The Essential Miles Davis

Just as Duke Ellington had Billy Strayhorn, Davis had the gifted arranger Gil Evans. Evans created ingenious stringless orchestral soundscapes around Davis's pithy and personal sound on Ahmad Jamal's "New Rhumba" from Miles Ahead, the in-the-pocket swing of Gershwin's "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess, and the Moorish melodies of "The Pan Piper" from Sketches of Spain. Other classic tracks include the sophisticated classicism of "Jeru" from the 1949-50 Birth of the Cool nonets, the spectral and spare "Générique" from the soundtrack to the 1957 French film Ascenseur pour L'Echafaud, and his romantic rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time." Simply put, Miles lives. --Eugene Holley Jr.