Cookin' With the Miles Davis Quintet

The first great Miles Davis quintet included John Coltrane, Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, and Paul Chambers, a group whose every record, honestly, is worthy of attention. The string of LPs, recorded in a blistering artistic marathon in 1956 and released originally on Prestige, is collected on the magnificent eight-CD Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings and draws from their exceptional nightly club repertoire. Cookin' opens with "My Funny Valentine," just as Davis often did on gigs during this period. It gets a slight edge over the other Prestige titles of this group only because it offers a nice balance of ballads, blues, and hard-bop warhorses. Coltrane at this point lacked the consistency and otherworldly inspiration of his later work, but he was playing with a force and even a recklessness that contrasted with Davis's quiet ruminations. But on this record Davis is inspired and witty, and Coltrane matches him all the way. Meanwhile, an all-star rhythm section follows them at every step, helping create an organic unity among equals that was unprecedented in jazz before this group. --John Szwed