Miles Davis: Walkin' and Musings

The 1950s produced two pop superstars—Elvis Presley and Miles Davis. Both began the decade recording for smaller labels and were launched into the mainstream by larger ones—Presley on Sun and then RCA, and Davis on Prestige and then Columbia. Both were perceived as ultra cool and a departure from the norm, both were viewed as sex symbols and both achieved fame through a conversational lyricism—Presley with his vocal approach and Davis with his trumpet.

What's more, both Presley and Davis are still thought of as cultural starting points for their musical realms in the 12-inch LP era. Presley is still viewed as the king of rock 'n' roll and Davis is still considered the first jazz superstar. Interestingly, both started their trajectory to fame and fortune between 1954 and '55.

In the case of Davis, two album he recorded for Prestige offer a glimpse of the trumpet star waxing: Walkin' (recorded in April 1954) and The Musings of Miles (recorded in June 1955). Walkin' wasn't released until 1957, thanks to a deal worked out by Columbia producer George Avakian. 

Eager to sign Davis to Columbia in 1955 with the onset of the 12-inch pop LP, George convinced Bob Weinstock of Prestige to have Davis record the four remaining albums he owed the label all at once in a marathon session. 

As George said during one of our many conversations, he told Weinstock that by releasing these albums slowly along with any 12-inch reissues of the 10-inch material released  years earlier, Prestige would be able to boost sales by riding the coattails of Davis's popularity at Columbia. Weinstock immediately saw the value and agreed. 

Walkin' was a 12-inch LP of material previously released by Prestige on two  10-inch LPs. The title track, credited to Jimmy Mundy and Richard Carpenter, is often mischaracterized as the first hard bop recording. In fact, that honor belongs to the Lou Donaldson/Clifford Brown Quintet's New Faces, New Sounds album recorded in June 1953.

The first two tracks of Walkin'—Walkin' and Blue 'n' Boogie—features Miles Davis (tp), Lucky Thompson (ts), J. J. Johnson (tb), Horace Silver (p), Percy Heath (b) and Kenny Clarke (d). The last three—Solar, You Don't Know What Love Is and Love Me or Leave Me—combines Miles Davis (tp), David Schildkraut (as), Horace Silver (p), Percy Heath (b) and Kenny Clarke (d).

The Musings of Miles was Davis's first 12-inch LP and featured Miles Davis (tp), Red Garland (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). This album was also the first to provide an inkling of Davis's tender approach that he'd exploit at Columbia starting with 'Round About Midnight, recorded in 1955 and '56 and released in 1957.

The tracks on Musings are Will You Still Be Mine?, I See Your Face Before Me, I Didn't, A Gal in Calico, A Night in Tunisia and Green Haze. 

Now, Craft Recordings has remastered and reissued both albums on 180-gram vinyl with their original cover art and back-cover liner notes by Ira Gitler. They sound warm and deep.

For vinyl fans who want to have fun, listen to Walkin', then Musings of Miles followed by 'Round About Midnight (Columbia) for a full sense of Miles Davis's chronological evolution, from trumpet innovator in 1954 to stylist in 1955 and '56 and jazz superstar in 1957.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the LP reissues of Walkin' and The Musings of Miles here and here.

Or listen on all major streaming platforms. YouTube's Musings stream is here. Craft doesn't seem to have posted a Walkin' one yet.

JazzWax clips: Here's Walkin', from Walkin'...



And here's Green Haze from The Musings of Miles..