The earlier session was a quintet with David Schildkraut on alto saxophone, and produced the three tracks on side two. Schildkraut is the only musician not credited on the cover, and is otherwise almost unknown. Two of these tracks were originally released on the 10" LP Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige PRLP 185. The earlier release also included "I'll Remember April", recorded at the same time, now found on the Prestige album Blue Haze (PRLP 7054).^[3] Another tune from this session, "Love Me or Leave Me," was previously unreleased and substituted here for "I'll Remember April."

The second session, which makes up all of side one, was a sextet with J. J. Johnson on trombone and Lucky Thompson on tenor saxophone. The rhythm section was the same as the earlier session. These two tracks were originally issued on the 10"LP Miles Davis All-Star Sextet PRLP 182.^[4] The album's title track, a staple of Davis's live set for many years, was key to the emerging hard bop approach developed in the mid-1950s, Davis providing it with an anthem. Written by Davis, the composition royalties for "Walkin'" were credited to his friend Richard Carpenter.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Lucky Thompson – tenor saxophone on side one
• J. J. Johnson – trombone on side one
• David Schildkraut – alto saxophone on side two
• Horace Silver – piano
• Percy Heath – bass
• Kenny Clarke – drums

References