SACD Miles Davis – Birth Of The Blue

A birthday at Columbia

On 26 May 1958, Miles Davis’s 32nd birthday, his band gathered at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York. Cal Lampley produced and Harold Chapman engineered. Davis was joined by John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. Two members were recent arrivals: Evans had replaced Red Garland, and Cobb had taken over the drum chair from Philly Joe Jones.

This brought together the musicians who would record much of Kind of Blue the following year. Birth of the Blue, however, preserves an evening with an identity of its own. Three standards and a Davis composition show the group working together before the more famous album. Listeners familiar with those later performances can follow the relationships between the players through a different set of songs here.

Four selections with a long release history

“On Green Dolphin Street”, “Fran-Dance”, “Stella by Starlight” and “Love for Sale” did not initially appear as this self-contained album. Three were included on Jazz Track in 1959 alongside Davis’s Paris film music. “Love for Sale” was not released until years later. Subsequent compilations placed the recordings in a variety of contexts. This edition puts the four selected performances from that session together at the centre of attention.

It is not a complete presentation of every recording attempt made that evening. Alternate takes are outside the programme. Nor is the line-up identical throughout: Adderley sits out “Stella by Starlight”. Three sextet performances therefore sit beside a quintet recording. That small distinction matters when listening, because the missing alto saxophone changes the distribution of instrumental voices.

Bill Evans between motion and stillness

“On Green Dolphin Street” offers an illuminating introduction to the rhythm section. Evans later recalled Davis making specific changes to the vamp chords in the studio. The music developed through decisions made while the players worked together, as well as through material brought to the session. Follow the piano through the horn passages: when does it hold a reference point, and when does it respond to the soloist?

“Love for Sale” provides another emphasis. Evans remembered Chambers and Cobb wanting an opportunity to move more freely after the more restrained preceding selections. The released performance was recorded in one take. Davis had recently played Porter’s song with Adderley on Somethin’ Else. Comparing the personnel and development of the performances shows how the same standard could open new possibilities within a matter of months.

The new mix on hybrid stereo SACD

CAPJ 172 SA presents these four selections as a hybrid stereo SACD. The publisher describes a specific production route: Vic Anesini mixed the original three-track tapes to a new quarter-inch stereo master running at 30 ips. Matthew Lutthans then transferred that tape directly to DSD at The Mastering Lab. Steve Berkowitz helped supervise the release, with new accompanying notes by Ashley Kahn.

The CD layer is intended for conventional CD playback; the SACD layer requires a compatible player. Vinyl weight, QRP pressing and Stoughton packaging associated with the LP editions do not apply to this disc. Neither does the familiar speed-correction history of Kind of Blue. These are recordings from May 1958, presented in a new stereo mix, with their own history and a precisely defined four-track programme.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

In the magazine: Miles Davis: A History in Records

More from Analogue Productions

Also in another edition: Birth Of The Blue

Artist page: All titles by Miles Davis

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.

Cannonball Adderley sits out “Stella by Starlight”. The other five musicians also perform on that track. The musical credits apply to both offered editions.