Miles Davis Quintet - Cookin' (1973 Japanese Prestige Mono Vinyl LP)

The Miles Davis Quintet - Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet | Vinyl LP - 1973 Prestige Japanese Pressing (LPR-88004, mono, Toshiba EMI)

Cookin' was the first of the four marathon session albums to be released, appearing on Prestige in 1957 while Miles Davis was already recording for Columbia. The music comes from the same two dates, May 11 and October 26, 1956, that produced Steamin', Relaxin' and Workin', and the quintet on all four is identical: Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The distinction between the four albums is repertoire, not personnel or approach. Cookin' opens with "My Funny Valentine," the Rodgers and Hart ballad that Davis played throughout his career. His muted trumpet states the melody with a directness that strips the song of its Broadway origins and turns it into something personal, and Coltrane's solo runs deeper into the harmony than most tenors would attempt on a ballad at this tempo. "Blues By Five" is a ten-minute blues blowout. Side B opens with Sonny Rollins's "Airegin" (Nigeria spelled backwards) and closes with a thirteen-minute medley of "Tune Up" and "When Lights Are Low" that shows the quintet at its most relaxed.

This is the 1973 Japanese pressing (LPR-88004), manufactured by Toshiba EMI as part of the Jazz Right Now series.