Miles Davis, Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster]

Miles, the first album released by the trumpeter's classic 1955-57 quintet, is probably the least known of the bunch. (It was waxed after 'Round About Midnight and before all the gerunds: Workin, 'Steamin, 'Relaxin' and Cookin.') It's delightful, not least for what Miles does with his new toy, a metal Harmon mute with its central stem pulled out, to let a thin stream of air escape. The sound is at once relaxed and pressurized, and oh so perfect for ballads: slow ones like a lingered-over "There Is No Greater Love," and puckish ones like Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me." The quintet takes the delightful 1929 "S'posin'" uncommonly fast, and as elsewhere makes effective use of a simple ploy: John Coltrane's tenor sax is kept under wraps on the melody, to burst forth when it's time for his solo. Pianist Red Garland fleetly raps out the chords, Paul Chambers' bass walking is really more of a trot, and Philly Joe Jones's drum accents are a kick in the pants. The horn players 'phrasing isn't always so different on "S'posin'," but Miles keeps circling back to the melody, while Coltrane doesn't give it a backward glance. The horns get to harmonize too, sublimely, on Benny Golson's "Stablemates."