Porgy and Bess (Miles Davis album)

In 1958, Davis was one of many jazz musicians growing dissatisfied with bebop, seeing its increasingly complex chord changes as hindering creativity.{{cite book|last=Kahn|first=Ashley|author-link=Ashley Kahn|title=Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece|url=https://archive.org/details/kindofblue00kahn|url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive|quote=The Making of Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and His Masterpiece bebop.|others=foreword by Jimmy Cobb|year=2001|pages=67–68|publisher=Da Capo Press, USA|isbn=0-306-81067-0}} Five years earlier, in 1953, pianist George Russell published his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, which offered an alternative to the practice of improvisation based on chords.{{cite web |url=http://www.georgerussell.com/gr.html |title=George Russell – About George |publisher=Concept Publishing |access-date=2008-07-27}} Abandoning the traditional major and minor key relationships of classical music, Russell developed a new formulation using scales or a series of scales for improvisations. His approach to improvisation came to be known as modal in jazz. Davis saw Russell's methods of composition as a means of getting away from the dense chord-laden compositions of his time, which Davis had labeled "thick".{{sfn|Kahn|2001|p=16}} Modal composition, with its reliance on scales and modes, represented, as Davis put it, "a return to melody".{{cite web|title=Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (FLAC – Master Sound – Super Bit Mapping)|url=https://stupidd.blogspot.com/2008/02/miles-davis-kind-of-blue-flac-master.html|website=Stupid and Contagious|date=12 February 2008}} In a 1958 interview with Nat Hentoff of The Jazz Review, Davis remarked on the modal approach:

{{quote|When Gil wrote the arrangement of "I Loves You, Porgy," he only wrote a scale for me. No chords... gives you a lot more freedom and space to hear things... there will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them. Classical composers have been writing this way for years, but jazz musicians seldom have.Nat Hentoff, "An Afternoon with Miles Davis", The Jazz Review, December 1958.|Miles Davis}}

In early 1958, Davis began using this approach with his sextet.{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000191711|title=Milestones}} Influenced by Russell's ideas, Davis implemented his first modal composition with the title track of his 1958 album Milestones, which was based on two modes, recorded in April of that year.{{cite web |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/16671/davismiles-jazzattheplaza |title=George Russell – The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization |publisher=Concept Publishing |access-date=2008-07-27}} Instead of soloing in the straight, conventional, melodic way, Davis’s new style of improvisation featured rapid mode and scale changes played against sparse chord changes.{{cite web |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/16671/davismiles-jazzattheplaza |title=Miles Davis: Jazz at the Plaza < Music – PopMatters |publisher=PopMatters.com |access-date=2008-07-27}} Davis' second collaboration with Gil Evans on Porgy and Bess gave him more room for experimentation with Russell's concept and with third stream playing, as Evans' compositions for Davis featured this modal approach.

The musical, commercial and critical success of 1957's Miles Ahead helped make future Davis/Evans ventures possible, as it impressed Columbia Records enough for them to bestow further artistic control upon Davis and Evans. At that period, Davis' girlfriend Frances Taylor was in the New York City Center's production of the George Gershwin/DuBose Heyward/Ira Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b-5GoNQzsbQC&q=Porgy+and+Bess+frances+taylor+city+center&pg=PA199|title=Gil Evans: Out of the Cool: His Life and Music|last=Crease|first=Stephanie Stein|publisher=Chicago Review Press|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55652-986-3|pages=199|language=en}} and the Samuel Goldwyn film adaptation was in production, set for release in June 1959. The advance publicity for the film was considerable, and with the late-1950s vogue for recorded "jazz versions of...", a number of Porgy and Bess jazz interpretations were released. These ranged from an all-star big band version arranged and conducted by Bill Potts to one by Bob Crosby and the Bobcats. Following the first collaboration with Evans, Davis followed up on these efforts with much interest in symphonic readings, which, at the time, jazzmen were not known for, and neither were some classically trained musicians known for interpreting jazz scores. Nevertheless, Davis enlisted members of his sextet, including Cannonball Adderley and Paul Chambers.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}Planer, Lindsay. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r106094|pure_url=yes}} Review: Porgy and Bess]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-07-21.

| rev2 = DownBeat

| rev2Score = {{Rating|5|5}}DownBeat: July 23, 1959, Vol. 26, No. 15

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734|title-link=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}{{page needed|date=November 2023}}

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4Score = ASandow, Greg. [https://ew.com/article/1991/10/11/remembering-miles-davis/ Review: Porgy and Bess]. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-07-20.

| rev5 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz

| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|4}}Cook, Richard. "Review: Porgy and Bess". Penguin Guide to Jazz: 376. September 2002.

| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev6Score = {{Rating|5|5}}Hoard, Christian. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=lRgtYCC6OUwC&pg=PA214&dq= Review: Porgy and Bess]". Rolling Stone: 214–217. November 2, 2004.

|rev8 = Tom Hull – on the Web

|rev8Score = B+{{cite web|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=n.d.|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/nm/get_gl.php?n=Miles+Davis|title=Grade List: Miles Davis|website=Tom Hull – on the Web|access-date=July 22, 2020}}

