This pair of remastered vinyl recordings have a special place In my heart, as they are literally the first jazz albums that I heard back in the day. I’ve had them in vinyl, cassette and cd, and this 180 gram remastered pair of albums is like visiting an old friend. I haven’t heard these two albums in years, and yet they sound as fresh as a morning shower.
Miles Davis’ first “Classic” Quintet of John Coltrane/ts, Red Garland/p, Paul Chambers/b and Philly Joe Jones/dr had two marathon recording sessions in 1956, from which four albums were produced. Workin’ is arguably the best, with Garland’s romantic piano handing the baton to Miles’ muted horn on a lovely and lonely “It Never Entered My Mind”. “Four” includes Davis’ iconic solo after Jones snappy intro. The team is delicate and sweet on “Your Own Sweet Way” with Coltrane in bold form on “Trane’s Blues” and “Half Nelson”. Garland gets featured on the crystalline “Ahmad’s Blues” and there are two takes of the signature “The Theme”. This is the way jazz is supposed to sound.
John Coltrane took some time off from Davis to get some musical mentorship from Thelonious Monk, and sessions from 1957-58 here resulted in some of the most glorious sounds from both artists. The quartet of Trane and Monk with Wilbur Ware/b and Shadow Wilson/dr include the definitive read of “Ruby My Dear”, with the tenor saxist sounding light years removed from the Davis band just a year before in terms of sensitivity. The two sparkle and cajole on “Trinkle Tinkle” with Monk in a buoyant mood for “Off Minor”. Does music get better than this?
Art Blakey takes over on drums, with Monk and Trane beefed up with tenor veteran Coleman Hawkins, alto sax bopper Gigi Gryce and trumpeter Ray Bryant for a rollicking take of “Functional” and muscular “Nutty”. The juxtaposition of Hawkins and Coltrane make for fascinating comparison, while Monk’s solo of “Epistrophy” is sine qua non. Still crazy after all these years.