The Complete Columbia Album Collection

First of all, this is five-thousand star music all the way. Miles Davis was one of the greatest and most important artists of the recording era, and his Columbia albums as a whole encompass his greatest music and some of his key (r)evolutions. That means the sextet with Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley and his pioneering modal albums, the incredible trilogy of records he made with Gil Evans (and also Quiet Nights, less know and not really successful, but this is "complete" after all), the second quintet with Wayne Shorter, et al, who established post hard-bop modern jazz, the experimental electric albums and then the full on rock/funk electric period recordings; the key comeback albums before he moved to Warner Brothers, and the final, beautiful Aura. These are all very well done, punchy and clear remastering that gets great life out of the music. And it's the original albums (in stereo, the late '50s-early '60s albums were also released in mono), and so that Live at Philharmonic Hall, which was never a good audio quality recording, is still the same, murky but exciting. Those are the albums. Taken together, the price tag is high, but for this number of CDs, the price per disc is astonishingly low, especially when you consider just what these sounds and notes are. Right up there with Sony's Stravinsky Columbia Albums box in terms of importance, pleasure, and value.

There are a few artists for whom a few records will never be enough--you need them ALL, to immerse yourself in the rich history of what they achieved. Miles Davis is such an artist, and barring the great quintet sides he cut for Prestige in 1955/6, this has all you need (and some you don't). Incredible value, and for the disc-ophile, an advantage over the individual CDs: they are in replica LP sleeves. All the original liner notes, though small, are legible. It's just like a 30 year trip through the history of jazz and popular music, in one compact and attractive box at an amazing price. Not to be a shill for Columbia/Legacy. . they have duffed their share of releases, and apparently the first issue of this one had some packaging issues. . but mine, purchased in Nov. 2011, was perfect. Miles is one of the few artists that Columbia has served immaculately well in recent years, with wonderful box set reissues of specific groups of sessions. This set, however, is the most beguiling of all, containing all of the originally released LPs, plus, in most cases bonus tracks to enhance them. Just so much fun to trawl through, finding hidden gems and revisiting past favorites. Some of the music is so familiar that it takes a new presentation like this to be able to approach it with fresh ears, and it is working for me. Hearing Miles Smiles, for example, while looking at the original LP sleeve and tracking what came just before and after. . . .a new perspective, and a welcome one. One of the most monumental accomplishments in the history of music, and a great education for any music fan not yet familiar with jazz or with Davis' work. Get it before the format dies. This is one case where you want the discs, and not just the MP3s!

Fantastic cd box set! Nicely presented and decent value. Beats buying everything individually in terms of price. Arguably better sound quality than the vinyl versions. Buy it while it lasts.

Fantastic music

I have a large collection of Miles. Collections of his early and later periods. This has always been my favorite and it fills some holes in my collection and gave away doubles I had to a good friend

What a beautiful box set! Everything is set perfectly. Companion book is very well written. I'm very happy with my purchase. So many years that I want it and at last is mine

The Great Miles Davis collection: This collection represents about 75% of Miles Davis’s career. From Round Midnight to Your Under Arrest/Aura. What is missing are the Savoy and Dial records with Charlie Parker, and the end of the maestro's career with Warner Bros featuring the award winning album Tutu era. What you’ll find as a leader Miles is the creative spark for many of the genres in what is called jazz. He’ll create a form or style of music and after about five classic albums there will then be the masterpiece, and he did this repeatedly from the 1950s to the mid 1980s. Then he will go off into a new direction. For instance in the 50s, there’s Round, Milestones and a few others leading up to the masterpiece Kind of Blue. In the 60s there were the second great quintet albums, then at the end there's the Bitches Brew (with some of those same musicians, remember Ron Carter was on the BB sessions but those tracks weren’t originally released). In the 70s there jack johnson, on the corner and a few others, then it led up to the live masterpieces of Pangea/ Agharta or the conclusion of that concept of music. In the 80s I loved Man with the Horn and We Want Miles (with the extra tracks), but Star people, Decoy and Your Under arrest leads up to the masterpiece Tutu (not included WB). Then in the early 90’s Miles was off in another direction with hip hop (Doo Bop). Miles never stopped his creative process in music. This box set captures his creative journey in American music history.

If you’re a Miles Davis fan this set is an easy purchase. You get the full collection in great sound for a reasonable price per disk.