}}

The second in a series of Davis/Evans collaborations, Porgy and Bess was well received upon its release by music critics and publications, including The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.Wilson, John S. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1959/09/27/archives/stylish-jazzman-evans-shows-constant-development-in-his.html Review: Porgy and Bess]". The New York Times: X13. September 27, 1959.George, Wally. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121021215018/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/485176932.html?dids=485176932:485176932&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Jun+07,+1959&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Court+of+Records&pqatl=google Review: Porgy and Bess]". Los Angeles Times: J61. June 7, 1959. Music writer Bill Kirchner wrote "In this century's American music, three partnerships have been most influential: Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn, Frank Sinatra/Nelson Riddle, and Miles Davis/Gil Evans."{{Cite AV media notes|last=Kirchner|first=Bill|title=Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Studio Recordings|publisher=Sony Music Entertainment}} As one of Davis' best-selling albums, Porgy and Bess has earned recognition as a landmark album in orchestral jazz. Davis biographer Jack Chambers described the album as "a new score, with its own integrity, order and action".{{Cite AV media notes|last=Chambers|first=Jack|author-link=Jack Chambers (linguist)|title=Porgy and Bess|publisher=Sony Music Entertainment}}

The album's appeal was more widespread among critics following its reissue in 1997. Robert Gilbert of All About Jazz praised Porgy and Bess, describing it as "one of many great albums that Miles Davis recorded over his lifetime. It reaches a higher plateau than most, though, in its way that it can reach the listener on both a musical and emotional level. That the album is still able to do this after almost forty-five years is a testament to the rare magic that occurred in a New York studio over four days in the summer of 1958."Gilbert, Robert. [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=11204 Review: Porgy and Bess]. All About Jazz. Retrieved on 2008-12-21.

In August 1997, JazzTimes magazine called Porgy and Bess "possibly the best of the collaborations between Miles and Gil Evans ... Evans is justly regarded as the master of modern orchestration and Porgy and Bess shows him at his best."Columnist. "[http://www.tower.com/porgy-bess-miles-davis-cd/wapi/106693134 Review: Porgy and Bess] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906184448/http://www.tower.com/porgy-bess-miles-davis-cd/wapi/106693134 |date=2008-09-06 }}". JazzTimes: 106. August 1997. The album was included in Elvis Costello's "500 Albums You Need" (Vanity Fair, Issue No. 483 11/00)[http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/elvis_costello.htm Elvis Costello’s 500 Albums You Need at rocklist.net] and was ranked No. 785 on the Virgin "All-Time Top 1000 Album" list.[http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/virgin_1000.htm top 1000 album list]

All compositions written by George Gershwin, except otherwise noted. (Although Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward wrote lyrics to the opera Porgy and Bess, these recordings are instrumental.)

Bonus cuts featured on the 1997 compact disc reissue.

• Miles Davis – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Ernie Royal, Bernie Glow, Johnny Coles and Louis Mucci – trumpet
• Dick Hixon, Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland and Joe Bennett – trombone
• Willie Ruff, Julius Watkins and Gunther Schuller – horn
• Bill Barber – tuba
• Phil Bodner, Jerome Richardson and Romeo Penque – flute, alto flute, clarinet
• Cannonball Adderley – alto saxophone
• Danny Bank – alto flute, bass flute, bass clarinet
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Philly Joe Jones – drums (except tracks 2, 8, 10 & 11)
• Jimmy Cobb – drums (tracks 2, 8, 10 & 11)
• Gil Evans – arranger, conductor

• Cal Lampley – production
• Frank Laico – recording engineering
• Roy DeCarava – cover photography

{{certification Table Top}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Miles Davis|title=Porgy And Bess|award=Silver|certyear=2013|relyear=2007|id=9291-2673-2|note=sales since 2007|access-date=June 15, 2020}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Miles Davis|title=Porgy and Bess|nocert=true|salesamount=286,000|relyear=1957|salesref={{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/09/miles-davis-lives-9-parts.html|title=Understanding Miles Davis, in 9 Parts|publisher=Vulture|date=September 25, 2015|first=Greg|last=Cwik|access-date=June 15, 2020}}}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140107035926/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-the-golden-anniversary-of-porgy-and-bess "The Golden Anniversary of Miles Davis's Porgy & Bess"] by Alan Kurtz et al., Jazz.com
• {{cite book|author1=Nathan Brackett|author2=Christian Hoard| title = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|edition=completely revised and updated 4th| publisher=Simon & Schuster| year = 2004| isbn = 0-7432-0169-8|ref=none}}
• {{cite book |author1=Richard Cook|author1-link=Richard Cook (journalist)|author2=Brian Morton|author2-link=Brian Morton (Scottish writer)| title = The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD |edition=6th|publisher=Penguin| year = 2002 | isbn = 0-14-051521-6|ref=none}}

• {{Discogs master|65105|Porgy and Bess}}

{{Miles Davis}}

{{Porgy and Bess}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Porgy And Bess}}

Category:1959 albums

Category:Albums arranged by Gil Evans

Category:Albums conducted by Gil Evans

Category:Albums produced by Cal Lampley

Category:Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio

Category:Columbia Records albums

Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients

Category:Miles Davis albums

Miles Davis album

Category:1950s instrumental albums