Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants is an album recorded by Miles Davis,… Read Full Bio ↴Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants is an album recorded by Miles Davis, for Prestige Records. Most of the album comes from a session on 24 December 1954, but "'Round Midnight" is from the sessions by Davis's new quintet in 1956 which resulted in Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet and three other albums to fulfil Davis's contract with Prestige.
The 1954 session is notable as the only time Thelonious Monk made a studio recording with Davis - the two men did not get on well, as Davis felt Monk ought to be "laying out" (refraining from playing) during the trumpeter's solos. Ira Gitler, who was present at the session and wrote the sleevenotes for the album, dispels the myth that the two men confronted each other physically, but there was argument throughout the session. The first take of "The Man I Love" has a false start caused by Monk asking when he should start playing, and an exasperated Davis telling engineer Rudy Van Gelder, "Hey Rudy, put this on the record, man - all of it!".
"Bags' Groove", also recorded at the 1954 session, can be found on the album Bags' Groove.