These early Blue Note sessions are amazing works of musical alchemy fleshing out Miles' post-Birth of the Cool evolution. With leaner arrangements and a smaller combo, these tracks take a deliberate pace that moves even further from frenetic bebop. Kenny Clarke's measured drumming on lilting Swedish folk song "Dear Old Stockholm" and an easygoing take on Dizzy Gillespie's "Woody 'n You" keeps the tempos at a simmer. Lovely ballads like the melancholy "Enigma" and wistful "How Deep is the Ocean?" drop the temperature even further.