Miles Davis on Warner – an intro, at last

While many jazz buffs consider the recordings Miles Davis made for Warner, after leaving Columbia, as beneath contempt – “jazzpop” is the usual jibe – there’s a revisionist school (count me in) which regards the Warner legacy as an important part of Davis’s canon.

After neglecting the obvious potential of a sampler of the trumpeter’s work for the label since Miles’s death 16 years ago, Warner are finally to release a compilation CD next week.

The Very Best Of Miles Davis: the Warner Bros Sessions 1985-1991 is a strong compilation, sampling all the label’s releases:

* the three studio albums – Tutu, Amandla, Doo Bop

* the two film scores – Siesta and Dingo, and, pick of the crop,

* the two live albums, Montreux (with Quincy Jones), and, notably, Live Around The World.

The last-named is the best showcase of the art of later Miles. As it retails for about £5, it makes the perfect complement to the new release, also priced at budget level.

The legend of Miles Davis just grows and grows: the new Warner release gives it even more momentum.


Gerry Smith