MILES DAVIS – Milestones

£45.00£90.00

MILES DAVIS – Milestones (NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION 180G SUPERVINYL)  LP & hybrid SACD. 

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MILES DAVIS – Milestones

MILES DAVIS – Milestones

Catalogue LMF528SV

Miles Davis created just one studio album with his original sextet: Milestones.

And he made every moment count.

Pairing with Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones,

Davis not only laid the groundwork for the modalism that immediately followed but tailored a genuine modern-jazz masterwork laden with performances among the most explosive of his distinguished career.

Sandwiched between the more famous ‘Round About Midnight and the epochal Kind of Blue, Milestones remains a seminal work of art.

Sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on dead-quiet SuperVinyl, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g LP grants each musician their own space amid broad soundstages.

Afforded the benefits of a nearly non-existent noise floor and supreme groove definition, this vinyl reissue doubles as a time machine back to the February-March 1958 recording sessions.

Colors, shapes, and dimensions appear in the manner that resembles what you’d glean from behind a studio control room’s window.

Davis’ burnished trumpet is rendered in three-dimensional perspective and seemingly coaxes the band to play with unburdened zest.

Coltrane’s trademark saxophone teems with lifelike tonality and images with specificity; his solos work in tandem with and against the driving rhythms.

Garland’s swaggering piano lines? Visualise the keys as he hits full stride, the chords and fills slithering around skeletal frameworks.

Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and selected as a “Core Collection” record by the Penguin Guide to Jazz, Milestones is as famous for its title track – widely considered ground zero for modalism and bolstered by Jones’ hallmark “Philly Lick” rim shot – as the players that produced it.

The launching pad for many of Davis’ improvisational flights, the album teases the explorations Coltrane would soon chase.

Davis’ own solo work broaches territories that far exceed what he had done in his bop-rooted past. Every song is a highlight.

Take the bravado “Dr. Jackle,” featuring a hot-foot pace and bebop strains, or “Sid’s Ahead,” which continues the album’s blues theme while juggling edgy harmonics and inside-out structures. On “Billy Boy,” distinguished with an arco bass solo from Chambers, Garland gets a turn in the spotlight and channels the openness practised by one of his heroes, Ahmad Jamal.

Even more instructive is the band’s reading of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Two Bass Hit.” Three years removed from the version Davis and company recorded for the trumpeter’s Columbia debut, this interpretation demonstrates the extent to which the group had jelled in a relatively short amount of time.

 Then there’s “Straight, No Chaser,” the definitive rendition of Thelonious Monk’s signature piece.

Coltrane’s marbled playing pulls at the tune’s borders, Adderley takes liberty with solos, and Davis dances around his mates, at one point quoting “When the Saints Go Marching In” while demonstrating his knowledge of tradition and casting an eye towards the future.

About that future.

Garland already had one foot out the door during the Milestones sessions to the extent Davis spells him on “Sid’s Ahead.”

Jones would stick around for a bit longer but soon plot his exit.

History proves Davis navigated the changes with visionary aplomb.

Yet the chemistry, excitement, and beauty the sextet achieves on Milestones cannot be overstated.

This reissue helps put the album in proper perspective – and presents the music the fidelity it deserves.

SuperVinyl/SACD Track List: MILES DAVIS – Milestones

Dr. Jekyll

Sid’s Ahead

Two Bass Hit

Milestones

Billy Boy

Straight, No Chaser

Additional information

Version

180G Vinyl, SACD

Brand

Mobile Fidelity

Mobile Fidelity Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has been the undisputed pioneer and leader in audiophile recordings since the company's inception in 1977. Established by dedicated audiophiles, Mobile Fidelity's first and foremost goal was to offer faithfully reproduced high fidelity recordings that would compliment the numerous advances occurring in audio delivery systems. Throughout its history, Mobile Fidelity has remained true to this goal, pioneering state-of-the-art technologies and setting audiophile standards that remain in place today. In response to rapid advancements in both recording formats and audio delivery systems over the past several years, Mobile Fidelity has maintained its ongoing commitment to improving industry standards. This has resulted in the introduction of numerous innovations in the audiophile arena: half-speed mastered Original Master Recording™ LPs, Ultra High Quality Records™ (UHQRs), high fidelity cassettes, consumer alignment devices for phono cartridges and audio cassette decks, Original Master Recording™ compact discs, the 24-karat gold plated Ultradisc™ CD and the Ultradisc™ Ultra High Resolution™ (UHR). To this day the independently owned firm continues its commitment to exceeding industry standards.  

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