Craft Recordings celebrates 70th anniv. of Miles Davis’ influential 1954 recordings

Norman van den Wildenberg | August 19, 2024 | Release | No Comments

Craft Recordings celebrates a defining year for Miles Davis with the release of “Miles ’54: The Prestige Recordings,” a new 20-track compilation that brings together genre-defining recordings from the music icon’s 1954 output. This collection includes music from classic albums such as “Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins,” “Miles Davis Quintet,” “Miles Davis All Star Sextet,” and “Miles Davis Quartet” (all originally issued by Prestige Records). Featuring an all-star lineup of musicians including Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver, “Miles ’54” combines originals by the influential jazz legend with popular ballads and compositions by his legendary sidemen.

Availability

Arriving on November 22, 2024, “Miles ’54” will be available in a variety of formats, including a 180-gram 4-LP set, 2-CD, and hi-res digital versions. All audio has been newly remastered by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Paul Blakemore, with lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Physical editions will feature a brand-new essay by GRAMMY®-winning music historian Ashley Kahn (author of “Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece,” among others) and in-depth session notes by GRAMMY-winning writer Dan Morgenstern.

A Defining Year

1954 was a watershed year for Miles Davis. Ten years into his celebrated career, the trumpeter, composer, and bandleader was on the verge of international fame and more focused than ever. Throughout the year, Davis recorded five landmark sessions at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio—each one refining his sound, maturing as a leader, and collaborating with some of the brightest rising stars of the era. These recordings would propel Davis’ career to new heights and set the stage for the mid-late ’50s post-bop scene.

The release of “Miles ’54” not only marks the 70th anniversary of these recordings but also the 75th anniversary of Prestige Records, the esteemed independent jazz label founded by producer Bob Weinstock. Established in 1949, Prestige was at the forefront of the genre, pioneering the sounds of bop, hard bop, soul jazz, and beyond, while nurturing the careers of iconic artists such as John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and, of course, Miles Davis.

Insights from Ashley Kahn

In 1954, after a decade of building his reputation, Miles Davis “…transformed from a member of a close-knit group of players into a leader with an immediately recognizable sound that the world came to know and crave,” writes Ashley Kahn. Indeed, just ten years earlier, a young 18-year-old Davis had arrived in New York City from St. Louis to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music. What followed was the rise of one of modern music’s most influential figures, thanks to sideman work with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Coleman Hawkins, relentless gigging, and the formation of his first band—a nonet—whose recordings would eventually be released as “The Birth of Cool” (1957).

A Crucial Comeback

In 1954, after returning to the Midwest to address his struggles with substance abuse, Davis came back to New York with a newfound sense of well-being and focus. His timing couldn’t have been better. “As post-bebop jazz grew and developed during this period, so did its impact. It became part of an intensely creative, spontaneous period in American culture, the soundtrack to the zeitgeist of the ’50s, inspiring visual artists and writers alike,” notes Kahn. “Jazz was being embraced differently: as a sophisticated art music, more cutting-edge than mainstream.”

Throughout the year, Davis headlined major New York venues, including Birdland and Basin Street, frequently sharing top billing with stars like Gillespie, Dinah Washington, and Chet Baker. After re-signing with Prestige Records (following his first contract in 1951), Davis also made multiple trips to Rudy Van Gelder’s renowned Hackensack, NJ studio. It was there, throughout 1954, that he recorded five landmark sessions.

Landmark Sessions

These sessions, featuring a group of exceptionally talented sidemen (a precursor to his First Great Quintet), also marked Davis’ maturation as an artist. “Miles’ performances on his 1954 quartet and quintet sessions for Prestige reveal…a heightened level of confidence in his bandleading and in his playing, with a more expansive feel for colour, timbre, and even atmosphere in his palette,” explains Kahn.

The first of these sessions took place on March 15th, with Davis—accompanied by Percy Heath (bass), Art Blakey (drums), and Horace Silver (piano)—performing pop standards like “Old Devil Moon” and originals such as the lighthearted “Four” and the bluesy “Blue Haze.” Weeks later, on April 3rd, Davis returned with Silver and Heath, plus drummer Kenny Clarke and alto saxophonist Dave Schildkraut to record his own “Solar,” along with upbeat standards like “Love Me or Leave Me” and “I’ll Remember April.”

In his track notes, originally featured on “Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings, 1951–1956” in 1988, Dan Morgenstern points out, “This was no slapdash blowing date, but a session more cohesive than most organized groups could manage. And it is certainly worthy of notice that this was the first Miles Davis session (and quite possibly the very first Prestige session) recorded by…[definitive bebop engineer Rudy Van Gelder].” The date is also notable for Davis’ extensive use of the cup mute on his trumpet—a signature technique he would use throughout his career.

The session that followed on April 29th was a historic moment in jazz, with J.J. Johnson (trombone), Lucky Thompson (tenor sax), Silver, Heath, and Clarke performing two extended jams: Gillespie’s “Blue ’n’ Boogie” and the blues classic “Walkin’.” Quoting pianist Dick Katz, Morgenstern refers to this session as “An amazing seminar…a sort of summing up of much of what had happened musically to the players involved during the preceding ten years.” Morgenstern describes the masterful rendition of “Walkin’” as a “cornerstone of the hard bop movement.” Kahn adds that the performance “…incorporated most of the elements that would define Miles’ later ’50s recordings.”

On June 29th, Davis was joined by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins for what Morgenstern calls “One of several encounters between Miles and Sonny Rollins, and in some ways the most satisfying.” The pair, accompanied by Silver, Heath, and Clarke, recorded three iconic Rollins compositions: “Oleo,” “Airegin,” and “Doxy,” as well as the Gershwin classic, “But Not for Me.”

The final session of the year, held on Christmas Eve, was certainly the most famous—featuring an awe-inspiring lineup of Thelonious Monk (piano) and Milt Jackson (vibraphone), alongside Heath and Clarke (aptly released as “Miles Davis All Stars, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2” the following year). With alternate takes included, this complete session, Morgenstern writes, “can serve as a graduate seminar on the art of improvisation.” Featuring originals by Davis (“Swing Spring”), Jackson (the soon-to-be-standard “Bags’ Groove”), and Monk (“Bemsha Swing”), the sounds achieved by the trumpeter on this date were near-perfection—a culmination of sorts of Davis’ work—not only achieved over the year but throughout the previous decade. By the end of the year, Kahn adds, “Miles’ sound reached a level of maturity that captured mainstream ears. It was a connection that endured.”

Indeed, in the immediate months and years that followed, Davis’ profile grew substantially. In 1955, he soared to new heights with the formation of his First Great Quintet (featuring Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and John Coltrane)—a group that became the dominant small jazz ensemble of the late ’50s and helped define the hard-bop genre. In the decades that followed, he continued to push the boundaries of jazz music—shaping the sounds of post-bop and fusion, while experimenting with electronic elements, funk, rock, pop, and African rhythms well into the late ’80s. Today, 33 years after his death, Davis holds a powerful legacy as one of the most significant figures in 20th-century music, with an influence that extends far beyond the realm of jazz.