{"id":2404002,"date":"2026-05-06T00:56:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2404002"},"modified":"2026-05-06T00:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:56:56","slug":"miles-56-the-prestige-recordings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/miles-56-the-prestige-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Miles \u201956: The Prestige Recordings\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cMiles \u201956: The Prestige Recordings<\/strong>,\u201d a new box <\/em>set celebrating one of the 20th<\/em> century\u2019s most important cultural <\/em>icons, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The set arrives June 19th<\/em> as part of a year-long centennial celebration<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This latest collection focuses on Davis\u2019 1956 <\/em>sessions for Prestige Records<\/em>, which resulted in such landmark albums as Cookin\u2019, Relaxin\u2019, Workin\u2019, and Steamin\u2019<\/em>, and features an all-star<\/em> line-up of talent, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Red Garland, Art Taylor, Paul Chambers, Tommy Flanagan, and Philly Joe Jones<\/em>.<\/p>\n

All audio <\/em>was transferred from the original <\/em>analog tapes and meticulously restored by Plangent Processes<\/em>. The collection was remastered by Grammy Award<\/em>-winning engineer Paul Blakemore <\/em>and lacquers were cut for the 180-gram vinyl LP<\/em> edition by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio<\/em>. <\/p>\n

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(Burt Goldblatt)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Produced by Nick Phillips<\/em>, both physical editions include a new essay by Grammy Award<\/em>-winning music historian Ashley Kahn<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Track notes by the late Dan Morgenstern<\/em>, a Grammy Award<\/em>-winning jazz historian <\/em>and archivist<\/em>, add additional insight into the 70-year-old recordings<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Additionally, a limited <\/em>run of merchandise featuring the iconic <\/em>artwork from \u201cWorkin\u2019, Cookin\u2019, Relaxin<\/em>\u2018,\u201d and \u201cSteamin\u2019 with the Miles Davis Quintet<\/em>\u201d will be available exclusively through the Craft <\/em>store.<\/p>\n

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For trailblazing trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis (1926 \u2013 1991), 1956 was a pivotal year, centered around his first consistent group, The Miles Davis Quintet. <\/p>\n

Formed just a few months earlier, the band\u2014known as the \u201cFirst Great Quintet\u201d\u2014featured a who\u2019s who of rising stars, including tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Together, they would become a defining force of the hard bop era.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe group simply had so much to offer,\u201d writes Ashley Kahn. \u201cDepending on what tune they were engaging, and who was soloing, the group\u2019s sound could change energy and effect, such was the flexibility and contrasting styles of its members\u2026. Collectively, the band was able to breathe as one, in a natural, imprecise way. The group could deliver fire and, just as effectively, stillness\u2014which Miles was famously responsible for.\u201d<\/p>\n

After recording their debut album in November 1955 (Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet), the quintet further honed their sound through non-stop touring, playing packed residencies across North America, while, at home in New York, they maintained a regular presence at the West Village hotspot, Caf\u00e9 Bohemia. Their setlists, Kahn shares, \u201creflected a \u2018ballads, burners and blues\u2019 mix of material,\u201d including standards like \u201cMy Funny Valentine\u201d and \u201cSurrey With the Fringe on Top;\u201d bebop mainstays, such as \u201cWoody\u2019N You\u201d and \u201cSalt Peanuts;\u201d and tunes by contemporaries, including Sonny Rollins\u2019 \u201cOleo,\u201d Thelonious Monk\u2019s \u201cWell You Needn\u2019t\u201d and Ahmad Jamal\u2019s \u201cAhmad\u2019s Blues.\u201d Davis\u2019 originals were also regularly sprinkled into the mix, including \u201cHalf Nelson\u201d and \u201cFour.\u201d<\/p>\n

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By now, Davis\u2019 profile had grown significantly, attracting attention from the press, his peers, and record labels. While still under contract with Prestige, Davis signed to Columbia Records, with the full blessing of the independent label\u2019s founder, Bob Weinstock. To fulfill his contractual obligations with Prestige, he scheduled two marathon sessions at Rudy Van Gelder\u2019s storied Hackensack studio, where he would record enough material for several years\u2019 worth of albums. The sessions, which took place on May 11 and October 26, were treated by the quintet as live gigs, as they performed the set lists that they had perfected over the preceding months, including the aforementioned selections. The subsequent recordings captured the quintet\u2019s on-stage magic with a palpable sense of immediacy.<\/p>\n

