Porgy and Bess

by Miles Davis

Overview

With a handful of brilliant collaborations and one full-length masterpiece, Miles Ahead, under their belts, trumpeter Miles Davis and arranger Gil Evans were ready to see if lightning would strike twice. It did. Their 1957 adaptation of selections from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess is a masterwork that exhibits the best of both musical partners. Gorgeous songs like "Summertime," "Bess You Is My Woman Now," and "My Man's Gone Now " bring out all the unmatched lyrical qualities that had already made Davis a living legend. Up-tempo versions of ''Here Come De Honey Man," and "There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon For New York" also find the trumpeter blowing radiant, beautifully constructed improvisations. Evans was also in peak form, his trademark writing for a brass-heavy, pianoless ensemble featuring arresting tonal colors that made judicious use of tuba and woodwinds. Evans was just as effective thinking big, as in his dramatic climax to "My Man's Gone Now," or scaling down, best exemplified in his brilliant seven-note motif that circles around "Summertime." And Davis and Evans were smart enough to know that it wouldn't be jazz without a cooking rhythm section: "Gone, Gone, Gone" becomes a mini-feature for drummer Philly Joe Jones, whose inspiring playing takes an already glorious project a few notches skyward.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/25/1997
Label:	Sony
UPC:	0074646514122
catalogNumber:	65141
Rank:	22122

Tracks

1. The Buzzard Song
2. Bess, You Is My Woman Now
3. Gone
4. Gone, Gone, Gone
5. Summertime
6. Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?
7. Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus)
8. Fisherman, Strawberry and Devil Crab
9. My Man's Gone Now
10. It Ain't Necessarily So
11. Here Come de Honey Man
12. I Loves You, Porgy
13. There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York
14. I Loves You, Porgy
15. Gone

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Miles Davis   Primary Artist,Trumpet,Flugelhorn,Track Performer
Cannonball Adderley   Saxophone,Alto Saxophone
Phil Bodner   Clarinet,Flute,Alto Flute
Jimmy Cleveland   Trombone
Johnny Coles   Trumpet
Philly Joe Jones   Drums
Jerome Richardson   Clarinet,Flute,Alto Flute
Julius Watkins   French Horn
Frank Rehak   Trombone
Ernie Royal   Trumpet
Jimmy Cobb   Drums
Willie Ruff   French Horn
Danny Bank   Bass Clarinet,Alto Flute,Baritone Saxophone
Danny Banks   Saxophone
Billy Barber   Tuba
John Barber   Tuba
Joseph Bennett   Trombone
Paul Chambers   Bass
Gil Evans   Conductor,Performing Ensemble
Bernie Glow   Trumpet
Louis Mucci   Trumpet
Romeo Penque   Clarinet,Flute,Alto Flute
Gunther Schuller   Horn,French Horn
Dick Hixon   Trombone

Technical Credits

George Gershwin   Composer
Bill Kirchner   Liner Notes
Gil Evans   Arranger
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Frank Laico   Engineer
Cal Lampley   Producer
Phil Schaap   Liner Notes,Reissue Producer
Phil Boduet   Contributor
Charles Edward Smith   Liner Notes
Tom "Curly" Ruff   Engineer
Cozbi Sanchez-Cabrera   Art Direction
Randall Martin   Reissue Design
DuBose Heyward   Composer

Editorial Reviews

Tomes are available annotating the importance of this recording. The musical and social impact of Miles Davis, his collaborative efforts with Gil Evans, and in particular their reinvention of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess are indeed profound. However, the most efficient method of extricating the rhetoric and opining is to experience the recording. Few other musical teams would have had the ability to remain true to the undiluted spirit and multifaceted nuance of this epic work. However, no other musical teams were Miles Davis and Gil Evans. It was Evans' intimate knowledge of the composition as well as the performer that allowed him to so definitively capture the essence of both. The four dates needed to complete work on Porgy and Bess include contributions from several members of his most recent musical aggregate: Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), and Jimmy Cobb (drums). Although the focus and emphasis is squarely on Davis throughout, the contributions of the quartet on "Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus)," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York" are immeasurable. They provide a delicate balance in style and, under the direction of Evans, incorporate much of the same energy and intonation here as they did to their post-bop recordings. There is infinitely more happening on Porgy and Bess, however, with much of the evidence existing in the subtle significance of the hauntingly lyrical passages from Danny Banks' (alto flute) solos, which commence on "Fishermen, Strawberry and Devil Crab." Or the emotive bass and tuba duet that runs throughout "Buzzard Song." The impeccable digital remastering and subsequent reissue -- which likewise applies to the Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings box set -- only magnifies the refulgence of Porgy and Bess. Likewise, two previously unissued performances have been appended to the original baker's dozen. No observation or collection of American jazz can be deemed complete without this recording.

All Music Guide - Lindsay Planer