Miles Davis

The most famous jazz album ever made. Miles, Coltrane, Cannonball, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, with Wynton Kelly subbing in on Freddie Freeloader. Two sessions, five tracks, the modal turn.

The album that split jazz in half. A double LP of dense, layered electric grooves, produced by Teo Macero from three days of August 1969 sessions. The full fusion era starts here.

The Louis Malle film soundtrack, improvised live to picture in a Paris studio across a single December 1957 night. Miles with Barney Wilen, René Urtreger, Pierre Michelot, and Kenny Clarke. Often called the first great improvised jazz film score.

The pivot record. Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Dave Holland, Tony Williams, all on one date in February 1969. Two side-long tracks, ambient before ambient.

The first sextet with Cannonball Adderley alongside Coltrane on the front line. The title track is the first time Miles really commits to modal playing on record. The bridge to Kind of Blue.

The third Gil Evans orchestral collaboration. Concierto de Aranjuez reimagined for jazz orchestra, with flamenco and Spanish folk forms woven throughout. The most cinematic record in the catalog.

The nonet sessions that gave a name to West Coast cool jazz. Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, J.J. Johnson, John Lewis, with arrangements by Gil Evans, Mulligan, and others. The first real Miles reinvention.