Miles Davis Quintet - Steamin' (1976 Japanese Prestige Mono Vinyl LP)

The Miles Davis Quintet - Steamin' With The Miles Davis Quintet | Vinyl LP - 1976 Prestige Japanese Pressing (SMJ-6533, mono, Victor Musical Industries)

Miles Davis signed with Columbia Records in 1955, but his contract with Prestige still had material to deliver. Rather than stretch the obligation across months of sessions, he brought his quintet to Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 and October 26, 1956 and recorded enough music to fill four albums. The band ran through standards and show tunes at tempo, often in a single take, with minimal discussion between tracks. Bob Weinstock supervised for Prestige and let the tape roll. The result was Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' and Steamin', released one per year from 1957 to 1961 as Prestige spread the material across its release schedule. Steamin' was the last to appear.

The repertoire is all covers. "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" opens with a nine-minute reading of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song that turns a Broadway show tune into a vehicle for extended improvisation. "Salt Peanuts" takes Dizzy Gillespie's bebop anthem at a blazing tempo. "Well You Needn't" is Thelonious Monk's, played with the angular phrasing Monk wrote into the melody. The three remaining tracks are ballads: "Something I Dreamed Last Night," "Diane" and "When I Fall In Love," each one taken at a pace that lets Coltrane's tenor and Davis's muted trumpet fill the space without competing. Red Garland's piano comps throughout with the block-chord style that defined this quintet's sound.

This is the 1976 Japanese pressing (SMJ-6533), manufactured by Victor Musical Industries from Prestige's master tapes, part of the Prestige Jazz Masterpiece Series. It includes an obi and a two-sided insert.