Miles Daviss First Great Quintet

Today's video discusses Miles Davis's Hard Bop quintet from the late 1950s. As you
know, Miles was a great jazz trumpet player, and one of the most influential musicians in
jazz history. We'll study Miles's career and his various style transformations in depth later
in the course. Today we're discussing just his Hard Bop quintet, also called his First Great
Quintet.
In 1956, Miles was offered an attractive recording contract by Columbia Records, one of
the major labels of the time. In order for Miles to sign that contract, he had to satisfy the
terms of his Prestige contract by making four more albums. So he had a contract with
Prestige Records that he needed to complete before moving to Columbia.
So, on two days in 1956, he brought his quintet into the studio. They did four albums in
two days to fulfill this contract. These albums ended up being called Cookin', Relaxin',
Workin', and Steamin'. There are 26 tracks that were made in those days-- in those two
days-- and they were all first takes. So it's an amazing set of recordings that documents
what happens "on the spot" in jazz.
The members of this first great quintet were Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on
tenor saxophone, Philly Joe Jones on the drums, Paul Chambers on the bass, and Red
Garland on the piano. The Prestige label knew they had great records, and so they held on
to them and released them one at a time over a four-year period between 1957 and 1961.
The order of the releases were-- Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin'. The first
selection I've chosen to discuss from these albums is called "Trane's Blues," from the
album Workin'.
On this record, you'll hear that Miles's as approach is a little more relaxed, and that he
plays with a little less fire than a lot of other Hard Bop trumpet players did, such as Lee
Morgan. He uses longer note values and more space between his motives, his ideas. His
blues references seem more gentle than other Hard Bop trumpet players. And the final
thing to note is that his approach is quite different than John Coltrane's approach.
As you might expect from this title this song is in blues form. Miles reflects the blues
form in a number of courses in his improvisation by beginning his phrases at the start of
each four-measure section, and by playing a slightly longer third phrase. We might think
of that as the same as we think of the commentary in blues lyrics. Miles also loves to play
just a little bit behind the beat, which helps the music seem relaxed. So let's listen to
"Trane's Blues:"
[MUSIC PLAYING: TRANES BLUES (r. 1956) :21-:43]
[During music:} Second phrase:
[MUSIC FADES]
And that's where Miles starts another new chorus with a new phrase. And he follows that
logic and that structure through most of the choruses of his improvisation. So if you listen
to the complete recording, you can easily follow the form and follow that strategy that
Miles uses.
Another interesting thing about Miles's improvisations on the blues was that he often
quoted the early jazz song "When the Saints Go Marching In" in the midst of his
improvisations. So he would take the melody to "When the Saints," which starts with
these four notes-- [PLAYS PIANO] And he'd play that over the blues form, which was
not necessarily the place that "The Saints Go Marching In" was usually played, but that
was how Miles incorporated it. Jazz musicians like to do that every once in a while,
though, incorporate quotes from other jazz tunes, or even from music outside of jazz, to
create a little interest.
So Miles would play-- [PLAYS PIANO] -just those opening notes. [PLAYS PIANO]
Play them again, add a blue note-- [PLAYS PIANO] --and then back to the original. And
then maybe play a commentary-- [PLAYS PIANO] --and refer it, one more time, to that
motive. [PLAYS PIANO] To kind of wrap up the whole chorus. Some really great
playings. You can hear that on a number of Miles's recordings.
Miles's front line partner was the tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, who became another
of our "all-time jazz greats." We'll hear excerpts from both Miles and Coltrane on this
next selection, called "If I Were a Bell," from the album Relaxin'.
Miles Davis uses the harmon mute on this recording. That's a trademark of his sound. It
makes the trumpet sound a little more metallic and a little more icy. Miles doesn't use this
in every recording that he made through his career, but he used it so often that the sound
became synonymous with Miles.
In this excerpt, we hear Miles's verbal statement at the beginning, in a scratchy voice,
talking to the engineer, saying, "I'll play it, and tell you what it is later. " Then you'll hear
Red Garland, the piano player, play a little "Westminster Chimes" intro that kind of
foretells our title, "If I Were a Bell." Miles has a very relaxed approach to the melody and
his phrasing. He plays on the backside of the beat, or slightly behind the bass and the
drums. This helps the music sound relaxed. Let's listen:
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) :00-:40]
Here's the melody:
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) :55-1:05]
So hopefully you'll hear Miles's relaxed approach that was slightly different than the
other Hard Bop bands.
Next we'll hear the "break" that starts Miles's improvisation. A break is where the rhythm
section stops and the solos continues for a brief moment. It's often used at the start of the
solos, like it is on this recording. You can hear Miles's harmon mute trumpet sound very
clearly during the break, and you also might notice that the long note at the end of the
break is the same note that the composed melody begins with. The break goes up to that
same pitch, and then Miles plays a little variation on the melody similar to the
improvisation example I played for you when I played variations on the melody to "Bye
Bye Blackbird."
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) 1:08-1:12]
[During music:] The break:
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) 1:08-1:12]
Here's a portion from later in Miles's improvisation. Miles used space between ideas to
his advantage. Remember the motto "less is more" when you think about Miles. He used
that space to punctuate his phrases. It gave the notes he did play much more meaning and
clarity. In this passage, he leaves three lengthy spaces. I'll point them out. And he
generally stays in the middle register of the instrument-- that's another feature of his
playing.
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) :00-:22]
So you hear three rather lengthy spaces, in comparison to most improvisers, there. John
Coltrane, on the other hand, in his solo on the song, starts with an active phrase that
ascends quickly, giving the music forward motion. He has a much more energetic
approach than Miles. Let's hear that:
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) 2:36-2:50]
Coltrane plays much more on top of the beat than Miles, which makes his music seem
more moving forward in those sections where he improvises. Here's another portion of
Coltrane's solo, where he goes into the upper register and uses more notes than Miles
would use:
[MUSIC PLAYING: IF I WERE A BELL (r. 1956) 3:05-3:17]
You probably hear a lot of phrases in that solo that sound a lot like the bebop arpeggios
that we've been talking about. So Coltrane's solo style, using upper register of the
instrument and faster notes with less spaces, is a big contrast with Miles's style. While
this creates enjoyable listening for many, it was a source of tension between the two
musicians, and eventually led to Coltrane leaving Miles to form his own bands. We'll
hear this contrast on other Miles recordings we examine later in the course, including the
iconic album, Kind of Blue.
So to wrap up today's video: trumpeter Miles Davis had one of the leading Hard Bop
bands in the 1950s that included tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. Recordings of this
band, called Miles's First Great Quintet," are similar to what is heard at live jam sessions.
Four memorable albums were made in two days that documented this group's work.
Miles often used the harmon mute, and was more restrained than many players of the
time, including John Coltrane.
We'll talk about a few more Hard Bop stars in our next segment.