Miles Davis
Trumpet Solo on
Oleo

About

Miles Davis's trumpet solo is the first of four solos on this recording. Spanning two choruses of the 32-bar AABA form in B♭ at a blazing 271 BPM with a swing feel, Davis opens with two trumpet choruses of remarkable economy, his spare phrasing and strategic use of space creating maximum impact with minimum notes. "Oleo" is a contrafact built on the chord changes of "I Got Rhythm," requiring the soloist to navigate a familiar harmonic framework with a different melodic identity.

Miles Davis was 29 to 30 years old at the time.