Davis, Miles & The Modern Jazz Giants - Bags' Groove

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Prestige
Catalog Number: PRP-7109
Format: CD
Total Time: 44:30:00

Trumpeter Miles Davis together with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist Thelonious Monk, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke were teetering on the edge of musical immortality in 1954. Labeling themselves The Modern Jazz Giants was no exaggeration, it was fact based on their performances. It was a commonality for the jazz greats of the day to gather in the studio and craft improvisational masterpieces. I think this is something today's popular jazz musicians should look at more carefully. What they were accomplishing together was not only music that remains timeless; they were enhancing their careers by engaging and challenging each other in the studio with some aggressive and fruitful musical interplay. Davis wasn't real happy that Monk was playing behind his trumpet. Ego is always a major stumbling block when you put together the best all in one room. Regardless of Davis's relationship with Monk, the tension was translated in the music, and it managed to come out sounding quite beautiful. It seems as though the gathering of these fine artists also brought together a culmination of their respect for each other as musicians, thereby leaving all of their personal feelings and opinions of one another on the backburner to allow the music to develop naturally and effectively. I noticed that Jackson's vibes shed an entirely new light upon the blues and jazz rudiments. Many listeners were being introduced to how the vibes could consummate a successful marriage with the other instruments in the jazz idiom.

Sonny Rollins (saxophone) and Horace Silver (piano) also joined the sessions, giving the music world a glimpse of upcoming stars. The band covered Rollins' originals "Airegin," "Oleo" and "Doxy." "Bags' Groove" takes one and two are great examples of how the varying and colorful musical palettes of jazz were stretched out and implemented by Miles as a leader. He was able to adapt his instrument to his surrounding cast beautifully. He was the consummate leader, always spurring on his peers to reach for the stars and challenge him to reach for greater heights of musical adaptation. I think the other group members realized that Miles was the man that spearheaded the entire jazz renaissance that was happening in the fifties. This particular session was one of many that would find its way into every jazz collector's libraries. Make it part of your collection today. It serves as one important link to our past and a quintessential doorway to the foundations of jazz music as we know it today.

Remastered and reissued in April 2008 (PRCD-30645)

Tracklisting:
Bags' Groove [Take 1] (11:10) / Bags' Groove [Take 2] (9:19) / Airegin (4:59) / Oleo (5:12) / But Not for Me [Take 2] (4:37) / Doxy (4:53) / But Not for Me [Take 1] (5:40)

Musicians:
Miles Davis - trumpet
Milt Jackson - vibraphone
Thelonious Monk - piano
Percy Heath - bass
Kenny Clarke - drums
Sonny Rollins - sax
Horace Silver - piano

Discography:
Conception (1951)
Dig (1951)
Blue Period (1951)
Walkin' (1954)
Miles Davis Quintet [Prestige 185] (1954)
Miles Davis Quintet [Prestige 187] (1954)
Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (1954)
Blue Haze (1954)
Miles Davis Quartet (1954)
The Musings of Miles (1955)
Blue Moods (1955)
Quintet & Sextet (1955)
The New Miles Davis Quintet (1955)
Miles Davis and Horns 51-53 (1955)
'Round About Midnight (1956)
Birth of the Cool (1956)
Bags' Groove (1957)
Cookin' (1957)
Miles Ahead (1957)
Relaxin' (1957)
At Newport 1958 (1958)
Ascenseur Pour l'?chafaud (1958)
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (1958)
Milestones (1958)
Kind Of Blue (1959)
Workin' (1959)
Friday At The Blackhawk (1960)
Friday At The Blackhawk, Vol. 2 (1960)
Sketches Of Spain (1960)
In Person At The Blackhawk (1961)
In Person Saturday Night At The Blackhawk, Vol. 2 (1961)
At Carnegie Hall (1961)
Friday And Saturday Nights In Person (1961)
Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)
Steamin' (1961)
Miles In St. Louis (1963)
Quiet Nights (1963)
Seven Steps To Heaven (1963)
Four & More (1964)
My Funny Valentine (1964)
Miles In Tokyo (1964)
Miles Davis In Europe (1964)
E.S.P. (1965)
Live At The Plugged Nickel (1965)
Miles Smiles (1966)
Nefertiti (1967)
Sorcerer (1967)
Filles De Kilimanjaro (1968)
Miles In The Sky [Bonus Tracks] (1968)
In A Silent Way (1969)
A Tribute To Jack Johnson (1970)
Black Beauty: Miles Davis At Fillmore West (1970)
Bitches Brew (1970)
Miles Davis At Fillmore: Live At The Fillmore ... (1970)
Live-Evil (1971)
In Concert: Live At Philharmonic Hall (1972)
Miles Davis At The Lincoln Center (1972)
On The Corner (1972)
Dark Magus (1974)
Big Fun (1974)
Get Up With It (1974)
Agharta (1975)
Pangaea (1975)
Water Babies (1977)
The Man With The Horn (1981)
We Want Miles (1982)
Decoy (1983)
Star People (1983)
You're Under Arrest (1985)
Tutu (1986)
Music From Siesta (1987)
Amandla (1989)
Aura (1989)
Paris, France, Oktober 1, 1964 (1990)
Doo-Bop (1992)
Newport Jazz Festival (1993)
Transition: Live USA 1961 & 1963 (1993)
Live Around The World (1996)
Amsterdam Concert (2005)
Bitches Brew (40th Anniversary Edition) (2010)

Plus 100 or more compilations

Genre: Jazz-Trad. Jazz

Origin US

Added: August 31st 2001
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck

Artist website:
Hits: 2746
Language: english