1958 Miles - Reception and Influence

Reception and Influence

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As parts of Jazz Track and Jazz at the Plaza, respectively, the '58 Sessions chronicled the transition from the brawny agitation of Milestones, to the cerebral tranquility of Kind of Blue. The recording sessions also became known as a stepping stone in Davis' move from bebop to modal jazz. The live side in particular was seen by critics as a glimpse at the sextet that would record Kind of Blue. The complimentary and seemingly spontaneous style of performance ethic and the relationship between Davis and his musicians was fundamental for his work during these sessions and improved onto the Kind of Blue sessions.

Jazz historian and journalist Ira Gitler has considered 1958 Miles to be one of Davis' best works, while also noting that he was "very taken with the performances", alluding to the album's recordings after Gitler had listened to them. In the 1979 LP reissue liner notes, Gitler wrote "These prime cuts of the Miles Davis Sextet, representative of what this most influential leader and his trendsetting band of that time, were doing in that particular portion of 1958, are a most welcome addition to the collectors library." The live portion of the album recorded at The Plaza Hotel was noted by critics as an early stage of the new sextet. Music writer Nicholas Taylor later wrote of the Plaza set:

An interesting and puzzling period piece, documenting the sextet exploring a sound that would soon morph into the rich tapestry of their 1959 masterpiece... It is the snapshot—albeit a blurred one—of a group of musicians on the verge of greatness, beginning to feel each other’s tics and idiosyncrasies, forming the bonds of a sextet that would soon alter the history of jazz forever. —Nicholas Taylor

Prior to the live session, Miles Davis had already established a reputation as one of the jazz era's top live performers, following well-received performances at such venues as Birdland, also known as "The Jazz Corner of the World", in New York and the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island during the mid-1950s. The set at the Plaza Hotel further expanded Davis' repertoire in concert venues and increased his popularity among jazz fans and writers. Even though Milestones was Davis' first use of modes and Cannonball Adderley's presence helped make the band became a more powerful sextet, these sessions helped introduce Bill Evans to the music of Miles Davis. The May 26 session, in particular, exposed Evans to Davis' spontaneous ability in the studio to simplify complicated musical structures. In a 1979 interview for the jazz radio station WKCR, Evans remarked on his recording experience with Davis, stating "Miles occasionally might say, 'Right here, I want this sound', and it turn out be a very key thing that changes the whole character of the . For instance, on 'On Green Dolphin Street', the original changes of the chorus aren't the way : the vamp changes being a major seventh up a minor third, down a half tone. That was he leaned over and said, 'I want this here.'" Evans' influence would be apparent on the Kind of Blue sessions as it was during the initial 1958 sessions. All recorded studio work by Davis from 1958 for Columbia was later reissued on the box set compilation The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane. Following the implementation of his first modal compositions with the title track of Milestones and his first sessions with Bill Evans, the 1958 Sessions, Davis became satisfied with the results. This led to his preparation of an entire album based on modality, his 1959 masterwork, Kind of Blue.