THE MILES DAVIS QUINTET: STEAMIN'

One of a series of contractual obligation albums Miles Davis and his "First Great Quintet" recorded for Prestige in 1956 as they prepared to hit the big time with Columbia. I think I enjoyed this most out of the bunch. All the tracks except one here come from the earlier of the two dates, May 11, 1956. Surrey with the Fringe is blessed with a decidedly non- run-of-the-mill solo by Coltrane and features Red Garland at his most elegant. For the muted-Miles romance mode, When I Fall In Love can't be beat with one of Garland's loveliest chordal solos. There's some fast playing too on Salt Peanuts but the somewhat less steamin' ballads are the best on this.