Miles Davis & John Coltrane - Miles & Coltrane

Between 1955 and 1959 Miles Davis employed John Coltrane in the group that would become known as the First Great Quintet, fired him at least once, hired him back, and in the process documented one of the most productive pairings in the music. This compilation gathers eight of those performances onto a single LP.

It opens with "So What" from the Kind of Blue sessions, with Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans alongside, and then moves back into the quintet material with Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Thelonious Monk's "Well You Needn't" and "'Round Midnight" sit beside Davis originals "Tune Up," "Milestones" and "Four," plus Sonny Rollins' "Oleo" and the standard "Bye Bye, Blackbird." Coltrane is still finding the voice that would define the following decade, and hearing him work it out against Davis' economy is the whole appeal.

As an overview it is unusually well chosen, moving between the hard bop of the quintet years and the modal opening of 1959 without feeling like two records stapled together.

Limited edition remastered pressing on 180 gram black vinyl from Pan Am Records, cut using the DMM process.