Miles 54 : the Prestige recordings

"1954 was an important time for Davis ... While still evincing a cool atmosphere and often utilizing his distinctive Harmon mute played close to the microphone, Davis' playing in 1954 was more confident, a style imbued with the rhythmic grooves and bluesy harmonies that prefigured the sleek-edged hard bop and modalism to come ... Included are classic recordings like Davis' original versions of "Four" and "Solar," his iconic version of "Walkin'," and puckishly sparring collaborations with Rollins ... A nice book of photos and liner notes with writing by Ashley Kahn and Dan Morgenstern (...) helps put the recordings in context ... These are just his Prestige sessions and do not include any of his similarly classic 1954 sessions for Blue Note. Still, this was arguably the year Miles Davis came into his own as a bandleader and entered his first truly auteur period, something 'Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings' spotlights nicely".

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"In 1954, 28-year old Miles Davis underwent a transformative musical rebirth. Reinvigorated after kicking a career-hampering heroin habit, he signed a new contract with Bob Weinstock's Prestige label and in nine months recorded 20 tracks that would shape post-bop jazz ... Far from sounding like stale antiquities, the set's 70-year old tracks are breathtakingly fresh, which is down to engineer Paul Blakemore's dynamic remastering, which brings new sparkle to jewels like "Four" - surely the catchiest tune Miles wrote - and stupendous versions of the Sonny Rollins numbers "Oleo", "Doxy" and "Airegin". Essential jazz history".

"The 70th anniversary of a pivotal year in his career, alongside the 75th anniversary of Prestige Records, brings about [this] hefty compilation that curates his best from a five-session run that year alone. Davis originals like "Swing Spring" and its scene-stealing Thelonious Monk-solo (from their only shared studio session) are paired with his irrepressible interpretations of Gershwin ballads and memorable compositions by his sidemen, including Sonny Rollins's iconic "Oleo" and Milt Jackson's bluesy "Bags' Groove" ... It's natural to view this era as a precursor to Davis's First Great Quintet. If you're curious about this period in his career, the newly mastered and lovingly packaged 'Miles '54' is a fantastic place to start".