Still Cookin' After All These Years

.

.

Listening to Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet is an epiphany of sorts. Even now, more than fifty years after its initial release, it remains a remarkable testament to the potency of jazz, and reminds us how fluid it really is. What makes Cookin' even more amazing is that was recorded as a contractual obligation.

.

Columbia had recorded the Quintet in 1955, but since Miles was under contract to Prestige. they couldn't release the tapes. The two labels reached an agreement whereby would record the necessary sessions to fulfill his contract with Prestige, and, in return, Columbia wouldn't release anything until March 1957. Two marathon sessions, recorded in May and October, 1956, satisfied those obligations. The four albums that came out of those sessions--Cookin', Relaxin', Steamin' and Workin' became classics of cool jazz.

.

Cookin', although it was recorded during the October session, was the first of the four to be released. It only takes one listen to understand why. This is the original Miles Davis quintet, with John Coltrane's sax playing against Miles Davis's trumpet, Red Garland's piano complementing the two of them, with Paul Chambers on bass and drummer Philly Joe Jones masterfully keeping the whole thing from slipping into utter chaos. There's an energy on these four tracks that strains to break free from all previous conventions, and ironically, set a new standard for the genre.

.

Even though only four tracks make up Cookin', it can hardly be tossed off as an EP. These tunes brim with the immediacy of a live club performance, as well they should, considering they were all done in one take. More than that, they're the foundations for "cool jazz", in which Davis redefined the parameters of jazz, and inspired most of which would follow in the genre.

.

Opening with the first recording of what would become Davis' signature tune, "My Funny Valentine" works as a sort of preamble for the rest of the set. It's powerful by virtue of its understatement, with Davis's muted trumpet delicately dancing with Garland's higher register piano musings, and the two setting a standard for lonely hearts yet to be surpassed. "Blues By Five," a Garland composition, is a freewheeling jam in the best jazz tradition, showcasing the talents of the bandmembers with solos that seamlessly integrate with the work's intent. "Arigin" ("Nigeria" spelled backwards, for the trivia buffs among you), a piece written by Sonny Rollins, is a complete reworking of the original, with Davis and Coltrane trading trumpet and sax licks like dueling heavy metal guitarists. The marathon thirteen minute combo piece "Tune Up/When lights Are Low" closes Cookin' with a jam that showcases all five musicians, with Coltrane and Davis strongly hinting at where their paths were heading.

,

With few exceptions, recent years have not been particularly kind to the evolution of jazz. The current crop of players are more mired in theory than innovation, and the genre is stagnant as a result. Those not obsessed with theory have devolved jazz into a mainstream pop dance medium that has precious little to do with the soul of jazz. As a consequence, we get a lot of recycled runs that sound tired even to the least initiated. And while there exists an abundance of talented players, there's a dearth of musicians willing to stretch the boundaries of jazz.

.

Miles Davis reinvented jazz, and then reinvented it again and again. With Cookin' we hear some of the early rumblings. They may have subsided a bit over the years, but somewhere out there, there's a young musician listening to the Miles Davis Quintet, and thinking. . . this could be even better, if. . .

.

Cookin' could be that point of inspiration.