Miles Davis - Plays Ballads

Miles Davis was one of the most important and influential figures in jazz history. His career, which spanned nearly fifty years, covers jazz history throughout the second half of the Twentieth Century and was marked by his constant evolution and his search for new artistic goals. With equal passion, Davis participated in bebop, cool and modal jazz, and later, in the formation of hardbop and the fusion of jazz with rock & roll.

The sound of his trumpet – completely identifiable given his use of the Harmon mute – gave him a personal and intimate feeling, a soft and mellodious sound which frequently led to lyricism and introspection. He was superb playing ballads, and some of his best studio performances of the genre can be found on this LP, which includes works with small groups, mainly quartets presenting Miles as the only horn. “Miles Davis does here what he did best”, wrote All Music Guide critic Steve Leggett about this music, “finding the heart of a ballad and making it sound like his Harmon-muted trumpet was crying the blues for all the lost and lonely souls in the world.”

PERSONNEL:

MILES DAVIS, trumpet on all tracks, plus:

On A1, A3, A4 & B1-B3:
JOHN COLTRANE, tenor sax (on A3 & B2 only). RED GARLAND, piano.
PAUL CHAMBERS, bass. JIMMY COBB, drums
Hackensack, New Jersey, October 26, 1956 (A3, A4 & B2),
May 11, 1956 (A1 & B1) & November 16, 1955 (B3).

On A2 & A5:
GIL COGGINS, piano. OSCAR PETTIFORD, bass. KENNY CLARKE, drums.
New York, May 9, 1952.
On B4: RED GARLAND, piano. OSCAR PETTIFORD, bass, PHILLY JOE JONES, drums.
Hackensack, New Jersey, June 7, 1955.

SIDE A:
01 WHEN I FALL IN LOVE
02 YESTERDAYS
03 YOU’RE MY EVERYTHING
04 MY FUNNY VALENTINE
05 HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?

SIDE B:
01 SOMETHING I DREAMED LAST NIGHT
02 ‘ROUND MIDNIGHT
03 THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE
04 I SEE YOUR FACE BEFORE ME