"Oleo" from Miles Davis's 1958 sessions is a high-velocity performance of Sonny Rollins's rhythm changes composition, taken at a scorching 304 BPM with the trumpeter's full sextet. Davis opens with three choruses of trumpet over the AABA form in B-flat, his crisp, economical phrasing cutting through the rapid tempo with characteristic precision. Coltrane follows with eight intense choruses of tenor saxophone, his solo building in complexity and harmonic adventurousness as it develops, reaching tempos of 322 BPM. Adderley then delivers eight equally compelling choruses of alto at 320 BPM, his blues-inflected bebop vocabulary perfectly suited to the rhythm changes framework based on "I Got Rhythm." Evans closes with three choruses of piano that maintain the performance's energy. The track demonstrates the sextet's ability to swing ferociously at extreme tempos while maintaining individual musical identities. Rollins's composition, named after the margarine brand, is one of the most frequently called tunes at jazz jam sessions, and this version sets a benchmark for how it should be played. The rhythm changes form remains one of jazz's essential harmonic proving grounds.
