Miles Davis - Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet

Miles Davis - Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet

Miles Davis' quintet was formed in 1955 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest combos in jazz history. Relaxin' is the third in a series of four albums featuring the classic Miles Davis Quintet: Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums). Like the other albums Cookin', Steamin' and Workin', Relaxin' is the product of not one - as many would claim- but two massively productive recording sessions during May and October of 1956, respectively. The program presents some tunes the quintet had been playing live, along with others that appear to have been improvised on the spot and which had never been previously recorded. This is the first version of If I Were a Bell by Miles, who would include the tune in his repertoire until 1965. These are also the first versions of You're My Everything and I Could Write a Book by Miles, who wouldn't record any of these songs ever again. Just one other version of It Could Happen to You exists by Davis, captured live at Birdland on May 3, 1952 in a quartet setting (it was Miles' feature on a quintet gig with Jackie McLean). In contrast, many versions of Dizzy Gillespie's Woody'n You by Davis exist. He had previously recorded the tune in the studio on May 9, 1952, on a date which also included J.J. Johnson on trombone and Jackie McLean on alto sax. Sonny Rollins' Oleo is also well represented in Miles' discography. His final recorded version of the tune was made at the Plugged Nickel in 1965. The reading on Relaxin' is the third in his discography, preceded by a studio version with Milt Jackson from June 29, 1954 and a live version taken from a radio broadcast on July 21, 1956 (with Coltrane). As a bonus to this superb album, we have added a quartet version of the beautiful ballad It Never Entered My Mind, recorded by Miles in 1954.

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