Miles Davis Vols. 1 & 2

Miles Davis, Volumes 1 & 2 are a pair of separate but related albums by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis recorded on May 9, 1952, April 20, 1953 and March 6, 1954 and released on Blue Note early 1956. The three sessions were originally released on ten-inch LPs as Young Man with a Horn (1953), Miles Davis, Vol. 2 (1953) and Miles Davis, Vol. 3 (1954), respectively.[2]

Miles Davis
Volume 1
Compilation album by
ReleasedJanuary 1956 (Vol. 1)[1]
February 1956 (Vol. 2)
Recorded
  • May 9, 1952 (1952-05-09)
  • April 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)
  • March 6, 1954 (1954-03-06)
StudioWOR Studios, NYC
Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
GenreHard bop
Length43:36 (Vol. 1; LP)
44:31 (Vol. 2; LP)
58:18 (Vol. 1; CD)
39:17 (Vol. 2; CD)
LabelBlue Note
BLP 1501 (Vol. 1)
BLP 1502 (Vol. 2)
ProducerAlfred Lion
Miles Davis chronology
Dig
(1956)
Miles Davis
(1956)
Quintet / Sextet
(1956)
Miles Davis
Volume 1

Background edit

Personal life edit

Volume 1 was originally released in January 1956 shortly after Davis won the DownBeat readers poll as best trumpeter and shortly followed in February by Volume 2 (BLP 1502).[3]

Release history edit

After 10"s lost the format war, Blue Note began reissuing its Modern Jazz Series on 12"s. The three sessions were subsequently recompiled across Miles Davis, Volume 1 (BLP 1501) and Miles Davis, Volume 2 (BLP 1502), the first of Blue Note's 1500 series, their first one hundred 12" records after they discontinued their line of 10" records.[2]

The two volumes were recompiled for their CD reissue, restoring the track listing of the original 10"s, placing Vol. 1 (BLP 2028) on Volume 1, and Vol. 2 (BLP 5057) and Vol. 3 (BLP 5070) on Volume 2.

While the original BLP 1501 running order is available on some Japanese CD versions and from HDTracks, most CD reissues recompile the three sets with an entirely different track listing, grouping the sessions together and appending alternate takes, placing the 1952 and 1954 sessions on Volume 1 and the 1953 session on Volume 2.[citation needed]

When Rudy Van Gelder remastered the pair of the 2001 RVG edition, he reused the CD track list and replaced the covers for the two volumes with new covers based on the originals from Miles Davis, Vol. 3 and Miles Davis, Vol. 2 respectively.

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings     [5]

The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his AllMusic essay "Hard Bop" in 2010 as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.[6]

Track listing edit

Miles Davis, Volume 1 edit

Side 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Date recordedLength
1."Tempus Fugit"Bud PowellApril 20, 19533:53
2."Kelo"Jay Jay JohnsonApril 20, 19533:30
3."Enigma"JohnsonApril 20, 19533:25
4."Ray's Idea"April 20, 19533:46
5."How Deep Is the Ocean?"Irving BerlinMay 9, 19524:40
6."C.T.A" (alternate take)Jimmy HeathApril 20, 19533:18
Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Date recordedLength
1."Dear Old Stockholm"TraditionalMay 9, 19524:13
2."Chance It"Oscar PettifordMay 9, 19523:04
3."Yesterdays"May 9, 19523:46
4."Donna" (alternate take)Jackie McLeanMay 9, 19523:12
5."C.T.A"Jimmy HeathApril 20, 19533:36
6."Woody 'n' You" (alternate take)Dizzy GillespieMay 9, 19523:23
Total length:43:36

