Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis

Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is the third of four albums assembled from two marathon sessions recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on May 11 and October 26, 1956, alongside Cookin', Workin', and Steamin'. The quintet — John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums — had been honing its repertoire at the Cafe Bohemia in New York, and the sessions captured that setlist with no retakes. Davis plays with a mute throughout except on the closing "Woody 'n' You," where he switches to open horn for a brisk reading of the Dizzy Gillespie bebop staple. The opener, "If I Were a Bell," adapted from Ahmad Jamal's arrangement, became a signature vehicle for Davis and the quintet, with his muted trumpet floating over Garland's shimmering piano. Sonny Rollins' "Oleo" provides uptempo contrast, with Coltrane's robust tenor pushing against Davis's spare, lyrical lines. The original master tapes preserve informal studio dialogue — Davis giving instructions, jokes with producer Bob Weinstock — lending the album an intimate, fly-on-the-wall quality. Prestige president Weinstock compared the quintet to Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, and the four albums from these sessions are collectively regarded as a high-water mark for small-group jazz improvisation.