By 1955, Miles Davis had been recording on the Prestige label for four years. But as his career began to gain momentum, getting a group together was an inevitable career decision. The Miles Davis Quintet consisted of Paul Chambers on bass, John Coltrane on tenor, Red Garland on the keys, Philly Joe Jones on the sticks and Miles on the trumpet. With this group, Miles had more than a steady performance group - he had a vehicle. In the space of about a year, the quintet recorded five full-length LPs - and that was just for Prestige. This was one of the busiest and most headlong periods for Miles Davis.
Let me first say that the music collected in The Legendary Prestige Sessions box set is infallible. The albums that these sessions spawned — namely The New Miles Davis Quintet, as well as the legendary 1956 quadriptych Relaxin', Steamin', Workin' and Cookin' — are among the finest I've heard in Miles' catalogue: these are the kind of songs that move you in a way only Jazz music can. Sure, it's not perfect, but it didn't have to be; Prestige wanted it hard and quick, and they got it that way. Far removed from Columbia's relaxed, multiple-session approach to album recording, or even the future extremes of Mingus' perfectionism and sophisticated techniques, the quintet recorded straight, with no retakes.
In fact, since these sessions were so quick and dirty, there are no alternate takes or unreleased numbers here; in that sense, the box set might seem perfunctory. What we have here is the music that comprised the original records on three CDs, plus one fourth disc exclusive to the box: it features radio and television broadcasts, as well as transcriptions of Miles' solos comprised of remastered live broadcasts. The quality on this bonus disc is a little poor, but listenable.
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