Walkin'

Walkin' is a cornerstone of Miles Davis' bop-era catalogue, capturing the trumpeter in brilliant form across two sessions recorded in New Jersey in April 1954. Split between a superb sextet and a compelling quintet, the album finds Davis working with a blue-chip rhythm section of Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums.

The sextet adds J.J. Johnson on trombone and Lucky Thompson on tenor sax, with the group taking on Walkin', a 12-bar blues by Richard Carpenter that became a genuine jazz standard from its very first outing here, alongside Blue 'N' Boogie by Dizzy Gillespie. The quintet features the Bird-like alto of the little-known Dave Schildkraut and moves away from the blues into some of Davis' sharpest and most inventive playing, with his trumpet muted from Solar onwards.

That side of the session really shows how responsive this group was to every twist in Davis' playing, especially on the lovely but spiky reading of You Don't Know What Love Is and the surprisingly bright closer Love Me Or Leave Me. Throughout, Davis sounds relaxed, authoritative and completely at home, with a band that stays right with him at every turn.

Walkin' offers at least two essentials in Walkin' and Solar, and stands as an excellent place to begin, or continue, appreciating Miles Davis' significance in bop, just before he moved into another major phase of his career.

This CD edition presents the complete Walkin' LP, originally released as Prestige PRLP-7076, plus 9 bonus tracks. Part of the Collector’s digipak series, it also includes a comprehensive booklet. The release compiles both 1954 sessions in their entirety.

Personnel

Miles Davis – trumpet
J.J. Johnson – trombone
Lucky Thompson – tenor sax
Dave Schildkraut – alto sax
Horace Silver – piano
Percy Heath – bass
Kenny Clarke – drums

Recorded in New Jersey, 1954.

Tracklist

Walkin'
Blue 'n' Boogie
Solar
You Don't Know What Loves Id
Love Me Or Leave Me
I'll Remember April
Dear Old Stockholm
Chance It
Yesterdays
Donna
Woody'n You
How Deep Is The Ocean
Chance It (Alt Take)
Donna (Alt Take)
Woody'n You (alt Take)