Kahn writes, \u201cMost tunes feature the quintet, but as they would onstage, they stretched to include the bands-within-the-band idea; for example, Coltrane laying out as Miles led the rhythm section on \u2018My Funny Valentine,\u2019 and Garland taking over with a piano trio version of \u2018Ahmad\u2019s Blues.\u2019\u201d He adds, \u201cOther than a second try at \u2018The Theme,\u2019 these were all first takes. Like the final set on a Tuesday night, they hit it, quit it, and went home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tracks they recorded in May and October would be released as four iconic albums: Cookin\u2019 (1957), Relaxin\u2019 (1958), Workin\u2019 (1960), and Steamin\u2019 (1961)\u2014each with a full title that includes \u201cwith the Miles Davis Quintet.\u201d One outlier, the Thelonious Monk-penned \u201c\u2019Round Midnight\u201d\u2014which would become a signature tune for Davis\u2014appeared on 1959\u2019s Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants.<\/p>\n

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Tracklist (4-LP Vinyl)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Side A
1. In Your Own Sweet Way (March 16, 1956 version)
2. No Line
3. Vierd Blues
4. In Your Own Sweet Way (May 11, 1956 version) <\/em><\/p>\n

Side B
1. Diane
2. Trane\u2019s Blues
3. Something I Dreamed Last Night<\/p>\n

Side C
1. It Could Happen to You
2. Woody\u2019N You
3. Ahmad\u2019s Blues<\/p>\n

Side D
1. Surrey With the Fringe on Top
2. It Never Entered My Mind
3. When I Fall in Love
4. Salt Peanuts<\/p>\n

Side E
1. Four
2. The Theme (Take 1)
3. The Theme (Take 2)
4. If I Were a Bell
5. Well, You Needn\u2019t<\/p>\n

Side F
1. \u2019Round Midnight
2. Half Nelson
3. You\u2019re My Everything
4. I Could Write a Book<\/p>\n

Side G
1. Oleo
2. Airegin
3. Tune Up
4. When Lights Are Low<\/p>\n

Side H
1. Blues by Five
2. My Funny Valentine <\/p>\n

Tracklist (3-CD\/Digital):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disc 1
1. In Your Own Sweet Way (March 16, 1956 version)
2. No Line
3. Vierd Blues
4. In Your Own Sweet Way (May 11, 1956 version)
5. Diane
6. Trane\u2019s Blues
7. Something I Dreamed Last Night
8. It Could Happen to You
9. Woody\u2019N You
10. Ahmad\u2019s Blues<\/em><\/p>\n

Disc 2
1. Surrey With the Fringe on Top
2. It Never Entered My Mind
3. When I Fall in Love
4. Salt Peanuts
5. Four
6. The Theme (Take 1)
7. The Theme (Take 2)
8. If I Were a Bell
9. Well, You Needn\u2019t<\/p>\n

Disc 3
1. \u2019Round Midnight
2. Half Nelson
3. You\u2019re My Everything
4. I Could Write a Book
5. Oleo
6. Airegin
7. Tune Up
8. When Lights Are Low
9. Blues by Five
10. My Funny Valentine\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Additionally, Miles \u201956<\/em> includes the trumpeter\u2019s other Prestige <\/em>session that year, captured on March 16th<\/em> and featuring Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Art Taylor (drums)<\/em>. The session<\/em>\u2014which marked the bandleader\u2019s final <\/em>studio date with Rollins <\/em>and his sole recorded collaboration with Flanagan<\/em>\u2014includes two Davis <\/em>originals (\u201cVierd Blues,\u201d \u201cNo Line\u201d<\/em>) plus the Dave Brubeck<\/em>-penned \u201cIn Your Own Sweet Way<\/em>,\u201d all of which appeared on the 1956 LP, Collectors\u2019 Items.<\/em><\/p>\n

The impact <\/em>of the 1956 <\/em>quintet recordings could be felt immediately <\/em>upon release, as critics welcomed them with open arms and young jazz musicians sought to emulate Davis\u2019<\/em> approach to improvisation. Their lasting influence<\/em>, however, still reverberates. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the tunes and arrangements from the quintet\u2019s 1956 sessions can be heard in the repertoire of contemporary jazz ensembles<\/em>,\u201d notes Kahn<\/em>. \u201cIn approach and attitude, this music\u2026continues to inspire and build student improvisers, providing them a solid foundation to take a leap and find their own way to push the music forward.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

While this iteration of the quintet would only spend a brief <\/em>time together, they played a crucial role in shaping Davis <\/em>as an artist, helping him come into his own as a bandleader and find his voice as a musician<\/em>. <\/p>\n

As 1956 <\/em>closed, Davis <\/em>was primed to embark on a new chapter<\/em>\u2014one that would find his star ascending to unbelievable heights<\/em>. <\/p>\n

He would continue to innovate <\/em>for decades<\/em>, shaping the sounds of post-bop and fusion,<\/em> while experimenting with electronic elements, funk, rock, pop, and African rhythms <\/em>well into the late 1980s<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Today<\/em>, his vast catalog continues <\/em>to resonate <\/em>far beyond the world of jazz<\/em>.<\/p>\n