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 SuperVinyl 33RPM 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? Visualize 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 practiced 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.
Recorded February 4 (tracks A3 to B3) and March 4 (tracks A1, A2), 1958, at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City.
© 1958, 2023 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Originally released 1958. All rights reserved by Columbia records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Printed in the U.S.A.
1/4" / 15 IPS Dolby SR analog master ► DSD 256 ► analog console ► lathe
Pressed on SUPERVINYL™
Mastered by Krieg Wunderlich at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab®, Sebastopol, CA on GAIN 2™
Specially plated and pressed on 180g high-definition vinyl
Production by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab®
Made in the U.S.A.
The Record Technology Incorporated Matrix '42130.1(3)..' and '42130.2(3)..' are inverted.
Tracklist
A1 Dr. Jekyll
A2 Sid's Ahead
A3 Two Bass Hit
B1 Miles
B2 Billy Boy
B3 Straight, No Chaser
Recording information:
Title: Milestones
Artist: Miles Davis
Genre: Jazz
Media: 1x 180g LP Vinyl Stereo 33rpm, Limited, Numbered, Remastered, SuperVinyl pressing, . Original Master Recording. Mastered from 1/4", 15ips Dolby SR Original Analog Master Tapes to DSD256 to analog console to lathe. Mastered by Krieg Wunderlich @ Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab on The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System. Specially Plated & Pressed on 180g High-Definition SuperVinyl in USA.
Label: MoFi - Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Cat#: MFSL1-528
Released: 2023 in US
Original release: 1958 by Columbia CL 1193
EAN: 0196588233517
Discogs rel.#: 29189929
