Jazz |

I’m not a fan of compilations, far from it, but for once, this luxurious box set that was very difficult to find in Europe when it was released has become extremely easy to find and generally priced below $10. It is the English label Union Square Music that is behind this feat, bringing together the best tracks from Miles Davis’s Bebop period, ranging from 1947 to the 1960s. This is probably Miles’s most prolific period, which allowed him to become known worldwide, significantly impacting Paris. This period inspired many careers and saw him romantically involved with some beautiful and desirable French singers or actresses of the time. According to his writings in a few books he authored, he fled from the profound racism rooted in American history, which continues intermittently to this day. I wonder what Miles would think of today’s France, which has become very racist compared to the relatively tolerant country it was back then.
On the first CD of this trilogy… “So What” in its original version, perfectly cleaned and digitized, offers a sound that makes you feel the trumpeter’s presence close to you, almost compelling you to adore the artist. His version of “Around Midnight,” vibrant in the blue of the night, and “Summertime,” stumbles on the third track only to deliver a fatal blow with “Milestones” in its 1958 version, which became the soundtrack of the Australian film “Dingo,” in which Miles Davis, the hero, fascinates a little boy haunted by his jazz. When you listen to this track again, you can understand all of Miles Davis. It is undoubtedly the one that represents him best—profound, thoughtful, and a successor to prestigious elders, whose recognition he only pushed further.
The second album offers more orchestral tracks, opening—significantly—with “The Duke,” a nickname some musicians used for Miles, who has now become an intercultural legend with whom many of us identify. Moving from the Bebop period, where the notes sometimes flew excessively, to another period from the early 1970s to the end of his career, where Miles aimed for the essential with an economy of notes, always trying to hit the mark. On this second CD, the track that impresses me the most is probably “Pan Piper,” which offers a kinetic form in its interpretation. This second CD is based on the artist’s various experiments and sets the tone for what he would become artistically years later.
The third CD is more thematic, opening with “All Blues,” one of those tracks that quickly became a hit that almost everyone knows thanks to its repetitive rhythm section. A delightful “In Your Own Sweet Way” precedes the famous “Miles Ahead.” One starts to dream because the choice of tracks on these three albums is that of a true connoisseur. Incidentally, we are preparing an ultimate selection from this trilogy that will haunt your ears day and night on Bayou Blue Radio in August. This third album ends with “Blue In Green,” an impossible more beautiful ending to this trilogy. Miles delves into the notes, improvising in the silence’s hollows. Yes, for a compilation, it is a beautiful success that is hard to resist, and the technical work of digitization has been particularly meticulous. It is probably one of the rare times a compilation will earn our “essentials” selection.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, July 12th 2024
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