Ballads & Blues

One of the most important and influential figures in jazz history, Miles Davis s sound on the trumpet was completely identifiable due in part to his use of the Harmon mute. It gave him a personal and intimate style, which was soft and melodious, and frequently led to lyricism and introspection. He was superb at playing ballads, and some of his best studio recordings of the genre can be found here, along with some of his best blues performances. Since its start in the early 1940s, Miles Davis professional career in music continued in constant evolution (an evolution which didn t stop until his death on September 28, 1991). However, his works after the mid-1960s were almost exclusively focused on the fusion of jazz with rock and electronic music. Thus, Miles only rarely played ballads in the style we find here; a style which was his alone, as stated by jazz critic Robert Levin in 1965: The way Davis plays is particularly suited to the mood for which this album is designed. His concepts of space and time the manner in which he plays against the rhythm and chooses to play those notes which somehow, unerringly, grasp a devastating nuance, has an exquisite delicacy, an elegant fragility, and are amply demonstrated on the ballads he recorded in the 1950s. It is always difficult to imagine a song being interpreted in any other way after hearing a Miles Davis reading of it. 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl Limited Collector Edition