present collection).



One thing is inarguable: both quintets deserve, in fact practically require, the close attention of anyone who values this indigenous American art form. If you suspect you're less engaged by the 2nd quintet than the first, or are leaning toward the 2nd but are reluctant to simply dive in, then this anthology is the perfect means of testing the waters. The following seminal sides are represented: ESP, Miles Smiles, The Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and the Complete Columbia Studio Recordings. The disk contains a 16-page booklet and approximately 70 minutes of telepathic, synchronistic music-making, making it one of the best values (in both new and used editions) on Amazon."