Miles Davis & Sonny Rollins - The Classic Prestige Sessions, 1951-1956

During the 1950s, the careers of trumpeter Miles Davis and saxophonist Sonny Rollins were ascending to their eventual legendary statuses, due to their great musical talents and in spite of their dangerous vices. Over the course of five days from 1951 to 1956, they recorded 25 tracks together for Prestige Records, and were backed at those sessions by well-known artists, such as saxophonist Charlie Parker; pianist Horace Silver; bassists Percy Heath and Paul Chambers; and drummers Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, and Philly Joe Jones. All of the material has been previously released over seven different albums, but now it is available in one glorious, two-disc set from Concord Music

Disc 1 opens with John Lewis’ “Morpheus,” an up-tempo piece that brings to mind the hustle and bustle of a city’s nightlife as the horns exchange leads. On the Rodgers and Hart composition “Blue Room (Take 1)” it’s apparent the masters weren’t cared for as a hiss can be heard. “(Take 2)” is much cleaner; however, Rollins sat out so Miles played throughout the piece. “I Know,” recorded for Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet, finds Miles delivering a more than adequate performance on piano as Rollins’ horn takes the spotlight.

Tracks 7-13 are from the October 5, 1951 session, a time when artists were now making full use of the potential LPs offered by allowing their compositions and performances to expand past the three-minute limit previously imposed by 78s. Unbound by time constraints, the pieces stretch to four, five, even ten minutes, and the musicians really soar when they take the lead. On Miles’ “Denial,” Blakey’s presence is the main force propelling the band at a solid pace. “Bluing” finds the band in a sweet, slow groove, almost too laid back as Blakely keeps playing after everyone and Miles can be heard chastising him, “Play the ending, man. You know the arrangement.”

Disc 2 opens with selections from a session over a year later in Jan ’53. Parker is part of the sextet and because he was under contract with another label, he plays tenor sax rather than his traditional alto. These four pieces, including a rendition of Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight,” almost serve as an unintended baton-passing as Parker would die two years later.

Tracks 5-9, recorded on June 29, 1954, reveal a more self-assured Rollins, who wrote three of the compositions. It also provides some foreshadowing, as “Oleo” was the first studio recording Miles used the Harmon mute. Heath’s bass gets a serious work out anchoring the rhythm throughout. There are also two takes in different tempos of Gershwin’s “But Not For Me;” the second is slower and over a minute longer. The final three tracks are from the final session on March 16, 1956. On Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way” you can hear Miles satisfactorily say “yeah” when it’s done, a reaction most listeners will have to this entire collection.

Producer Ira Gitler’s liner notes provide invaluable insight into the music, the men, and the moments. There is also a transcription of Miles’ improvised solo on “Down” for those that read notes.

For those that don’t already own this music, The Classic Prestige Sessions, 1951-1956 is a great way to get the combined work of this dynamic duo in one fell swoop as destiny hovered just ahead. Rollins would record his classic Saxophone Colossus a few months later, and Miles would complete his contractual relationship to Prestige with two sessions by his new quintet, which featured Chambers, Jones, pianist Red Garland, and saxophonist John Coltrane, were turned into four albums, before heading to Columbia and making jazz history.

Clifford Brown Sonny Rollins Max Roach Quintet - Complete Studio Recordings

Although trumpeter Clifford Brown, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and drummer Max Roach did play together within quintets, this shared billing is a marketing idea by the Essential Jazz Classics label evidenced by the fact that the two albums making up Complete Studio Recordings are previous releases from 1956 identified as Clifford Brown and Max Roach - At Basin Street and Sonny Rollins - Plus Four. Also, misleading is the word “complete” because the back of the CD makes clear these are actually “The Master Takes,” so the four bonus tracks that appeared on the 2002 release of At Basin Street aren’t offered. However, don’t let the taint of commercialism sway you because if you don’t have them, these two hard bop albums are worthy of being identified as Essential Jazz Classics and of a spot in your music library.

Joined by Richie Powell on piano and George Morrow on bass, the five men would only enter the recording studio three times as a unit. There were two sessions for At Basin Street in New York on January 4 and February 16, 1956, then one a month later on March 22, 1956 for Plus Four. Tragically on June 26, Brown and Powell would lose their lives prematurely at the ages of 25 and 24 in a car accident en route to a gig in Chicago, along with Powell’s wife Nancy, who was driving.

Although CSR changes the order the tracks appeared on the original albums, the first nine are all from At Basin Street. Naturally, since the quintet is named after them, Brown and Roach have a dominating presence in each song, but the other three demonstrate their talents, particularly Rollins and Powell who take their leads between them.

The horns on “Gertrude’s Bounce” as the song opens and closes bring to mind Christmas. Everyone but Morrow gets a go to take the reins and lead on this opening track. “Step Lightly (Junior’s Arrival)” has a cool beat that swings slowly and effortlessly. “Powell’s Prances” takes off on a tear with Brown almost sounding like a bumblebee as he soars. Rollins replaces him and keeps the pace humming before Powell steps up. Roach delivers a solo before the band returns to finish off song.

The longest piece at just over nine minutes, “I’ll Remember April” finds the men really stretching out, especially a fantastic display by Roach in arguably his best solo of the entire set. When the band returns, Brown and Rollins trade off back and forth. Powell’s “Time” is a somber piece and audibly reflects his intention of “the time a man spends just sitting in jail, wondering when he’s going to get out.”

“The Scene Is Clean” finds the order slightly altered from the previous tracks as Rollins takes the first lead before Brown. The mood created from the quick tempo on their rendition of Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?” suggests only the positive aspects of the emotion. Morrow finally gets a bit of the spotlight, albeit brief.

The last five numbers are from Plus Four and not surprisingly the five men and the compositions sound very similar to their work in the Brown-Roach quintet. “I Feel A Song Coming” is a quick, uptempo song. The two Rollins compositions are “Pent-Up House” and “Valse Hot.” The first is almost nine minutes and features a longer passage with Rollins in the lead. After Brown takes the reins, Rollins and Brown return to alternate exchanges with Roach before giving way to his solo. The band returns, closing out the song repeating the chorus. “Valse Hot” is a waltz with Rollins getting the first lead. “Count Your Blessings” is listed as a bonus track for CSR because Brown doesn’t appear on it, which creates some separation in my ear from the Brown-Roach quintet.

The brilliance of Complete Studio Recordings is that even after more than 50 years the music sounds fresh and modern with every listen.