56 (The Prestige Recordings)

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Recorded when Miles Davis was still on the cusp of becoming a mononymou, genre-defining star, this collection—primarily made up of two marathon 1956 sessions that the trumpeter recorded with his “first great quintet” to fulfill obligations to the indie label Prestige—is more confident and easy than it is frantic and ambitiou. Davis’ quintet here featured John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chamber, and Philly Joe Jone, all at the height of their powers and completely in sync. Davis fans will already be familiar with these recordings as <i>Cookin’</i>, <i>Steamin’</i>, <i>Workin’</i>, and <i>Relaxin'</i> but can listen here in chronological order. The set begins with a brief (also previously released) all-star session from the same year featuring Sonny Rollins in the place Coltrane would inherit alongside pianist Tommy Flanagan, Chamber, and drummer Art Taylor. Though Davis and his colleagues didn’t yet use the high-concept, perennially progressive approach that would come to define his LP, these recordings remain some of his most beloved—classic, concise, and timele. Ballads are urbane and unrepentantly romantic, show tunes swing with a wink that never overpowers the playing itself, and new compositions show if not the shape of jazz to come, the shape of jazz in that wildly prolific mid-’50s moment. .

via Apple Music

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