Miles Davis – Volume 1

Grabbed this pressing to hear “Hard Bop Miles” and was very impressed with Davis’ earlier sound before “The Cool,” subdued, modal and muted “Prince Of Darkness.” 1501 really exceeded my expectations.

Kevin Gray did a fine job on this one! My copy is flat, quiet with ZERO playback issues on both sides. It’s quite an enjoyable date, great playing by all.

Flat, quiet vinyl...very quiet surfaces. The sound is not high fidelity, but more archival in quality. Davis sounds very bright. The whole vibe is blatant, almost crude, with the exception of the trombone. I don't mean to say that I don't like it, just that it is different from what I expected from Miles Davis. Certainly Blakey does exactly what I expect him to do! This is a mono record, so it doesn't really make sense to talk about a soundstage; however, you do get the illusion of some separation of the instruments, and everything is quite clear, including the bass and the piano. A previous reviewer mentioned that the sidemen really shine, and that is quite true, but this record is nonetheless all about Miles Davis, and that fact will determine whether or not you want it in your collection. In of quality, it is one of the very best I have heard in this series. This is a record to enjoy for a lifetime; I will never need an upgrade on this one. I plan on buying Volume 2 soon.

A spotless record - no clicks, no background noise - only the amazing music from Miles Davis and his ensemble.

I was hoping to hear a big improvement over the Hi-Rez digital version I have of this album but I was a little disappointed that Kevin Grey did not perform a miracle on this album. I guess my expectations were high considering how wonderful Miles discography sounds. But I think they were still working out how to perfect recording in 1952, by the middle of 1953 you start hearing the bliss that could be achieved. You can clearly hear a improvement of sound on CTA where the B side sound better than the earlier recorded A side. Vol. 2 is better recorded overall but even so the music on Vol.1 is great and I think this is as good as it will get on vinyl. If you are a Miles fan this is a great way to hear the formation of what would become his great era of quintets/sextets with Prestige and Columbia.

Miles before he was “MILES”. To be honest Miles is often outshone by his sidemen at times on this early release but there’s a lot of bop era gold here to be mined.
Slightly primitive sound quality but still this is nice and clear and probably as good as this will get. Great pressing with no flaws to report.
A great bop document

The soundstage is insane, especially, as has been said, given the age of tapes. Very good separation overall with Miles and the other horns really seeming to come at you from space. The drums mostly sound good, except for the dense areas where they distort, probably due to limitations of the recording technology. The pressing is flat with a bit of surface noise, which actually feels a bit endearing in this release. Overall as good a reissue as you'll see of earlier jazz recordings. Buy with confidence.

Great album! Sound quality is exceptional good seen the age of the recordings. Great job done very well Kevin!

KPG has done a stunning job on the recent 1500 era "compilation" albums from the BNC Series. This is no exception. In a world of KPG produced banality, he occasionally rises above his middling standards to deliver excellence.

Well worth adding to the collection. Beautifully remastered, considering the age of the recordings. No surface noise. Flat disc. Nice job BN and Kevin Gray!

Fantastic. Besides lacking the body of a modern recording/remastering, there's clarity and breadth of field to savor. What a treat to hear these early blue note recordings at an easy price and without any issues.