Miles Davis Workin

A beautiful way to experience the early work of Miles Davis - all 14 of his 50s albums for Prestige Records, presented in a special box that contains each album in a tiny replica LP-styled sleeve. The music here is the stuff of legend - trumpet material that really transformed the way the instrument was used in jazz - as Davis really comes into his own as a leader, after time spent recording with Charlie Parker, and doing a bit for Blue Note - then really taking off in the full length space offered by the album format on Prestige. Some of these sets feature classic collaborations with the young John Coltrane, and others include work with Sonny Rollins on tenor, Milt Jackson on vibes, and JJ Johnson on trombone - as well as the famous rhythm section of Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums…

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…

Cookin' is the first of four albums derived from the Miles Davis Quintet's fabled extended recording session on October 26, 1956; the concept being that the band would document its vast live-performance catalog in a studio environment, rather than preparing all new tracks for its upcoming long-player…

Undeniably one of the best small bands in the history of jazz, the Miles Davis quintet of the mid-1950s made history at the Cafe Bohemia on Manhattan's Barrow Street and in the New Jersey studio of Rudy Van Gelder for Prestige. This is the third in a series of four LPs taped in two marathon studio sessions, done in the style of sets at the Bohemia and producing music of high energy and immediacy. Preceded by Cookin' and Relaxin' , Workin' is a mix of standards and originals, up-tempos and ballads, and a trio number, "Ahmad's Blues." The music this quintet made in the mid-Fifties period will live forever: the excitement of the emerging…