"Four" from Miles Davis's 1956 album Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is a swinging performance of the trumpeter's own composition, featuring three soloists across the 32-bar ABAC form in E-flat at approximately 200 BPM. Davis opens with three choruses of trumpet, his clean, precise lines and masterful use of space demonstrating the less-is-more philosophy that set him apart from technically busier players. Coltrane follows with three choruses of tenor saxophone, his solo already hinting at the harmonic explorations that would soon transform jazz. Red Garland rounds out the solo section with two choruses of piano, his fluent bebop lines and block-chord passages providing a warm contrast to the horns. The composition's ABAC structure gives soloists a familiar but not overly predictable harmonic roadmap, and all three improvisers navigate it with individual distinction. The track was recorded during the marathon Prestige sessions that also produced Steamin', Relaxin', and Cookin', sessions whose casual, first-take approach captured some of the most relaxed and swinging music of the era. The quintet's rhythm section of Garland, Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones provides an irresistible rhythmic foundation.
