Best early Miles Davis?

What is the best early Miles Davis? I have Birth Of The Cool, and I am considering picking up Relaxin, Steamin, or Cookin. What should I pick up? I saw the DCC Relaxin for 25. Should I pick it up or get the Sony/Legacy version?

 

The complete Miles Davis Quintet recordings are essential... great remastering by Steve.

 

All the DCC remasters of Miles Davis on Prestige are excellent. Legacy reissues may be too bright, OTOH. DCC would be my choice, no contest.

 

Sony/Legacy wouldn't have RELAXIN'. That was recorded for the Prestige label. The DCC is the way to go.

There are a lot of CDs of this out right now. The OOP DCC can still be found. There's also a JVC XRCD of this title, and Fantasy has their original CD issue (190) and a remastered version using some of the XRCD process (7192). There are a lot of Japanese editions I have no knowledge of, and I imagine there's a hi-rez issue out or in the pipeline, not to mention all the vinyl issues.

All things considered, I'd get the DCC. It's a classic album, and worth the extra money. Better one audiophile version of this record than almost any other two CDs you'd buy with the same money. Try to get the DCCs of WORKIN', STEAMIN', and COOKIN', all drawn from the same sessions, as well. Real desert island stuff.

 

Up until the mid-'80s, you'd be hard pressed to find any 'bad' Miles, and not often even the word 'mediocre' would crop up; he was always good for a listen, though his best work is readily identified as such. Since you've heard BIRTH OF THE COOL, a sensible place to start is with the Prestige titles Steve remastered. After that--if you really dug that stuff--you have a choice of the Prestige box, or just pick up the various other CDs of that period that suit your fancy. All are readily available as domestic or import titles.

As for Sony/Legacy, the sound has been processed, but not to excess. Overall, very good, and the boxes are preferable to the individual discs(though you will still have to have some of those), but that's getting ahead of yourself. For now, stick with the Prestige, since that'll give you some insight into what Miles was all about, but only a few clues as to where he was headed.

ED

 

What if?

What's amazing is that Miles may never had a chance to explore all his directions, with the push of a major label behind him, but for the tragic death of Clifford Brown. Both were tapped by Columbia, but Brown was considered the better prospect, as he was drug-free and performing at a higher level than Miles at the time. Davis had only recently resuscitated his career at the 1955 Newport Jazz Fest.

Of course, Miles made more of his opportunity than anyone could have imagined, but I sometimes wonder how different his career, and therefore jazz itself, would have been had Brownie not taken that ride home. Maybe Columbia would have given Davis the same amount of support anyway, but what if some exec decided that Brownie's more friendly persona was the one they should get behind?

 

And also the DCC of "Miles". those five are great!

 

Don't forget Round About Midnight on Sony... this was recorded 1955-1956, at around the same time as some of the Prestige sessions.

 

Interesting thing about the Prestige albums, they were made over the course of two marathon sessions, the quintet's last before jumping over to Columbia. Over the course the course of these two sessions, the playing got better (though they held a relatively consistent, high standard from start to finish). When time came to release these recordings, they basically were put out in reverse chronology, with the last recordings coming out first on "Cookin'" and the first recordings coming out last on "Steamin.'"

It's a little more interesting to hear this music in the order it was recorded, because it builds on you, something you don't get if you listened to it in order of release.

The DCC's are the best. I have the K2's, but the DCC discs I have blow them away. Still very much a Van Gelder recording, but more natural sounding with better tonality.

 

In spite of some brightness, the AP LPs of the Prestige recordings are just amazing. Steve & Kevin's AP 45rpm cut of Relaxin' is even better yet! IMO it trumps the DCC (well, I like LPs, so I may have a bit of bias here ), though the tone is very similar.

I have recommended before that people looking for the DCC golds should try to find an AP Prestige box set (with CDs, not LPs). The discs inside are DCCs, and you get the booklet to boot. It's a beautiful set!

 

Do you know if the box comes with a fitted tray to hold the jewel boxes, or is just an LP box with the CDs left to rattle around?

I already had the DCCs by the time AP released the box with the booklet. It looked like a great set: LPs definitely inspire a higher level of packaging!

 

I'll put in a vote for the DCC version of Cookin'. Of course the music is great, but the sound is great on the DCC disc. I was very pleased to find a sealed copy at a local store three months ago for $25. Since then, I got the Prestige 20-bit K2 remaster free from BMG, and it's not as good as the DCC version. I'm sure the DCC version would beat the standard Prestige version too, but I wonder how the DCC disc compares to the XRCD. I have the SACD on the way and am eager to compare it to the DCC disc.

 

Keith, did you get a chance yet to compare the SACD and the DCC of Cookin'? I would really like to hear about if you have....

 

The XRCDs aren't bad either.

I also recommend Bags' Groove.

 

I am also interested in any comparisions or feedback on the AP SACD Miles releases, compared to DCC's where applicable.

 

Some of the Miles DCC's are on the Acoustic Sounds site for cheap. Check it out, I wish I had.
http://www.acousticsounds.com

 

Try to grab some original 10" vinyl for amazing sonics.