Friday, May 11, 2007

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST song of the day


Artist:Miles Davis

Song:Concierto de Aranjuez (Master)

Album:Miles Davis & Gil Evans:The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings




Even casual music fans know that Miles Davis was one of the great innovators of modern music. He did so many different things over the years it has to be covered in stages. Though Miles also recorded for Blue Note, Prestige & Warner Bros. over the years, he spent most of his career with Columbia. Recently Columbia has done a very good job of reissuing Miles' recordings in comprehensive box sets. And they may never run out of material because Miles recorded a lot. This 6CD box set covers Miles' recordings with arranger Gil Evans. Miles heard Joaquin Rodrigo's classical composition Concierto de Aranjuez at a friend's house. So he approached Gil Evans about putting together an album around it. Miles had already recorded with Evans for a while as a side project seperate from his usual band. The result was the classic 1959 LP Sketches Of Spain. Miles played flugelhorn with his basic jazz quartet of Jimmy Cobb on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Elvin Jones on drums accompanied by a complete orchestra. Evans did the arrangements and wrote some songs for the project. The result is one of the enduring classics of jazz. The box set has everything Davis & Evans recorded together including alternate takes and rarities. It comes in a metal box. It's just one of several comprehensive box sets issued by Columbia. I don't have this one but I have others. Sketches Of Spain is a must for jazz fans. Here's Miles Davis with the Gil Evans Orchestra in 1959.

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