1959/60 MILES DAVIS-- PRESTIGE VINYL SHOOTOUT!

[@PaulMaison]

These recordings were actually done in 2 days! The story goes as follows: Davis was offered an attractive recording contract by Columbia. In order to sign it, he had to satisfy the terms of his Prestige contract by making four more albums. In two epic sessions, on May 11 and October 26, 1956, Davis’ band recorded 26 tracks, all first takes. They became the Prestige LPs Workin’, Steamin’, Cookin’ and Relaxin’. Probably no jazz artist has ever recorded so many masterpieces in such a condensed window of studio time.

[@martrog3429]

highly overrated albums to be honest. definitely would not call these masterpieces.

[@saturdaynightmusic5400]

Thank you for the great content, Ken. Please do more of these in the future.

[@mcgjohn22]

Hi Ken, thanks very much for the informative comparison. 25-30 years ago, I originally picked up a lot of the Prestige 2-fers as my entry point into 50s jazz and an inexpensive way to hear many of these earlier titles. I was never able to obtain an original pressing that was clean. Many of these 2-fers were mastered by Dave Turner at Fantasy records. Fantasy owned the Prestige catalog at that time. I do not know who pressed these 2-fer releases. I know Fantasy did receive some complaints on these. Do not know if it was pressing related or other. Once Fantasy decided to re-issue many of these titles under the OJC banner, Phil De Lancie remastered all of the OJC titles from the original Van Gelder Session tapes. As far as I can tell, Fantasy contracted with the former Columbia records, Pitman, NJ plant to press the OJC titles. For those who may be interested, In Japan the Prestige titles with the Dave Turner mastering are available in the LMJ series pressed by Toshiba - EMI in Japan and the SMJ series pressed by Victor Music in Japan. The later Phil Delancie mastering all have the VIJ prefix in the Japan catalog numbers, and were also pressed by Victor Music. As others have noted these titles were all rushed to completion by Miles and crew to full fill his contract obligations with Prestige after he had signed with Columbia records.

[@fts81]

Thanks, very needed video! And very well presented as well!

[@jikenj]

Great upload Ken good info just scored a Miles Davis from discogs White label promo relaxin & cookin comp can't wait to hear it!!🎷🎺

[@lucullus6127]

Back in the 90's Steve Hoffman did a nice remastering job. I have Workin' + Steamin' DCC Gold CD, they sound really good to my ears!

[@EddieJazzFan]

Those Prestige 2-for-1 series of double albums are killer. I always thought the sound was excellent, but many of my friends turn their nose up at them and seek out the OJCs or originals. When in high school (1970s) I used to get them at "Sam Goody's" (who remembers them?) for $7.99. They had them for a lot of the Prestige and Milestone artists. Many Miles double albums and also Coltrane, Monk, Bill Evans, Rollins and others. The OJCs are still very good, but the 2-for-1 series has an edge over them. I just picked up one by Kenny Burrell (Milestone material) and also the 2-for-1 "sampler" of the series. Both at Goodwill for 2 bucks each!!

[@andrewmacdonald9382]

Have to agree with you. In general most of the Prestige 2-fers are great.I have others Red Garland for example and they sound GOOD! I think Dave Turner mastered most of them and he did a good job. Shame about the crappy packaging but hey if you want good sounding records for small money these twofers are more than worth the invetsment.

[@thibs2442]

I also agree with you on the 2 for 1s sounding better than OJCs. The 2 for 1s are 70s pressings and even without the RVG stamps they are still all analog. The OJC are from the 80s. Some are analogue but a lot are digital unfortunately. I would always go for a green label 2 for 1 over an OJC in terms of sound quality.

[@fredericmorris2931]

Nicely done! Will lead me to listen again to some of my own long-neglected comps, such as Two Hours with Thelonious Monk. Amazing and gratifying that in 1974 Prestige resisted the temptation to do the Miles in “electronically reprocessed for stereo”!

[@itayashkenazy2895]

Keep'em coming!

[@fredericmorris2931]

Nicely done! Will lead me to listen again to other similar comps, such as Two Hours with Telonious

[@MrSmith0128]

I like these shootout videos you've been doing

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Thanks

[@gonzaljevic]

Thank you

[@jazzbumsmike]

Haha! Amazing!! I love these Miles records so much, thanks for the comparison and great to know how they stack up. I have a John Coltrane twofer with Traneing In and Soultrane -- both RVG stamped and sound really good as well. This has immediately become my favorite video on KZbin, lol. Thanks, Ken!

[@djjoeykmusic]

Great video. Thank you Have a wonderful one

[@1999zrx1100]

Appreciate my man. Happy Holidays 😎

[@simonwalker7957]

Listening to Steamin’ Analogue Productions right now, freakin’ epic. Very surprised you managed to forget these were actually recorded in 1956 long before Englewood Cliffs ;-)). Keep up the great work Ken.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Very surprised!

[@BOBBRADLEYCHANNEL]

I’ve got Workin but an OG of Steamin has eluded me…. I do however have that comp. Thanks for the thoughts .

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Cookin has eluded me. Weird isnt it Bob?

[@BOBBRADLEYCHANNEL]

Those records are tough to find in decent condition if at all. Not crazy expensive but not common either. Which you did point out. That said I’m a big fan of that group of records. Really fantastic.

[@alansenzaki4148]

Thanks for the comparisons Ken. I have an original Workin, and Relaxin and love the sound. Could the difference in sound of the original and promo's be attributed to an original all analogue tube chain compared to a solid state chain in the promo's since it was in the seventies? I do have analogue productions reissue of cookin, steamin and miles and they sound excellent. Thanks again Ken.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

I think so Alan.

