From their first work together on the Birth of the Cool sessions in 1949, Miles Davis and Gil Evans forged a unique relationship as great soloist and brilliant arranger.

Orchestral genius of Miles & Gil. Click the image for their recordings together.

The real opportunity to explore their shared vision didn’t come until 1957, however, when Davis had forged a relationship with a major record label able to support it. Though a product of the big-band tradition, Evans was never limited by sectional voicings and riffs. He had an interest in unusual instrumentation and a talent for creating subtle mixes of distinct voices, adding French horns, oboe, bassoon, and harp to the conventional big band and thinning its saxophone, trumpet, and trombone sections. His arrangements for Davis are like settings for the finest jewels, whether he’s creating rich, brass chords or adding only light percussion to the trumpeter’s solitary lament. Together Davis and Evans produced three orchestral masterpieces: Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), and Sketches of Spain (1960).

Exemplary television program with the Miles Davis Quintet featuring John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, and including the Gil Evans Orchestra.

“The Sound of Miles Davis” (New York, April 2, 1959)

Set List:

1. “The Duke”
2. “Blues for Pablo”
3. “New Rhumba”

Personnel:

Miles Davis, trumpet
John Coltrane, tenor sax
Wynton Kelly, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Jimmy Cobb, drum
Ernie Royal, trumpet
Clyde Reasinger, trumet
Louis Mucci, trumpet
Johnny Coles, trumpet
Emmett Berry, trumpet
Frank Rehak, trumbone
Jimmy Cleveland, trubone
Bill Elton, trombone
Rod Levitt, trombone
Julius Watkins, french horn
Bob Northern, french horn
Bill Barber, tuba
Danny Bank, bass clarinet
Romeo Penque, woodwinds
Eddie Caine, woodwinds