The album is a reissue in 12" format of the 10" LP
Miles Davis Quartet (PRLP 161), with "
I'll Remember April" added. Tracks 4, 6, 7, and 8 come from Prestige PREP 1326, The Miles Davis Quartet, recorded May 19, 1953. It features a quartet with
John Lewis on piano —replaced on "Smooch" by its co-composer
Charles Mingus—
Percy Heath, the bassist throughout the album, and
Max Roach on drums. Tracks 2, 3, and 5, from March 15, 1954, with
Horace Silver on piano and
Art Blakey on drums, were first released on PREP 1360, titled Miles Davis Quartet. The first track on the album, "I'll Remember April", is from the April 3, 1954, session and was originally included on the
10" LP Miles Davis Quintet (PRLP 185). The compositions "
Four" and "
Tune Up" were always credited to Davis, although both were claimed by
Eddie Vinson to be his compositions. Vinson was a known blues singer at that time and had no use for them and gave Davis permission to record them. No one expressed opposition to the false crediting until decades later. The album's last track, "Miles Ahead" is not the same composition as featured on the 1957 Columbia Records album
Miles Ahead, a big band recording arranged by
Gil Evans. The "Miles Ahead" played on
Blue Haze is a
contrafact, and features a new melody played over the chord changes to John Lewis' tune "Milestones", recorded by Davis in 1947 for Savoy Records. ==Track listing==