[@befreiungskriege]

Hey Ken, I often watch your videos and feel we're kindred spirits but I never seem to get round to commenting. But this topic is right up my alley. So a few observations that may assist you and other viewers: 1). All the tracks for Cookin' / Relaxin' / Steamin' / Workin' were recorded across just two days: 11 May 1956 and 26 Oct 1956 and, as one of your other commenters has already noted, they were to fulfil contractual obligations to Prestige as part of the switch-over to Columbia. The quintet had already been recording for Columbia in late 1955 but the deal was that those tracks couldn't be released until later (they appeared on Round About Midnight). 2). If your fireworks label copy of Relaxin' has the Bergenfield address, then it's the second pressing. The first pressings had the 446 W. 50th St NYC address on the fireworks label. The fireworks label with the Bergenfield address is correct for first pressings of Steamin' and Workin' (both released later than Relaxin' and Cookin'). 3). I have first pressings of all three records you've discussed here and I'm lucky enough to have copies that are in really excellent condition. For my money, assuming condition is up to scratch, these original pressings are the best quality ones you can get. However, top condition is scarce and comes at a premium price these days. So, these two-fers you've discussed sound like genuine value-for-money options for people who want to get into these records without breaking the bank and I'm pleasantly surprised about how good you found they sound. That's an excellent recommendation that people can take from your review. 4). Lastly, I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your description of Philly Joe's drumming. Yes, you're exactly right when you say he pressures the room. You can really feel how he pushes the soloists almost like he's holding a revolver in the small of their backs. Rudy was very good at recording most of the drummers that entered his studio(s) but he seemed to have a special empathy for Philly Joe. I'm sure you know the records but the Mobley dates like The Turnaround and No Room For Squares really capture Philly Joe at his ebullient best. Thanks for posting this one and keep up the good work, Martin

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Thanks for your comments!

[@CualliMusic]

I’m with you on your views on Miles. Definitely annoys me when people dunk on him for bs reasons. Love these prestige sessions so much. Thanks for the shootout!

[@thibs2442]

Nice video Ken. Do those have Van Gelder stamps on the 70s comp. I know that some do and some do not.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Nope

[@s.t.e.r.e.o.]

great content sir

[@jazzkatt7083]

I'm saving building my Miles Davis vinyl collection for last because I want to do it once and do it right. I realized that I don't like "Music On Vinyl" titles. Good to know these are not crazy money!

[@mymixture965]

You are so right about the right cymbal. The ping has to be the right compression with the ring of the cymbal. So often on CD´s I can not stand the to loud ping and not enough of the ring, that why compression and limiting is so bad, it ruins the natural sound of the instruments. I hear this most often with Tony Williams drums, did he do something special here or is it just my selection, just be ecident the records I have?. Agreed on Miles, you are right and that's why I am so hard on the Jazz Shepherd, he always puts Miles down and he is all wrong. I talked to musicians about Miles, I mean the ones who known him or played with him, not a bad word.

[@danehenas]

Ken, I don't think they shrink-wrapped records back then. It's probably a re-seal.

[@sylvio1980]

Great content as usual, but when should we expect the Fleetwood speakers review ?

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Thanks, that’s three months away

[@sylvio1980]

@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 can’t wait, they do look great 👍

[@recordcollectornews]

I love that you're into Zappa. When was the last time you listened to Waka Jawaka Hot Rats? A clean copy is so much fun.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

In forever! Thanks for reminding me

[@stimpy1226]

I’ve got the Miles Davis Quintet “The Great Prestige Recordings“ by Analogue productions. Workin, Relaxin, Steamin, Cookin, Miles and another Workin in a white cover. I bought them quite some time ago and they sound fine but nowhere near as good as the analog productions “Kind of Blue which is outstanding but no depth to speak of.

[@alansenzaki4148]

NeiI, have steamin, workin, and miles from the analogue productions box. They were separated from the box and the sound is excellent and detailed!

[@stimpy1226]

@@alansenzaki4148 it’s been several years since I took a listen to this box set. I’m gonna give them a listen tomorrow and perhaps my recollection of the sound is not correct.

[@alansenzaki4148]

@@stimpy1226 Neil, i also have the new analogue kind of blue and the sound is great. Technology has advanced since the box set so if they were done today iam sure it would be different.

[@veedub95]

You really need to add the various OJC pressing. Especially the one’s from the 80’s. Also you can add the Analogue Production’s reissue’s. That a true shoot out.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

I have original pressings. Don’t need or want the APs. This was purely to prove you needn’t tonbreak the bank to get close to an original pressings

[@zacksjazz9172]

No one ever talks about walkin I feel like this LP is getting lost in space because it isn't part of the original Miles Quintet even though it was recorded in 1957. I always considered it a quintessential Miles record.

[@befreiungskriege]

Well, released in 1957 but actually recorded in 1954. So definitely before the formation of the First Great Quintet and before MIles' "comeback" at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival. So I'd argue it's in a different phase of his career.

[@zacksjazz9172]

@@befreiungskriege Fair enough there are a few others in that category as well.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

I have a French copy of Walkin and thought the same thing

[@zacksjazz9172]

@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 never seen a copy of walkin outside of the internet.

[@patrickashby15]

I have only one original issue of the prestige Miles records but the Japanese reissues get very close to original pressings.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

I’ve never seen Japanese prestige issues. Very cool

[@meshplates]

Optimally, the originals should be played with a MONO cartridge with a 1 mil stylus that is larger than a modern stereo stylus. The reissued compilation should be played with a stereo cartridge. A mono cartridge will bring out the presence and magic of the mono original pressings so much. Playing them with a stereo is sub optimal. The smaller stylus is riding lower - too low - in the groove.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

Optimally im not loaded!

[@danehenas]

Mark, is there a mono cartridge with a 1 mil stylus that you like that's under $500? Are there any vintage ones that are worth hunting down?