For the 99th birthday today of Miles Davis (1926-1991), I checked my collection of his music to see what to listen to. There's "Birth of the Cool" (1949-1950). There are the albums of his 1950s quintet with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, as well as the albums of his 1960s quintet with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. There are the collaborations with Gil Evans, such as "Sketches of Spain". But none of those fit my mood this morning, so I put on the drifting, almost ambient "In a Silent Way" (1969) and then the still drifting but more biting "Bitches Brew" (1970). (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 26 May 2025)