Miles Davis was, without doubt, one of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the post-war era.

His landmark debut for Capitol, The Birth Of The Cool, is seminal in the history of jazz, a pioneering exploration of harmony and texture.

This 2CD set comprises his studio recordings in small ensembles, in which he is the only trumpeter, from his studio debut in 1945 through to the end of 1948, just weeks before the first of the Birth Of The Cool sessions in January 1949.

As a bonus, it concludes with a ‘live’ recording with Charlie Parker’s All Stars in December 1948. It features performances with Charlie Parker's Reeboppers, the Charlie Parker Septet, Charlie Parker All Stars, Coleman Hawkins All Stars, Miles Davis All Stars, Charlie Parker Quintet & Charlie Parker Sextet from eleven different recording sessions during these years .

Charlie Parker was his primary collaborator on these sessions, but among the musicians featured in the various line-ups were Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Kai Winding, Coleman Hawkins, Lucky Thompson, Hank Jones, John Lewis, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, Al Haig, Curly Russell and others. It’s a fascinating insight into the development of his music during these key formative years.

REVIEWS

"These 'apprenticeship years' recordings naturally in no way match what was to come later but they are invaluable in charting his development. At the same time, this is enjoyable jazz, which in the light of all that has happened in the intervening years, proves to be much easier to listen to than perhaps it was when these recordings were first released." – Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 347)

"Newcomers to Miles' later more acceptable work should view this set as essential listening, for it is very palpably his Old Testament, as he feels his way to what is to come." ***** – Steve Voce (Jazz Journal February 2021)

"Here's another of Acrobat's double-CD tutorials, just right for these dreary lockdown days." – Peter Vacher (Jazz Rag Issue 164)

"What we have is the tried and true classics in which Davis played second fiddle to Bird." **** – Brian Priestley (Jazzwise Issue 259)

TRACKS