Miles Davis' first studio session for Prestige Records took place on January 17, 1951, with a front line of
Sonny Rollins on tenor and
Bennie Green on trombone. Two years later,
Davis made his second session of 1953 in the company of two tenor men deeply touched by the work of
Lester Young and
Charlie Parker:
Al Cohn and
Zoot Sims, two of
Woody Herman's famous Four Brothers. These two sessions, featuring a pair of three-horn front lines, make up the music on
Miles and Horns. The
John Lewis opener "Morpheus" proceeds from where
Birth of the Cool left off, with the horns harmonizing off a sustained bass vamp/cymbal roll, then introducing a
Roy Haynes drum break with fleet lines that pave the way for boppish solos.
Davis' own "Down" is an early snapshot of the trumpeter's pensive blues work, with some contrasting
Rollins bluster. Other highlights are
Lewis' spectral chordal prologue to "Blue Room" and his
Basie-style intro to "Whispering," a song on which
Davis' attack and tone really come together. "I Know" is a
Rollins feature, with
Davis on piano. The 1953 date is a delightful blowing session, with
Kenny Clarke providing plenty of percussive salsa, and
Al Cohn providing masterful charts.
Cohn,
Sims, and
Davis team up to provide distinctive, rich harmonies on themes such as the slow, soulful "Tasty Pudding" and "For Adults Only," with their introspective features. "Willie the Wailer" borrows its intro from
Benny Goodman's "Soft Winds" and provides
Davis and
Cohn with plenty of swing drive. The call and response of "Floppy" leads to powerful
Davis-
Clarke interplay, a taut
John Lewis solo, and an anthemic
Cohn-
Sims exchanges.