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The 'Seven Steps to Heaven' period in Davis'
career perhaps tends to be overlooked but still serves as important
as a bridge between the superstar ensemble that featured John
Coltrane and the soon-to-be legendary quintet of the mid- to
late-Sixties. Best of is a single disc version of the
7-CD box that came out last year highlighting Davis' transitional
phase that included a rotating cast of players (including Sam
Rivers, Frank Butler, Victor Feldman, and George Coleman) before
the trumpeter settled on the classic line-up of Ron Carter, Herbie
Hancock, Tony Williams, and Wayne Shorter. The disc nicely balances
the in the studio recordings of the blazing "Seven Steps
to Heaven" and the sublime "I Fall in Love Too Easily"
with live tracks in from the swinging version of "Autumn
Leaves" (featuring Coleman's impressive sax runs) and the
lovely "Stella by Starlight." Although Davis was really
playing it by ear as he was trying to solidify his new band consisting
of relatively young players (Tony Williams was only seventeen
when he was hired), he still continued to be innovative and unorthodox
on his originals, and mannered and eloquent on the standards.
The other recent reissues (all on Columbia/Legacy) from the period
along with this compilation include Seven Steps to Heaven,
Miles in Tokyo, Four and More, Miles
in Berlin, and Miles Davis in Europe.
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