Over six full decades, from his arrival on the national scene in 1945 until his death in 1991, Miles Davis made music that grew from an uncanny talent to hear the future and a headstrong desire to play it. From his beginnings in the circle of modern jazz, he came to intuit new worlds of sound and challenge. While the vast majority of musicians – jazz, rock, R&B, otherwise – find the experimental charge and imperviousness of youth eventually running down, Miles forever forged ahead, trusting and following instinct until the end. In doing so, Miles became the standard bearer for successive generations of musicians, shaped the course of modern improvisational music more than a half-dozen times.

Spanning five decades and seven labels, this consolidated first time vinyl edition of the 2001 collection The Essential Miles Davis captures the jazz giant at every stage of his trailblazing career, from his early recordings with Bird (“Now’s the Time”) through his cornerstone triumphs (“So What,” “Round Midnight,” “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down,” “Summertime,” “The Pan Piper”) to his late twilight years (“Time After Time”). And when you’re the best you work with the best so the 14-track set also features contributions from such fellow music luminaries as Gil Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, and John Scofield among many more.