"Trane's Blues" from Miles Davis's 1956 album Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is an extended blues performance featuring four soloists across the 12-bar form in B-flat. Davis opens with six choruses of trumpet at 163 BPM, his solo a model of blues phrasing that balances sophistication with earthy directness. Coltrane follows with seven choruses of tenor saxophone, the John Coltrane composition providing him with a natural vehicle for the blues-drenched playing that formed the foundation of his art. Red Garland delivers seven choruses of piano, his block chords and single-note lines creating a solo of considerable variety. Paul Chambers closes with four choruses of acoustic bass, demonstrating his melodic invention and the extraordinary thumb-position technique that amazed his contemporaries. The track's generous solo allocations across all four instrumentalists reflect the quintet's democratic spirit and the musicians' collective appetite for extended improvisation. The 12-bar blues form provides the most fundamental structure in jazz, and each soloist finds distinctly personal things to say within its familiar confines. The recording captures the quintet at the height of its powers, every member contributing with inspiration and conviction.
