This was the last of Davis’ transitional albums between the demise of his late-’50s quintet/sextet (the band that recorded Kind Of Blue and Milestones) and the formation of his mid-’60s quintet (more about them later), and it’s an under-recognized gem. Partly recorded on the West Coast, half the album features pianist Victor Feldman and drummer Frank Butler alongside Davis and bassist Ron Carter; the other half features Davis, Carter, George Coleman on tenor sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, and Tony Williams on drums. It’s also the last Miles Davis album to feature standards, rather than new compositions — of the six tracks, only the title track and closing number “Joshua” were new. Feldman and Davis co-wrote the former, and the latter came entirely from the pianist. Of the four standards, some dated back to jazz’s earliest days (“Baby Won’t You Please Come Home” was from 1919, while “Basin Street Blues” was first recorded in 1928).

Seven Steps To Heaven is a great album for two reasons. One, the material — yes, these are old songs, but they’re also blues-based, and Miles Davis was an incredible blues player, so hearing him work out atop these deceptively simple grooves is a genuine joy. “Basin Street Blues” and “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home,” the two longest tracks, are fantastic. The second reason the album is a must-hear for serious Davis fans is the instrumentation. Only half the record features a second horn; at the L.A. sessions, the trumpeter was fronting a quartet for one of the few times in his career. Consequently, he plays some of the longest solos to be found anywhere in his discography here, all of them beautifully structured and filled with a kind of artful melancholy.