Miles Davis
Trumpet Solo on
Blue in Green

About

Closing out the solo section, this trumpet improvisation spans two choruses of the 10-bar form at a ballad tempo of 28 BPM. Davis's closing two-chorus trumpet solo, taken at an extraordinarily slow tempo of just 28 beats per minute, is among the most poignant moments in recorded jazz, his muted horn floating above the gentle accompaniment with an almost unbearable tenderness. The slow ballad tempo demands patience and control, with each note given space to resonate. Coming after Bill Evans's piano solo, this is the final improvisation before the ensemble returns to the head.

Miles Davis was 32 to 33 years old at the time.