Miles Davis, Volume 2 edit

Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Date recordedLength
1."Take Off"Miles DavisMarch 6, 19543:41
2."Weirdo"DavisMarch 6, 19544:45
3."Woody 'n' You"Dizzy GillespieMay 9, 19523:26
4."I Waited for You"
  • Fuller
  • Gillespie
April 20, 19533:31
5."Ray's Idea" (alternate take)
April 20, 19533:53
6."Donna"Jackie McLeanMay 9, 19523:14
Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Date recordedLength
1."Well, You Needn't"Thelonious MonkMarch 6, 19545:24
2."The Leap"DavisMarch 6, 19544:32
3."Lazy Susan"DavisMarch 6, 19544:03
4."Tempus Fugit" (alternate take)Bud PowellApril 20, 19533:31
5."It Never Entered My Mind"March 6, 19544:01
Total length:44:31

CD reissues[7] edit

Miles Davis, Volume 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Date recordedLength
1."Dear Old Stockholm"TraditionalMay 9, 19524:13
2."Chance It"Oscar PettifordMay 9, 19523:04
3."Donna" (a.k.a. Dig)Jackie McLeanMay 9, 19523:14
4."Woody 'n' You"Dizzy GillespieMay 9, 19523:26
5."Yesterdays"Jerome Kern, Otto HarbachMay 9, 19523:46
6."How Deep Is the Ocean?"Irving BerlinMay 9, 19524:40
7."Chance It" (alternate take)Oscar PettifordMay 9, 19522:54
8."Donna" (alternate take)Jackie McLeanMay 9, 19523:12
9."Woody 'n' You" (alternate take)Dizzy GillespieMay 9, 19523:23
10."Take Off"Miles DavisMarch 6, 19543:41
11."Lazy Susan"Miles DavisMarch 6, 19544:03
12."The Leap"Miles DavisMarch 6, 19544:32
13."Well, You Needn't"Thelonious MonkMarch 6, 19545:24
14."Weirdo"Miles DavisMarch 6, 19544:45
15."It Never Entered My Mind"March 6, 19544:01
Total length:43:36
Miles Davis, Volume 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Date recordedLength
1."Kelo"Jay Jay JohnsonApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:20
2."Enigma"Jay Jay JohnsonApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:25
3."Ray's Idea"Gil Fuller, Ray BrownApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:46
4."Tempus Fugit"Bud PowellApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:53
5."C.T.A."Jimmy HeathApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:36
6."I Waited for You"Gil Fuller, Dizzy GillespieApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:31
7."Kelo" (alternate take)Jay Jay JohnsonApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:27
8."Enigma" (alternate take)Jay Jay JohnsonApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:27
9."Ray's Idea" (alternate take)Gil Fuller, Ray BrownApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:53
10."Tempus Fugit" (alternate take)Bud PowellApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)4:01
11."C.T.A." (alternate take)Jimmy HeathApril 20, 1953 (1953-04-20)3:18
Total length:39:17

Personnel edit

Musicians edit

May 9, 1952[8] edit

April 20, 1953[9] edit

  • Miles Davis – trumpet
  • J. J. Johnson – trombone
  • Jimmy Heath – tenor saxophone
  • Gil Coggins – piano
  • Percy Heath – bass
  • Art Blakey – drums
    • Recorded at WOR Studios, New York City

March 6, 1954[10] edit

Technical personnel edit

Original edit

Reissue edit

  • Michael Cuscuna – producer
  • Ron McMaster, Yoshio Okazaki – digital transfers

References edit

  1. ^ "The Billboard, February 4, 1956". Billboard. 4 February 1956. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Miles Davis Volume 1". Discogs. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  3. ^ Leonard Feather in the original liner notes to Miles Davis Volume 1 (1956).
  4. ^ "Miles Davis Volume 1 (All Music review)". All Music. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  5. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. ^ "Hard Bop (Essay) by Scott Yanow". All Music. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  7. ^ "Miles Davis Volume 1 (CD Reissue)". Discogs. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  8. ^ May 9, 1952 Session Details, Miles Ahead: A Miles Davis Website, accessed July 14, 2014
  9. ^ April 20, 1953 Session Details, Miles Ahead: A Miles Davis Website, accessed July 14, 2014
  10. ^ March 6, 1954 Session Details, Miles Ahead: A Miles Davis Website, accessed July 14, 2014