Blue Haze

Blue Haze is a compilation album of tracks recorded in 1953 and 1954 by Miles Davis for Prestige Records.[6]

For Blue Haze, the British pop reggae studio group, see Johnny Arthey.
Blue Haze
Compilation album by
Miles Davis
ReleasedEarly October 1956[1]
RecordedMay 19, 1953, March 15 and April 3, 1954
Studio
GenreJazz, bebop, hard bop
Length36:33
LabelPrestige PRLP 7054
ProducerBob Weinstock, Ira Gitler
Miles Davis chronology
Quintet/Sextet
(1956)		 Blue Haze
(1956)		 Collectors' Items
(1956)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[5]

Overview

The album is a reissue in 12" format of the 10" LP Miles Davis Quartet (PRLP 161), with "I'll Remember April" added. Tracks 4, 6, 7, and 8 come from Prestige PREP 1326, The Miles Davis Quartet, recorded May 19, 1953. It features a quartet with John Lewis on piano —replaced on "Smooch" by its co-composer Charles Mingus— Percy Heath, the bassist throughout the album, and Max Roach on drums. Tracks 2, 3, and 5, from March 15, 1954, with Horace Silver on piano and Art Blakey on drums, were first released on PREP 1360, titled Miles Davis Quartet. The first track on the album, "I'll Remember April", is from the April 3, 1954, session and was originally included on the 10" LP Miles Davis Quintet (PRLP 185).

The compositions "Four" and "Tune Up" were always credited to Davis, although both were claimed by Eddie Vinson to be his compositions. Vinson was a known blues singer at that time and had no use for them and gave Davis permission to record them. No one expressed opposition to the false crediting until decades later.[7]

The album's last track, "Miles Ahead" is not the same composition as featured on the 1957 Columbia Records album Miles Ahead, a big band recording arranged by Gil Evans. The "Miles Ahead" played on Blue Haze is a contrafact, and features a new melody played over the chord changes to John Lewis' tune "Milestones", recorded by Davis in 1947 for Savoy Records.

Track listing

Prestige – LP 7054[8]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'll Remember April"Don Raye, Gene de Paul, Patricia Johnston7:55
2."Four"Eddie Vinson, Miles Davis4:03
3."Old Devil Moon"Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg3:24
4."Smooch"Miles Davis, Charles Mingus3:06
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Blue Haze"Miles Davis6:12
2."When Lights are Low"Benny Carter, Spencer Williams3:29
3."Tune Up"Eddie Vinson, Miles Davis3:56
4."Miles Ahead"Miles Davis4:28
Total length:36:33

Personnel

Track #1 (April 3, 1954)

Track #2, 3 and 5 (March 15, 1954)

Track #4, 6, 7 and 8 (May 19, 1953)

References
  1. Reviews and Ratings, Billboard October 13, 1956, p. 30.
  2. Yanow, Scott (2011). "Blue Haze – Miles Davis | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  5. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 57. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  6. "Prestige Records Discography: 1953".
  7. Jack Chamber: Milestones: The Music in Times of Miles Davis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 1998 (unabr. paperback edn): Pt. 1, p. 184.
  8. "Miles Davis – Blue Haze". Discogs. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
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