Quote:
Originally Posted by anoobis  I've seen a couple of CD albums that have quite a lot of overlap, so don't really want both. Which do you think is the better selection and why?
Miles Away (2008) comprises:
'Round About Midnight
Relaxin'
Miles Ahead
Cookin'
Steamin'
The other album is a compilation of Relaxin', Workin' and Steamin'.
Cheers.
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I would get these CDs first....I mean Miles released like 50 albums, and all of them have merit, more than 30 are amazing.....
so I would collect them is this order....
1.
Kind Of Blue (this is obviously his most championed work.....I assume you may already own this)
2.
Nefertiti (this is featuring an entirely different set of players from Kind of Blue.....this is known as Miles' second Quintet, and in my opinion, this was his greatest band........it's debatable which album was the best which they released, Nefertiti has always been my favorite)
3.
Relaxin' (Miles' Prestige series is the most consistent group of albums he ever cut....Relaxin' is probably my favorite, but any of the group is worthy of getting)
4.
Sketches of Spain (Miles cut 3 albums with Gil Evans arranging orchestral scores for the music........all three are superb, I think Sketches of Spain has the highest reputation)
5.
In A Silent Way (This is Miles creating a new genre which would become known as fusion........this album has a higher reputation in the jazz community than Bitches Brew, which is more well known to the general public)
6.
The Complete Birth Of The Cool (This is was Miles first dates as band leader and it is essential to the history of music as it is largely considered to be some of the first recordings where Bop harmonic sophistication was mixed with big band arrangement from the swing period....this style would become known as Cool Jazz.....Lenny Tristano was also a key figure in the development of this music)
7.
Round About Midnight (This is Miles' first date for Columbia records and it is using the same band from the Prestige sessions, it is a wonderful hard bop date.)
8.
Miles Smiles (Miles never approached free jazz the way Ornette Coleman or John Coltrane did, but this is very close to it...it's bop material with a tremendous sense of freedom in the improvisation. A lot of people consider this to be his finest record actually. This is also the Second Quintet.
9.
Bitches Brew (This is a monumental record which actually uses the studio as an instrument in the same way that rock bands use the studio...this was uncommon for jazz at the time. I feel this record was as big an influence on subsequent rock acts as it was for jazz....Radiohead cited this album as a major influence during the making of OK Computer)
10.
Milestones (This is a transitional record and sounds somewhat in style between Round About Midnight and Kind Of Blue.......this is where Miles begins experimenting with modal compositions. It doesn't carry the reverrence of Kind Of Blue, but I feel it is great in its own way)
After these 10 purchases, you will have a sense of what Miles' is about and know where to go from there......
P.S. I don't feel you should explore compilations of Miles, whichever albums interest you the most from the list you should go for, but definitely make your first purchase Kind Of Blue because it is centerpiece in away of his whole career
