Miles at his Bluesiest

Listening again to Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis with the gorgeous orchestrations of Gil Evans, I was a little surprised to realise that it contains some of Miles's most overtly bluesy playing. This is most evident on the raw and powerful Prayer ( Oh Doctor Jesus ) but it is a feel that pervades the whole enterprise. Something else that strikes me about the Evans albums in general and it certainly applies here, is that Miles has to shoulder the main soloing responsibility and he does so superbly. On most of his more collaborative smaller group sessions, he is often content to be the catalyst who takes a back seat to his band members' more extrovert playing. Specifically going back to Porgy and Bess, this is almost a new score constructed by Evans from the Gershwin original and includes ont totally original piece, Gone, written by Evans. Tunes like Summertime and It Ain't Necessarily So are perfectly recognisable but are put into a totally new musical context and, dare I say it, a more authentic one as far as representing black America is concerned. Music making of a very high quality by any standards.