Bags' Groove Explained

Bags' Groove
Type:Compilation
Artist:Miles Davis
Cover:Image-bagsgroove.jpg
Released:Early December 1957[1]
Recorded:June 29 & December 24, 1954
Studio:Van Gelder Studio
Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre:Jazz
Length:46:11
Label:Prestige
Producer:Bob Weinstock
Prev Title:Miles Ahead
Prev Year:1957
Next Title:Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
Next Year:1958

Bags' Groove (PRLP 7109) is a jazz album by Miles Davis, released in 1957 by Prestige, compiling material from two 10" LPs recorded in 1954, plus two alternative takes.

Recording

Both takes of the title track come from a session on December 24, 1954, the first version having been previously released on Miles Davis All Stars, Volume 1 (PRLP 196). ("Bags" was vibraphonist Milt Jackson's nickname.) The other tracks recorded during this session may be found on Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (PRLP 7150), and all of them are also featured on the compilation album Thelonious Monk: The Complete Prestige Recordings. The rest of the album was recorded earlier in the year, on June 29, and four of the tracks had already been released as Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins (PRLP 187), with the fifth being a previously unreleased alternative take.

Music

The title track was written by Milt "Bags" Jackson and the three compositions written by the young Sonny Rollins all went on to become jazz standards. On "Oleo," Davis uses a Harmon mute to obtain a unique timbre, one that would become an iconic aspect of his sound.

Track listing

Prestige – LP 7109:

Personnel

June 29, 1954 (Side two)

December 24, 1954 (Side one)

Notes and References

  1. Billboard – December 16, 1957 (Page 38). . 16 December 1957. October 28, 2016.