Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis

Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet draws from the same two marathon sessions at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on May 11 and October 26, 1956 that produced Cookin', Relaxin', and Steamin'. Released on Prestige Records in 1960, it was the last of the four to appear, by which time Davis had already recorded Kind of Blue for Columbia. The quintet — John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums — works through a program of standards captured without retakes, mirroring their nightly club sets. The opener, "It Never Entered My Mind," is among Davis's most celebrated ballad performances, with his muted trumpet tracing the melody over Garland's spare chording. "Four" and "Half Nelson" provide uptempo blowing vehicles where Coltrane's growing intensity contrasts with Davis's economy. "The Theme," the quintet's standard set-closing number, appears twice — opening and closing the second side — reinforcing the live-set structure of the recording. Like its companions, the album benefits from the no-frills approach: the musicians play as they would on the bandstand, with the familiarity and telepathic communication of a nightly working group.