Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet

Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
Studio album by
Miles Davis
ReleasedJuly 1957 (1957-07)[1][2]
RecordedOctober 26, 1956
StudioVan Gelder Studio
Hackensack, New Jersey
GenreJazz
Length34:02
LabelPrestige
PRLP 7094
ProducerBob Weinstock
Miles Davis chronology
Walkin'
(1957) 		Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
(1957) 		Miles Ahead
(1957)

Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is a studio album by the Miles Davis Quintet which was released in July 1957 through Prestige Records.[1][2] The recording sessions were at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1956. As the musicians had to pay for the studio time (a result of a rather modest contract with Prestige), their recordings are practically live.[citation needed] Two sessions on 11 May and 26 October 1956 resulted in four albums — this one, Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet and Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet.

It was the first of the four LPs to be released. In response to the album title, Davis said, "After all, that's what we did—came in and cooked."[3] Reid Miles designed the album's cover and Phil Hays provided the illustration.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Disc[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Music Box[8]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[9]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[10]
Tom HullA−[11]
All About Jazz[12]

In a review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer wrote: "As these recordings demonstrate, there is an undeniable telepathic cohesion that allows this band... to work so efficiently both on the stage and the studio... The immediate yet somewhat understated ability of each musician to react with ingenuity and precision is expressed in the consistency and singularity of each solo as it is maintained from one musician to the next without the slightest deviation."[5]

Chris May of All About Jazz commented: "Cookin' may not have had the big budget and glossy marketing CBS brought to Davis' subsequent releases, but... it contains some of the most alive and moving music he ever recorded... His lyricism remains dark and brooding, but it's so rich it sings."[12]

Writing for The Music Box, John Metzger called the album "essential," stating that it "precisely showcased the ensemble's full range and potential," and praising the "absolutely extraordinary" communication amongst the musicians.[8]

Track listing

Prestige – LP 7094:

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."My Funny Valentine"Richard Rodgers6:04
2."Blues by Five"Miles Davis10:23
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Airegin"Sonny Rollins4:26
2."Tune Up / When Lights Are Low"Miles Davis / Benny Carter, Spencer Williams13:09
Total length:34:02

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b DeVito, Chris; Fujioka, Yasuhiro; Schmaler, Wolf; Wild, David (2013). Porter, Lewis (ed.). The John Coltrane Reference. New York/Abingdon: Routledge. p. 447. ISBN 9780415634632. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b Parnes, Sid, ed. (20 July 1957). "July Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. p. 52. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 May 2022.
  3. ^ Peter Losin. "PRESTIGE LP 7094: Cookin' with The Miles Davis Quintet". Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Miles Davis LP cover". Jazz and Draw. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019.
  5. ^ a b AllMusic review
  6. ^ Hall, Tony (12 July 1958). "Reviews". Disc. No. 23. p. 19.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  8. ^ a b Music Box review
  9. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  10. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 57. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  11. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940s-50s)". Tom Hull - on the Web. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b May, Chris (26 February 2007). "Miles Davis Quintet: Cookin'". All About Jazz. Retrieved 28 February 2023.