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REVIEW    DownBeat  /  September 19, 1957


Miles Davis
Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet

Prestige 7094

★★★★★

Rudy Van Gelder Remasters


All the tremendous cohesion, the wild, driving swing, and the all-out excitement and controlled emotion that was present at the best moments of the Davis quintet has been captured on this record. Jones has said these sessions, made in 1956 and the last of Miles’ Prestige recordings, are the best Davis has made. I am inclined to agree.

Miles was in exquisite form; Coltrane sounds better here than on any except the group’s Columbia LP; Chambers is well-recorded, and his solo on “Blues By Five” is particularly gratifying. Philly Joe Jones and Garland work together in their intricate system of rhythmic feeding in a fashion that has seldom been done, if ever, before by any rhythm section.

There are many moments of pure music and emotional joy on this album. Note the traces of Davis in Coltrane’s solo on “Airegin”; note Miles and Philly Joe at the end of Davis’ first solo on “Tune Up”; note Jones and Garland behind Coltrane on the same tune; note how Jones doubles up against the pulse behind Coltrane on “When Lights Are Low.”

Garland contributes a golden solo on “Lights” and on “Five.” In the same tune, note how the rhythm section continues the melodic outline behind the solos.

As to Miles, his peculiar blend of pure melody and acidulous accents never has sounded better. His “squees” and “whees” come at the moment you least expect them. On his own composition “Tune Up,” he gets a remarkable show tune type of sound in his statement of the melody and then prefaces his improvisation by a series of two-note phrases with the accent on the second one. This is extremely effective. “My Funny Valentine” is a slow one, done thoughtfully and almost sedately at times, with Jones on brushes behind Davis.

However, it is “When Lights Are Low,” Benny Carter’s great tune that is mislabeled “Just Squeeze Me” on my copy, that is the classic number. This is the second version of it Miles has recorded, and it is interesting to note that the tempo is almost exactly the same this time. This is one of the best arrangements this group had; an inventive melding of simplicity and thorough exploration of the harmonic and rhythmic possibilities.

Miles’ wispy statement of the melody is followed by Coltrane’s ruminative solo, Garland follows with his best work of the date, a long solo the second half of which is locked chords, and there is a short bit of Davis presaging the unison out chorus. This is one of the best LPs of the year and makes one wonder why the group rated so few votes in the Jazz Critics Poll. —Ralph J.Gleason


Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet: Airegin; Tune Up; When Lights Are Low; My Funny Valentine; Blues By Five.
Personnel: Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.


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