Steamin' With the Miles Davis Quintet [Import]

Miles Davis Quintet, Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1956
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000YLS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,776 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Surrey With The Fringe On Top

2. Salt Peanuts

3. Something I Dreamed Last Night

4. Diane

5. Well, You Needn't

6. When I Fall In Love

Editorial Reviews

CD > POPULAR MUSIC > JAZZ

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Miles with the Fringe on Top, June 11, 2004

By 

G B (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steamin' With the Miles Davis Quintet (Audio CD)

This was the last of four albums recorded by the Miles Davis Quintet for Prestige records in 1956. (Cookin', Relaxin', and Workin' are the others.) My feeling is that the music, while generally strong, is what you'd expect from the last material to be released -- the music on the other albums (particularly Cookin' and Relaxin') is mostly better than what you'll find on this album.

The highlight, and without a doubt one of the best recordings from the 1956 Prestige sessions, is "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top". The rhythm section sets up their perfect light swinging groove, over which Miles's weaves a witty, melodic trumpet solo. Coltrane follows, barrelling ahead and providing the perfect constrast. "Diane" mines a similar groove though not quite reaching the same heights. The two ballads ("Something I Dreamed Last Night" and "When I Fall in Love") are typical for Miles during this time, with Coltrane sitting out; I think they are pretty colorless in comparison to "My Funny Valentine" (Cookin') and "It Never Entered My Mind" (Workin'). The same could be said for the bebop tunes -- not really on the caliber of "Airegin", "Oleo" or "Tune Up". Most of the music comes from the May session, not from the October session, so Coltrane's playing is more erratic than on Cookin' and Relaxin'.

I would get the other 3 albums from these sessions first, but this was a good enough group that almost everything by them is worth hearing. Steamin' is a very enjoyable listen.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With the Fringe on Top, October 17, 2004

By 

William Baude (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Steamin' With the Miles Davis Quintet (Audio CD)

For many years I have nursed a belief that My Funny Valentine on Cookin' was the single best piece of jazz music ever recorded on CD. Some crises of faith-- Lester Young's This Year's Kisses, Dave Brubeck's Take Five, etc.-- had challenged this conviction, but for the first time I think I may have a conversion.

Miles Davis's trumpet on Surrey With The Fringe on Top on this CD is the best that I have ever heard. It is physically impossible for anybody with a soul to be upset while listening to the first 35 seconds of this song.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steamin'? Indeed!, March 2, 2000

By 

Micah Newman (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Steamin' With the Miles Davis Quintet (Audio CD)

Out of that quartet of LPs (Cookin'..., Workin'..., Relaxin'..., Steamin'...) culled from the 1956 Hackensack sessions with that absolutely *definitive* lineup of John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and "Philly" Joe Jones, this is my favorite. That swing, that joyous *oomph* they collectively create, is not just outrageously foot-tapping, it's almost enough to get me out of my seat and MOVE (and that takes a lot, me being an assiduous non-dancer)! One of my favorite Miles Davis albums out of the almost limitless catalog. What words can express my appreciation that music this good has been preserved for all time on a CD I'll enjoy for the rest of my life?