This album is perhaps most significant for the process it set in motion -- the collaborationbetweenGil Evansand Miles Davis that would producePorgy and BessandSketches ofSpain, two of Davis' best albums. That said, this album is a miracle in itself, the result of abiggambleon the part of Columbia Records, who put togetherEvansand Davis, who hadn't workedtogether since recording the critically admired but commercially unsuccessful sides that wouldlater be issued asThe Birth of the Cool. Columbia also allowedEvansto assemble a 19-piece band for the recordings, at a time when big bands were far out of fashion and also at a time when theresulting recordings could not be released until two years in the future (because of Davis' contractual obligations with Prestige). Davis was also expected to carry the album as its only soloist, and manage not to get lost among a cast of supporting musicians that included a huge hornsection.To a large extent, he succeeds.Evans' arrangements in particular are well-suited to the format, and he and Davis formed a deep and close partnership where ideas were swapped back and forth, nurtured, and developed long before they were expressed in the studio. Davis gets off to a great start, with the hyper-kinetic "Springsville," which seems to almost perfectly embodyEvans' andDavis' partnership with its light, flexible exchanges between soloist and orchestra. He is strongest on the ballads, though, where his subdued and wistful tone rises high above the hushedaccompaniment, especially on "Miles Ahead" and "Blues for Pablo" (which foreshadowsthebluesy, Latin-tinged sound ofSketches of Spain). The upbeat "I Don't Want to Be Kissed (By Anyone but You)" is another strong song, but shows the weakness of the format as Davisintersperses a charming, bright, technically challenging solo with a blasting horn section that occasionally buries him. It is a fine end, however, to an album that gave a hint of the greatnessthatwould come asEvansand Davis fine-tuned their partnership over the course of the next several years.