Blues by Five is a blues head composed by pianist Red Garland, first recorded on October 26, 1956, during the sessions that produced Cookin' with The Miles Davis Quintet for Prestige Records. The recording features Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. As the title suggests, the piece is a blues performed by a five-piece ensemble, and it serves as a vehicle for extended improvisation over a standard blues progression. The melody is a relaxed, swinging riff that establishes a laid-back groove, characteristic of Garland's understated yet harmonically rich approach to blues playing. The tune emerged from one of the famously productive marathon sessions that Davis organized for Prestige to fulfill his contractual obligations before moving to Columbia Records. These sessions, which yielded four complete albums in just two dates, captured the first great Miles Davis Quintet at the height of its creative rapport. Blues by Five remains a representative example of how a simple blues framework could draw out deeply personal and interactive improvisations from this celebrated group. Though less frequently called at jam sessions than some other heads from these recordings, it holds a respected place in the hard bop repertoire as an unadorned, swinging twelve-bar blues.
