Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

The Miles Davis Quintet

Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet

1958 · Prestige PRLP 7129 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Prestige
Catalogue number	PRLP 7129
Year	1958
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Hard Bop
Producer	Bob Weinstock
Musicians	Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  PRLP-7129-A C RVG
Side B:  PRLP-7129-B C RVG

Condition

Cover: NM-/NM-
Vinyl: NM- DEEP GROOVE/NM- DEEP GROOVE

Variant chronology

1958 - Yellow/black "fireworks" label, 446 W. 50th St. NYC address, deep groove, RVG etch  <- this copy
1958-1962 - Yellow/black "fireworks" label, Bergenfield, N.J. address
1962-1964 - Blue/silver-print label, Bergenfield, N.J.
1970s-80s - Prestige/Fantasy reissue (later blue/black label, 'A Fantasy Inc. Co.')
2000s-present - OJC / Fantasy audiophile reissues (incl. Speakers Corner, APO)

This Pressing

1st pressing (mono, 1958) - Prestige yellow/black "fireworks" label with 446 W. 50th St., N.Y.C. address, deep groove, RVG hand-etched in deadwax.

The Album

Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet was drawn from two marathon 1956 sessions - May 11 and October 26 - in which Miles Davis, needing to fulfill his Prestige contract before departing for Columbia Records, cut enough material with his newly formed working band to fill four LPs (the others being Cookin', Workin', and Steamin'). The quintet paired Davis with John Coltrane, whose tenor was still developing the harmonic aggression that would later define him, alongside the tight, blues-rooted rhythm section of Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Rather than over-rehearsing, producer Bob Weinstock and engineer Rudy Van Gelder let the band run through mostly first or near-first takes of standards and a couple of jazz staples, capturing the ensemble's remarkable in-the-moment interplay, including studio patter that became part of the record's charm. This quintet is widely regarded as the First Great Quintet, a pivotal unit in Davis's career that bridged his cool-toned early work and the harder-driving, blues-inflected hard bop he would refine through the late 1950s. The album's relaxed-tempo readings of ballads like 'You're My Everything' alongside the incisive swing of 'Oleo' and 'Woodyn' You' showcase the group's dynamic range and remain touchstones of the hard bop repertoire. Critically, the record and its sister releases are viewed as essential documents of a band operating at peak chemistry just before Coltrane's departure and Davis's move to a bigger label and format, cementing the album's lasting stature in the jazz canon.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. If I Were a Bell
2. You're My Everything
3. I Could Write a Book

Side 2

1. Oleo
2. It Could Happen to You
3. Woodyn' You

The Label

This copy carries the earlier Prestige yellow-and-black "fireworks" label design reading "PRESTIGE RECORDS INC. \u2022 446 W. 50TH ST., N.Y.C.", the address Prestige used for its NYC office before relocating operations to Bergenfield, New Jersey around 1958-59. Discogs and dealer forensics consistently identify the 446 W. 50th St. label as the earliest label variant for PRLP 7129, predating the otherwise-identical yellow/black label bearing the Bergenfield, N.J. address. Both labels here show deep-groove rings, a hallmark of Prestige/Van Gelder pressings from the RCA Custom-pressed era of the late 1950s. The combination of the NYC address, deep groove, and hand-etched RVG in the (transcribed) runout places this copy at the top of the PRLP 7129 pressing hierarchy - the first-issue label variant.

Fidelity

Mastered and cut by Rudy Van Gelder direct from his Hackensack studio tapes, this original mono pressing represents the sound closest to the source before any RVG remastering for later reissues or the CD era. Collectors on forums like Steve Hoffman generally prize these first-issue Prestige mono pressings for their warmth and immediacy, though quality can vary with stamper generation - the 'C' stamper here is a later cut in the run rather than the very first. In the overall fidelity hierarchy for this title, this NYC-address deep-groove mono original sits above the later Bergenfield-era pressings and the 1970s-80s Prestige/Fantasy reissues, and above the RVG-remastered CD; it ranks below only an earlier-stamper (A or B) copy of the same NYC label pressing, with modern audiophile vinyl reissues (OJC, Speakers Corner, APO) offering cleaner surfaces but a different, more modern-EQ'd take on the mastering.

Notes

1958 Prestige PRLP 7129 mono - identified as the earliest label variant. The 446 W. 50th St., N.Y.C. address (predating the Bergenfield, N.J. address used on subsequent pressings) plus deep-groove labels on both sides and RVG etched in the runout together confirm a first-pressing configuration. The "C" suffix on the matrix indicates a later stamper within this pressing run rather than a different label era, so this remains a first-issue copy pressed from a subsequent stamper generation.

Documenting collections

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