Love Songs

Nine examples of Miles Davis caressing a ballad at a slow tempo are included on this 1999 CD, Love Songs. All of the music is easily available elsewhere, but it is interesting to hear the different approaches that the trumpeter could employ in sticking close to a lyrical melody. There are two numbers ("My Ship" and "I Loves You, Porgy") from Davis' collaborations with arranger Gil Evans, selections from his 1961 quintet with Hank Mobley ("I Thought About You" and "Old Folks"), and his groups with George Coleman ("I Fall in Love Too Easily," "Summer Night," and a lengthy "My Funny Valentine"). "Stella by Starlight," by his 1958 super sextet (with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans) and Davis' famous version of "Someday My Prince Will Come" (in which his Hank Mobley quintet is joined by guest John Coltrane) are also here. Surprisingly, "'Round Midnight" is absent. Due to the slow tempos and the lack of variety in moods, this set is really designed more for background music than for close listening.

—Scott Yanow