Cookin’ is the first of four albums born from the legendary recording session of the Miles Davis Quintet on October 26, 1956. The idea behind the session was to capture the quintet’s extensive live performance repertoire in a studio setting, rather than creating entirely new tracks for their upcoming album. Remarkably, the band recorded 24 extended performances without any second takes; four of these are featured on Cookin‘.
This album encapsulates the quintet’s incredible synergy, with a blend of driving swing, intense emotion and unbridled excitement that marked the pinnacle of their nearly two-year collaboration. Miles Davis is in peak form and John Coltrane delivers some of his best work, rivaled only by his performances on the group’s Columbia recordings. Paul Chambers‘ bass is beautifully recorded, with his solo on “Blues By Five” standing out as particularly satisfying. The rhythm section, led by Philly Joe Jones and Red Garland, operates in a tightly woven, intricate system of rhythmic interplay that few if any, other rhythm sections have achieved.
Cookin’ brims with moments of pure musicality and emotional depth. The album earned its title at Miles Davis‘ suggestion; as he put it, “After all, that’s what we did—came in and cooked.”
Cut directly from the original analog master tapes, through our unique all valve 1965 Ortofon / Lyrec vinyl cutting system in True Mono*. No equalisation, compression or any other processing was added during the cutting process.
All sleeve artwork made by hand and authentically letter-pressed on a 1963 Heidelberg SB.
This edition of 345 copies is priced at £395.00 UK pounds. Order here.
*Where everything in the chain from the tape head, the tape pre-amplifier, the cutting amplifier and the dedicated mono cutter head is a single channel pathway: This early technology avoids phase issues (smearing of the sound) that is frequently encountered when cutting with todays dual” or “pseudo” mono cutting systems
Original master tape.
Original sleeve (front) next to ERC letter pressed proof.
Original sleeve (rear) next to ERC letter pressed proof.
