Miles Davis Quintet
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The Miles Davis Quintet was a bebop-oriented jazz quintet formed in 1955 by trumpet player Miles Davis. The quintet featured John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on double-bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums and Miles Davis on the trumpet. Although most of the members of the group are considered very important contributors to the jazz idiom today, at the time of its formation the members of Miles' Quintet were virtually unknown.
Miles Davis had just kicked his heroin addiction in early 1955 when he performed such a strong version of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, that Columbia Records signed Davis to a recording contract, which allowed him to assemble a working band.[1]
But Miles had to fulfill the obligations in his contract with Prestige Records for 4 more albums during this time, which produced five albums from 1955 to 1956. The ensemble recorded five albums for Prestige Records the first being The New Miles Davis Quintet, and the others being the critically acclaimed Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, and Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet all being recorded within two days in May 1956 by Rudy Van Gelder.
The group was never stable, especially since a few of the members used heroin, and Miles disbanded the group in early 1957.
The members of the quintet continued to record with Davis in the following years, recording the album Milestones in 1958 with the addition of Cannonball Adderley on alto sax. Although the quintet was never reassembled, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley would continue recording with Davis through 1959. Most notably, this period produced the landmark album, Kind of Blue recorded in 1959, which is widely considered Davis' greatest album and one of the greatest jazz albums ever made.
The Miles Davis Quintet is often referred to as Miles Davis' 'First Great Quintet' to distinguish between Davis' other notable quintet aptly titled the 'Second Great Quintet' (1964-1968), which consisted of Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on double bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone.
