''Walkin'' (PRLP 7076) is a

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

compilation album released in March 1957 by

Prestige Records Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City which issued recordings in the mainstream, bop, and cool jazz idioms. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz music ...

. The album compiles material previously released on two 10 inch LPs in 1954, including all of '' Miles Davis All-Star Sextet'' and most of '' Miles Davis Quintet''. Here credited to the "Miles Davis All-Stars", the songs were recorded on April 3 and 29, 1954, by two slightly different groups led by Davis. Both sessions were recorded at

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including Booker Ervin, John Coltrane, Mil ...

's home studio.

History

The April 3 session was a quintet with David Schildkraut on

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

, which produced the three tracks on side two. Schildkraut, the only musician not credited on the cover, was a frequent sideman and soloist with the bands of Stan Kenton, Pete Rugulo, Johnny Richards, and Ralph Burns. Two of these tracks were originally released on the 10" LP '' Miles Davis Quintet'', Prestige PRLP 185. The earlier release also included " I'll Remember April", recorded at the same time, now found on the Prestige album '' Blue Haze'' (PRLP 7054). Another tune from this session, "Love Me or Leave Me", was previously unreleased and substituted here for "I'll Remember April". In the 2001 documentary ''The Miles Davis Story'', Weinstock stated that ''Walkin was his favorite record that he produced. The April 29 session, which makes up all of side one, was a sextet with J. J. Johnson on trombone and Lucky Thompson on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

. The rhythm section was identical to the earlier session. These two tracks were originally issued on the 10" LP '' Miles Davis All-Star Sextet'' PRLP 182. The album's title track, a staple of Davis's live set for many years, was key to the emerging hard bop approach developed in the mid-1950s, Davis providing it with an anthem. The composition has been attributed by various sources to Jimmy Mundy,

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...

and Davis himself. The copyright registration lists businessman and artist manager Richard Carpenter as the composer. Carpenter had professional relationships with Mundy and

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

, but was not known to be a musician or composer. " Solar" was attributed to Davis and copyrighted in his name in 1963. Evidence revealed in 2012 showed that it is nearly identical to "Sonny", a piece written by guitarist Chuck Wayne in the 1940s, so Wayne is regarded as the composer of "Solar".

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

* Lucky Thompson –

on side one * J. J. Johnson –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

on side one * David Schildkraut –

on side two *

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Percy Heath Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet througho ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Kenny Clarke –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1957 compilation albums Miles Davis albums Prestige Records compilation albums Albums produced by Bob Weinstock Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio 1950s instrumental albums Albums recorded in a home studio