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-
Vinyl: NM-

Variant chronology

1958 - Prestige yellow/black "fireworks" label, 446 W. 50th St. N.Y.C. address, deep groove, plain RVG hand-etched runout (1st issue)  <- this copy
c.1958-59 - same fireworks design, re-set to Bergenfield, N.J. address (2nd pressing)
1961-63 - later-state Prestige pressing (per dated 1963 sale)
1958 - UK Esquire 32-068 licensed mono pressing
c.1982-2020s - Original Jazz Classics (OJC) reissue
c.2010s-20s - Independent Coalition translucent blue vinyl reissue (OUT OF PRINT)
c.2010s-20s - Saar 180g mono import reissue (OUT OF PRINT)

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 - cut so Davis could fulfill his Prestige contract before departing for Columbia Records, yielding enough material for four LPs alongside Cookin', Workin', and Steamin'. The quintet paired Davis with a young John Coltrane, whose tenor was still developing the harmonic aggression that would later define him, atop the tight, blues-rooted rhythm section of Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. Producer Bob Weinstock and engineer Rudy Van Gelder favored mostly first or near-first takes of standards and a couple of jazz staples, capturing the band's remarkable in-the-moment interplay, including studio patter that became part of the record's charm. This unit is widely regarded as Davis's First Great Quintet, a pivotal group bridging his cool-toned early work and the harder-driving, blues-inflected hard bop he refined through the late 1950s. The 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. The album and its sister releases are viewed as essential documents of a band at peak chemistry just before Coltrane's departure and Davis's move to a larger label, cementing its 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 yellow-and-black "fireworks" Prestige label reading "PRESTIGE RECORDS INC. • 446 W. 50TH ST., N.Y.C.", with two arced logo motifs (bursts) flanking the title and a bold "PRESTIGE" banner arc at top plus a "LONG PLAYING MICROGROOVE" arc at bottom, and visible deep-groove rings on both sides. This NYC address predates the otherwise-identical yellow/black label bearing the Bergenfield, N.J. address that Prestige adopted circa 1958-59 when it relocated its office/pressing operations. The combination of NYC address, deep groove, and hand-etched RVG in the transcribed runout places this copy at the top of the PRLP 7129 pressing hierarchy as the first-issue label variant, with a later

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, predating any RVG remastering for later reissues or the CD era. Collectors on the forums 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, the 1970s-80s Prestige/Fantasy reissues, and the RVG-remastered CD; it ranks below only an earlier-stamper (A or B) copy of the same NYC label pressing, while modern audiophile reissues (OJC, Speakers Corner, APO) offer cleaner surfaces but a different, more modern-EQ'd mastering.

Notes

1958 Prestige PRLP 7129 mono - earliest label variant. The 446 W. 50th St., N.Y.C. address (predating the Bergenfield, N.J. address on later pressings) plus deep-groove labels on both sides and RVG etched in the runout 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 from a later stamper generation.

Documenting collections

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