Miles Davis: Greatest Hits (1969) [LEGACY]

Why you'll love it

This 150g pressing comes with a download card, so the trumpet sounds just as good on the bus. It covers his Columbia years from the late 50s sextet to the mid-60s quintet in eight tracks, a neat primer before the full albums.

This edition

• 150g vinyl
• Download card included

About the album

Picking a handful of Miles Davis highlights is a bit like choosing your favourite rooms in a very large house. Columbia first put this set together in 1969, and the lineup on this vinyl follows the later version, which leans on live takes and some of the best bands he ever led.

"So What" comes straight from Kind of Blue, and "'Round Midnight" is the Thelonious Monk tune he made his own on 'Round About Midnight. "Someday My Prince Will Come" features John Coltrane and Hank Mobley, "Walkin'" was caught live at San Francisco's Black Hawk in 1961, and "All Blues" and "My Funny Valentine" come from the 1964 Philharmonic Hall concert with George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. "Seven Steps to Heaven" and Shorter's "E.S.P." show where that quintet was headed next.

Teo Macero produced much of it, and the album works as a short guided tour from cool to post-bop. Consider it the trailer; the full-length features are in the jazz bins, and we'd be delighted to point.

Also at Kops: more Miles Davis on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Columbia / Legacy (cat# 88985446121), a reissue of the 1969 compilation.