Stablemates

Composed by Benny Golson in 1954-1955, "Stablemates" entered the jazz repertoire through an unusual route: John Coltrane brought the tune to Miles Davis, who recorded it with his quintet (featuring Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones) on November 16, 1955, at Van Gelder Studio for the album "Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet." Davis later asked Golson, "What were you smoking when you wrote that tune?"—a reflection of its unconventional harmonic architecture. Golson himself explained that "the meat of it's in the intervals, what follows what," highlighting the sophisticated voice leading that distinguishes the composition. The tune's unusual 36-bar ABA structure features asymmetrical 14-bar A sections and an 8-bar bridge, with half-diminished harmonies that became a Golson trademark. Golson recorded what many consider the definitive version in 1958 on "Benny Golson and the Philadelphians" with Lee Morgan. Since then, "Stablemates" has been recorded over 110 times, including John Coltrane's appearance on Paul Chambers' "Chambers' Music" (1956), and continues to challenge contemporary musicians. The AllSolos database features notable performances by Chad Lefkowitz-Brown with Steven Feifke and Yasushi Nakamura, Holger Marjamaa, and Matt Zebley with Ron Stout and Alan Ferber, among others.