Miles Davis has been reissued often enough to qualify for his own pressing plant, so another version of Cookin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet needs a reason to exist. Craft Recordings has one with this new $39 Original Jazz Classics edition, mastered AAA from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI and housed in a Stoughton tip-on jacket.
More importantly, it sounds excellent and offers a far easier alternative to hunting down a clean Prestige original that has survived nearly 70 years of worn styli, cigarette smoke, bodily fluids, basement storage and optimistic Discogs grading. This Miles Davis Cookin’ review asks the more useful question: does Craft Recordings’ new $39 Original Jazz Classics pressing give you enough of the magic without paying collector prices for somebody else’s history?
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- Miles Davis Miles ’56 Review: Craft’s Prestige Box Set Makes The First Great Quintet Essential Again
- Review: Miles ’55 – Craft Recordings Revives Miles Davis’ 1955 Prestige Sessions
Four Albums From Two Historic Sessions
By 1956, Miles Davis had outgrown Prestige, Columbia wanted him, and Miles found a way to make the divorce work for everybody. Still under contract to Prestige, he signed with Columbia with Bob Weinstock’s blessing, agreeing to give Prestige enough material to stockpile future albums while Columbia waited to release its first Miles recordings. The solution was two marathon sessions at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio on May 11 and October 26 with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. Prestige eventually turned those dates into Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’ and Steamin’ — four albums that sound considerably less like contractual housekeeping than one of the great jazz bands kicking the door off its hinges.
The reason is fairly simple: this was a working band, not five famous names assembled for a session photo. Months of touring and club dates had tightened the First Great Quintet to the point that Van Gelder’s studio could be treated almost like another gig; aside from a second attempt at “The Theme,” the material from the two marathon dates was captured in first takes. Cookin’, released in July 1957 and drawn from the October 26 session, feels spontaneous because the musicians had already done the hard work onstage.
“My Funny Valentine” strips the group down by having Coltrane sit out, leaving Miles enough oxygen to demonstrate why silence and space could be every bit as important as the notes coming out of his horn. “Blues by Five” lets Garland, Chambers and Philly Joe Jones dig in, while Sonny Rollins’ “Airegin” gives Coltrane room to bring more friction and urgency against Miles’ cooler phrasing. By the closing “Tune Up/When Lights Are Low,” there is no sense of five musicians taking turns; they are listening, reacting and pushing one another in real time. That is why Cookin’ still works nearly 70 years later. It sounds less like an album being made than a very good night that somebody had the sense to record.
How Does the New OJC Sound?
The review copy is exceptionally clean and well centered, with virtually no distracting surface noise. Although Cookin’ was recorded in mono, the instrumental definition is excellent, with Miles, Coltrane, Garland, Chambers and Jones remaining easy to distinguish throughout the recording. There is a convincing sense of space around the musicians, which allows the performances to breathe without sacrificing the density and energy of the quintet.
The horns are especially well handled. Miles has plenty of bite and presence but never becomes hot or piercing, while Coltrane retains his harder edge without sounding exaggerated. Chambers and Jones provide enough weight and propulsion to keep everything grounded, and nothing about the mastering tries to make a 1956 Rudy Van Gelder recording sound artificially modern.
Is It Worth $39?
If you already own a genuinely clean VG+ original or another excellent audiophile pressing, there is no compelling reason to replace it. For everyone else, this is a very strong value, combining AAA mastering from the original tapes, an excellent RTI pressing and quality packaging without the increasingly common $60, $75 or $100 audiophile vinyl tax.
Miles Davis was a once-in-a-lifetime musician: difficult, opinionated and equipped with an ego substantial enough to require its own rhythm section, perhaps, but none of that mattered once the horn reached his lips. Nearly 70 years later, very few musicians have sounded so unmistakably themselves within the first few notes.
Considering the session took place in Hackensack, sending Miles and the band to Hiram’s afterward probably requires surrendering my North Jersey credentials. White Manna was already serving its famous little burgers nearby, and Hackensack residents are currently cookin’ over plans to move the actual 80-year-old diner about a mile up the road and expand it. The building is coming along for the ride, but judging by some of the reaction, you would think they were relocating the George Washington Bridge.
Miles probably would have ignored the entire argument. He could have cooked those burgers with his horn, and nearly 70 years later, Cookin’ still does exactly what the title promises.
Our Ratings:
★★★★★★★★★★ Music
★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality
★★★★★★★★★★ Pressing Quality
Where to Buy:
Related Reading:
- Craft Recordings Honors Miles Davis And John Coltrane With Centennial Original Jazz Classics Vinyl Reissues
- Record Reviews: Craft Recordings’ OJC Reissues Miles Davis’ Walkin’ And The Musings Of Miles
- Jazz Vinyl Review: Rare LPs By Donald Byrd, Miles Davis And Clark Terry Reissued
