Dig

Originally released as a 12-inch LP in 1956, this collection compiles two 1951 studio sessions featuring a very young Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean. The album marks a crucial historical pivot point where Davis actively began stretching the short, frantic structures of bebop into the extended, blues-heavy improvisations that would soon define hard bop. It famously capitalized on the new long-playing microgroove format to feature much lengthier, exploratory solos.