The Musings Of Miles was the first Miles Davis album to be issued on 12″ vinyl, following several 10″ discs. It’s a quartet date — he’s the only horn, so he plays a lot more than on most of his other albums (1963’s Seven Steps To Heaven finds him in a similar situation), backed by pianist Red Garland, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Garland and Jones would remain with Davis for another year or two, as part of his quintet with John Coltrane and Paul Chambers.

Davis’ albums of the early to mid-1950s (before he kicked heroin) don’t have the same stark magic found in his recordings from just a few years later. His ability to imply, to let the listener fill in the gaps in his solos, hadn’t yet developed; he was still a melodic bop trumpet player, still playing the blues and suffusing his ballads with a romantic glow. His trademark style of playing through a Harmon mute, very close to the microphone, is present here, though, particularly on “I See Your Face Before Me” and “A Gal In Calico.” The track that carries the strongest indications of what Davis’ work would become just a few years later is a version of “A Night In Tunisia,” on which his statement of the melody, and his soloing, seem distant and dispassionate, exactly the opposite of the raucous manner in which the tune is usually performed. By contrast, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ version, with Lee Morgan on trumpet, sounds like a band that’s literally been set on fire. Overall, The Musings Of Miles isn’t essential, but it’s far from a waste of time.