Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964

Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964 is a box set of studio and concert recordings by Miles Davis for Columbia over a two-year period. Instead of focusing on a particular collaboration or session period, it focuses on the time period in between the solidified lineups of the first and second Great Quintets, starting with Ron Carter's introduction and finishing with the establishment of Wayne Shorter in the lineup.

Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964
Box set by
ReleasedSeptember 28, 2004 (2004-09-28)
RecordedApril 16, 1963 – September 19, 1964 (1963-04-16 – 1964-09-19)
GenreJazz
Length7:07:40
LabelColumbia/Legacy
ProducerBob Belden
Michael Cuscuna (reissue)
The Miles Davis Series chronology
(Box 2)
Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings

(1996)
Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964
(2004)
(Box 4)
The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968

(1998)

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Rolling Stone     [1]
AllMusic     [2]

AllMusic awarded the box set four stars.

Albums

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The third chronologically in the series of Miles Davis box sets issued by Columbia, the set includes material from the albums:

Track list

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Disc one
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Joshua"Previously Unreleased5:24
2."I Fall in Love Too Easily"Seven Steps to Heaven6:44
3."Baby Won't You Please Come Home"Seven Steps to Heaven8:25
4."So Near, So Far"Directions5:11
5."Basin Street Blues"Seven Steps to Heaven10:27
6."Seven Steps to Heaven (Take 3)"Previously Unreleased5:29
7."Seven Steps to Heaven (Take 5)"Previously Unreleased6:11
8."Summer Night"Quiet Nights6:01
  • Track 1 incorrectly indexed as "Album Version", the master take of the song can be found on Disc 2
  • Track 4 incorrectly indexed as "Album Version", however it is available as a Bonus Track on the 2005 reissue of Seven Steps to Heaven
  • Track 8 also found as a Bonus Track on the 2005 reissue of Seven Steps to Heaven[3][4]
Disc two
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Seven Steps to Heaven (Rehearsal Take)"Previously Unreleased6:57
2."Seven Steps to Heaven"Seven Steps to Heaven6:23
3."So Near, So Far"Seven Steps to Heaven6:56
4."Joshua"Seven Steps to Heaven6:58
5."Introduction by Andre Francis"In Europe1:00
6."Autumn Leaves"In Europe13:55
7."Milestones"In Europe9:17
8."I Thought About You"In Europe11:48
Disc three
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Joshua"In Europe11:36
2."All of You"In Europe16:54
3."Walkin'"In Europe16:14
4."Bye Bye Blackbird"Previously Unreleased16:47
5."Bye Bye (Theme)"Previously Unreleased6:06
  • Tracks 4 and 5 are the final numbers from the concert In Europe was recorded on. Both were left off of previous and future reissues due to CD limitations.
Disc four
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Introduction by Mort Fega"Previously Unreleased2:49
2."Autumn Leaves"Previously Unreleased10:40
3."So What"'Four' & More9:11
4."Stella by Starlight"My Funny Valentine12:54
5."Walkin'"'Four' & More8:07
6."All of You"My Funny Valentine14:40
7."Go-Go (Theme and Announcement)"'Four' & More1:44
Disc five
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Introduction by Billy Taylor"Previously Unreleased0:44
2."All Blues"My Funny Valentine8:53
3."My Funny Valentine"My Funny Valentine14:55
4."Joshua"'Four' & More9:32
5."I Thought About You"My Funny Valentine11:15
6."Four"'Four' & More6:17
7."Seven Steps to Heaven"'Four' & More7:45
8."There Is No Greater Love"'Four' & More10:03
9."Go-Go (Theme and Re-Introduction)"'Four' & More1:45
Disc six
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Introduction by Teruo Isono"Miles in Tokyo1:10
2."If I Were a Bell"Miles in Tokyo10:15
3."My Funny Valentine"Miles in Tokyo12:48
4."So What"Miles in Tokyo8:03
5."Walkin'"Miles in Tokyo9:13
6."All of You"Miles in Tokyo11:18
7."Go-Go (Theme)"Miles in Tokyo1:20
Disc seven
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
1."Milestones"Miles in Berlin8:57
2."Autumn Leaves"Miles in Berlin12:39
3."So What"Miles in Berlin10:27
4."Stella by Starlight"Miles in Berlin12:54
5."Walkin'"Miles in Berlin10:39
6."Go-Go (Theme)"Miles in Berlin1:46

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Moon, Tom (22 September 2004). "Seven Steps to Heaven". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  2. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1963–1964". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964".
  4. ^ "Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964 (7-disc) CD | Shop the Miles Davis Official Store".