Miles Davis - Milestones

Milestones is the sound of Miles Davis glimpsing the future, a 1958 sextet session pressed here on 180 gram vinyl.

Davis recorded it with his first great quintet, expanded to a sextet by alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, just as John Coltrane rejoined the fold. With Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, it was a band full of fire, and Davis was beginning to explore the modal ideas that would bloom fully on Kind of Blue a year later.

The title track is the big breakthrough, a lean, darting theme built on scales rather than busy chord changes. "Sid's Ahead" stretches out over a long blues, with Davis moving to piano behind the saxophonists, while "Billy Boy" hands the spotlight to Garland's trio and his signature block chords. Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" closes the record with Coltrane and Adderley taking turns at full tilt, each solo raising the temperature further.

Coltrane and Adderley make a thrilling pairing throughout, their contrasting styles pushing each other higher with every chorus. It remains one of the essential modern jazz albums and a natural companion to Kind of Blue on any shelf, the moment the next chapter in jazz started to come into focus.