Bags' Groove

This article is about the Miles Davis album. For the composition by Milt Jackson, see Bags' Groove (composition).

Bags' Groove
Compilation album by Miles Davis
Released	Early December 1957 [1]
Recorded	June 29 & December 24, 1954
Studio	Van Gelder Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre	Jazz
Length	46:11
Label	Prestige PRLP 7109
Producer	Bob Weinstock
Miles Davis chronology
Miles Ahead (1957) Bags' Groove (1957) Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (1958)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[4]

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:

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Bags' Groove" (Take 1)	Milt Jackson	11:16
2.	"Bags' Groove" (Take 2)	Jackson	9:24

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Airegin"	Sonny Rollins	5:01
2.	"Oleo"	Rollins	5:14
3.	"But Not for Me" (Take 2)	George Gershwin Ira Gershwin	4:36
4.	"Doxy"	Rollins	4:55
5.	"But Not for Me" (Take 1)	Gershwin Gershwin	5:45
Total length:			46:11

Personnel

June 29, 1954 (Side two)

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
• Horace Silver – piano
• Percy Heath – bass
• Kenny Clarke – drums

December 24, 1954 (Side one)

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Milt Jackson – vibraphone
• Thelonious Monk – piano
• Percy Heath – bass
• Kenny Clarke – drums

References

1. "Billboard – December 16, 1957 (Page 38)". Billboard . December 16, 1957. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
2. "Miles Davis – Bags' Groove". AllMusic . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 341. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.