Jones played with power, precision and suppleness. This band, after making several LPs for Prestige, went to Columbia in 1956. Their initial album with the new company, Round About Midnight , while excellent, was in the mold of their Prestige work. Here the title tune, Milestones , is a visionary modal piece. Alto sax star Cannonball Adderley joins the band on this disc, making it a sextet.
Milestones abounds with excellent solos and rhythm section work.
1959's Kind of Blue follows through on the modal stylings. Davis had thought for several years that the chord progressions modern jazzmen used to solo on had gotten so loaded with chords that they constituted an obstacle course for improvisers. His idea was to use more spare foundations for soloists, employing fewer chords or modes, so soloists could play less hurriedly, and that is what his sextet did on Kind of Blue , producing music so lyrical that the LP was purchased by many general pop fans. Pianist Bill Evans's contributions to this album have not received enough credit. He contributes lovely solos and also did some composing which has not been officially attributed to him.