''The New Sounds'' is the debut solo studio album by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, released in late 1951 as a 10-inch LP. It is his first album as a leader and his first full album for Prestige Records. Davis had previously contributed three tracks to the Prestige

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

LP '' Modern Jazz Trumpets'' and appeared as a sideman on the 10-inch LP '' Lee Konitz: The New Sounds''.

Overview

Prestige would be Davis' label for the next five years, with occasional recordings for

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

and Debut, until he signed with Columbia in 1955. His previous label,

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

, had been disappointed with the sales of the nonet recordings released in 1949/50, and they had not offered Davis more work, when he was contacted by Prestige's

Bob Weinstock Bob Weinstock (October 2, 1928 – January 14, 2006) was an American record producer best known for his label Prestige Records, established in 1949, which was responsible for many significant jazz recordings during his more than two decades o ...

. Weinstock had just started his new jazz specialty record label, and wanted Davis on his label so bad he tracked him across the country, to Chicago where he was performing with

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

, and offered him a one-year contract. The four tracks on this album were recorded at New York's Apex Studio on October 5, 1951, along with two tracks ("Bluing" and "Out of the Blue") that would later be used on his next Prestige album, '' Blue Period'', (PRLP 140), and a seventh track, "Denial", which would later appear on the 12"LP '' Dig '' (PRLP 7012). Davis' friends

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

and Charles Mingus both attended this recording session, with Mingus contributing an uncredited bass part to "Conception". Parker watched from the engineering booth, and his presence is said to have unnerved alto saxophonist

Jackie McLean John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...

, for whom this was his first ever recording session. Sonny Rollins, Davis' favoured tenor saxophonist during this period, was again used for this recording session.

Ira Gitler Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of ...

's liner notes stress the advantage of the 10" LP in allowing a jazz musician to stretch out. "This album gives Miles more freedom than he has ever had on record for time limits were not strictly enforced. There is opportunity to build ideas into a definite cumulative effect. These ideas sound much more like air-shots than studio recordings." For Davis, this was his first recording to use the new microgroove technology, and he was eager to transcend the 78rpm format's three-minute limit and stretch out his solos like he could while playing in the clubs. Weinstock assured him he would be one of the first jazz musicians to take advantage of the potential of microgroove technology."Miles: the Autobiography", Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, 1989, pg.147 After the 10" LP format was discontinued in 1956, the tracks "Dig" and "It's Only A Paper Moon" would reappear on the 12" album '' Dig'' (PRLP 7012), and "Conception" and " My Old Flame" on the various artists compilation '' Conception'' (PRLP 7013).

Track listing

Personnel

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

– alto saxophone, tracks 1 & 2 * Sonny Rollins –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

Walter Bishop, Jr. Walter Bishop Jr. (October 4, 1927 – January 24, 1998) was an American jazz pianist. Early life Bishop was born in New York City on October 4, 1927.Greene, Philip; Kernfeld, Barr"Bishop, Walter Jr." ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'' (2nd ed ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

Tommy Potter Charles Thomas Potter (September 21, 1918 – March 1, 1988) was an American jazz double bass player, best known for having been a member of Charlie Parker's "classic quintet", with Miles Davis, between 1947 and 1950. Born in Philadelphia, Penn ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

* Art Blakey – drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Sounds 1951 debut albums Miles Davis albums Prestige Records albums Albums produced by Bob Weinstock