Miles Davis: The Very Best of Miles Davis: The Warner Bros. Sessions 1985-1991 (2LP) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This 2007 overview arrives on vinyl for the first time, as a 2LP set. It gathers the seven years before Miles' death, with Marcus Miller, Michel Legrand and Quincy Jones among the collaborators.

This edition

• 2LP set
• First vinyl edition

About the album

Most musicians would settle for one reinvention. Miles Davis was well into his fifth or sixth when he signed with Warner Bros. in the mid-80s, and he spent his final years making some of the most adventurous records of his life: glossy, synth-driven, funk-heavy and as restless as anything he'd done before.

Marcus Miller is the key figure on side one, writing and producing "Tutu" and "Splatch," while "Amandla," "Catembe" and the tribute "Mr. Pastorius" come from the same partnership. "Mystery," "Chocolate Chip" and "The Doo-Bop Song" capture Miles' late turn toward hip hop beats. "Trumpet Cleaning" pairs him with Michel Legrand, "Siesta/Kitt's Kiss/Lost in Madrid, Pt. II" comes from his soundtrack work with Miller, and the live sides bring "The Pan Piper" and "Summertime" with Quincy Jones alongside "In a Silent Way," "Time After Time" and "Hannibal."

Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, a fair hint at how far his reach went beyond jazz. It's the one chapter of the Miles story that takes in a Cyndi Lauper song and a hip hop producer, and somehow both make perfect sense.

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

Tracklist

Listen

On Warner Bros. / Rhino, a reissue of the 2007 compilation.