Steamin'

Performer: Miles Davis Quintet
Artist: John Coltrane; Red Garland; Paul Chambers; Philly Joe Jones
Producer: Bob Porter (Reissue); Nick Phillips (Reissue); Stuart Kemsky (Reissue); Chris Clough (Reissue)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 & October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Chris Albertson. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (acoustic bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 and October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Chris Albertson. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (acoustic bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 and October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 & October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Chris Albertson. This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 & October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Jason Koransky. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass guitar); Philly Joe Jones (drum). STEAMIN' is one of the classic albums by Miles Davis's first great quintet, along with WORKIN', RELAXIN', and COOKIN'. With John Coltrane beside him in the front line, and the smooth-as-cream rhythm section of Philly Joe Jones (drummer), Paul Chambers (drums), and Red Garland (piano), Miles creates, on STEAMIN', a definitive slice of sophisticated post bop. Whether treating standards ("When I Fall in Love;" "Surrey With the Fringe On Top") or Thelonious Monk ("Well, You Needn't"), Miles and company never misstep, turning in a record for the ages that will not go stale, no matter how many times it's played. The 2007 reissue features beautifully remastered sound. Although chronologically the last to be issued, this collection includes some of the best performances from the tapes which would produce the albums Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and ultimately, Steamin'. A primary consideration of these fruitful sessions is the caliber of musicians -- Miles Davis (trumpet), Red Garland (piano), John Coltrane (tenor sax), and Philly Joe Jones (drums) -- who were basically doing their stage act in the studio. As actively performing musicians, the material they are most intimate with would be their live repertoire. Likewise, what more obvious place than a studio is there to capture every inescapable audible nuance of the combo's musical group mind. The end results are consistently astonishing. At the center of Steamin', as with most outings by this band, are the group improvisations which consist of solo upon solo of arguably the sweetest and otherwise most swinging interactions known to have existed between musicians. "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" is passed between the mates like an old joke. Garland compliments threads started by Davis and Coltrane as their seamless interaction yields a stream of strikingly lyrical passages. There are two well-placed nods to fellow bop pioneers Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie on a revision of their "Salt Peanuts." Philly Joe Jones' mimicking cymbal speak -- which replicates Gillespie's original vocals -- is nothing short of genius. This rendition is definitely as crazy and unpredictable here as the original. Thelonious Monk also gets kudos on "Well, You Needn't." This quintet makes short work of the intricacies of the arrangement, adding the double horn lead on the choruses and ultimately redefining this jazz standard. Although there is no original material on Steamin', it may best represent the ability of the Miles Davis quintet to take standards and rebuild them to suit their qualifications. ~ Lindsay Planer The final in a series of legendary recordings with the classic Miles Davis Quintet, STEAMIN' is distinguished by the virtuosity of drummer Joseph Rudolph Jones. Philly Joe's soulful, stylish command of the drum set's technical demands (his remarkable coordination, touch and speed of hand) and his wily command of time demonstrate why he is venerated as an innovator. Philly Joe played right on top of the beat, sometimes spilling over ahead of it. He took more chances, and pulled off more daring polyrhythmic designs than any drummer of his generation save for Max Roach and Art Blakey. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on an abstract romp through Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts." Jones sets a fierce boppish pace with fragmented shards of Afro-Cuban accents, Vaudevillian rim shots and elegant counterpoint. An unbridled Coltrane is in his element, but how about the fleet-fingered Garland, or the soaring, wailing Davis? Philly Joe comes flying out of Coltrane's final chorus with richly accented rolls, and architecturally perfect rises and falls in texture and dynamics that possess an uncanny harmonic logic--a virtuoso storyteller. Elsewhere, Miles and the band enjoy a bold run through Monk's "Well You Needn't." They take a more supple approach to "Diane," "Something I Dreamed Last Night" and "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" (from the musical "Oklahoma"), transforming them into unlikely Davis classics. On "Surrey...," the trumpeter free-falls through the tune's thematic arc over a definitive quarter-note groove. Coltrane follows with long harmonic elisions that deconstruct the theme into a triple-timed soliloquy, until Garland uses his elegant two-handed voicings and pithy melodic miniatures to distill Trane's vociferous exclamations into a heady blues elixir. The final in a series of legendary recordings with the classic Miles Davis Quintet, STEAMIN' is distinguished by the virtuosity of drummer Joseph Rudolph Jones. Philly Joe's soulful, stylish command of the drum set's technical demands (his remarkable coordination, touch and speed of hand) and his wily command of time demonstrate why he is venerated as an innovator. Philly Joe played right on top of the beat, sometimes spilling over ahead of it. He took more chances, and pulled off more daring polyrhythmic designs than any drummer of his generation save for Max Roach and Art Blakey. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on an abstract romp through Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts." Jones sets a fierce boppish pace with fragmented shards of Afro-Cuban accents, Vaudevillian rim shots and elegant counterpoint. An unbridled Coltrane is in his element, but how about the fleet-fingered Garland, or the soaring, wailing Davis? Philly Joe comes flying out of Coltrane's final chorus with richly accented rolls, and architecturally perfect rises and falls in texture and dynamics that possess an uncanny harmonic logic--a virtuoso storyteller. Elsewhere, Miles and the band enjoy a bold run through Monk's "Well You Needn't." They take a more supple approach to "Diane," "Something I Dreamed Last Night" and "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" (from the musical "Oklahoma"), transforming them into unlikely Davis classics. On "Surrey...," the trumpeter free-falls through the tune's thematic arc over a definitive quarter-note groove. Coltrane follows with long harmonic elisions that deconstruct the theme into a triple-timed soliloquy, until Garland uses his elegant two-handed voicings and pithy melodic miniatures to distill Trane's vociferous exclamations into a heady blues elixir.

Q (Magazine) (p.133) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he playing and intimate atmosphere is near faultless..."

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