"Salt Peanuts" is a white-hot rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's bebop anthem from Miles Davis's 1956 Prestige album Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. Built on rhythm changes in a 32-bar AABA form in F at an explosive tempo exceeding 340 bpm, the performance is one of the fastest in the quintet's recorded output. Red Garland opens with a single piano chorus before Davis enters with two trumpet choruses that navigate the extreme speed with his trademark clarity and space, a remarkable achievement at this tempo. John Coltrane follows with two tenor saxophone choruses of characteristically dense, exploratory playing, his rapid-fire note choices demonstrating his growing mastery of the instrument. Drummer Philly Joe Jones then takes an extended eight-chorus solo that is a tour de force of bebop drumming, his independence between hands and feet creating a polyrhythmic tapestry of extraordinary complexity. The decision to tackle one of Gillespie's most famous compositions head-on demonstrates the quintet's confidence and competitive spirit, while the quality of the improvisation at this extreme tempo confirms their status as one of the great working bands in jazz history.
