The latest entry in Columbia’s Miles Davis bootleg series takes us back to the early Sixties with the Miles Davis Quintet on Miles In France, 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8. There are three 1963 concerts, recorded on successive days in July at the Festival Mondial Du Jazz in Antibes, and two concerts in Paris from one night in 1964. On the 1963 date, the quintet had George Coleman on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. Coleman had only been in the band for a year and a half by this time, and the rhythm section started working together in May 1963. Coleman was followed, briefly, by Sam Rivers for a tour of Japan in July 1964. Then it was the turn of Wayne Shorter and what’s often called the Second Great Miles Davis Quintet. Although there have various stories about the rhythm section sometimes giving Coleman a hard time on the bandstand, in an interview for this release, he notes that he “was able to stay flexible and be more creative with Miles.” He adds that “Things really worked out good for me in that band ...” Shorter had been in the group less than a month by the time the Miles Davis Quintet returned to France to perform at the Paris Jazz Festival at the beginning of October 1964, not nearly enough time for new additions to the repertoire. The quintet’s European tour lasted until October 11, and when they into the studio to record E.S.P. in January 1965, there was a batch of new tunes written by the individuals in the group.
Miles, who seemed especially inspired when playing in France, is in extremely good form, bold and assertive on the faster numbers and breathtakingly lyrical on the slower tunes. The rhythm section seemingly jelled through some magic spell, or maybe it was just the energy of a teenage Tony Williams. The sound, even if it’s all in mono, is clear enough to offer the opportunity to listen closely to Williams near the start of his career. Another pleasure of the current collection is the chance to hear two excellent saxophonists grapple with some of the same material, like Victor Feldman’s Joshua and a frequently played favorite of the era, Walkin’ (usually credited to Richard Carpenter, but probably composed by Jimmy Mundy). Before this release, the only official release of Shorter performing this repertoire was the Miles In Berlin album, which originally came out only in Germany. Of the five concerts in this set, only the second Antibes show has previously been released. However, the music came out in pieces on various albums over a four-decade span, starting with 1964's Miles Davis In Europe. The only previous issue of the entire show was as part of Seven Steps To Heaven: The Complete Miles Davis Columbia Recordings, 1963-1964.
The muted black-and-white design of the package is in contrast with the fiery and passionate music of Miles and his band. The booklet includes plenty of photos of the bands onstage, along with a short essay by Marcus J. Moore and excerpts from interviews that Moore conducted with George Coleman and Ron Carter. Happily recommended, naturally.
Columbia/Legacy 19802-80168-1 [LPx8), 19802-80167-2 [CDx6]; Miles Davis (tpt) George Coleman (1963) or Wayne Shorter (1964) (ts) Herbie Hancock (p) Ron Carter (b) Tony Williams (d); Antibes, France, July 26, 1963; Introduction by Andre Francis/ So What/ All Blues/ Stella By Starlight/ Seven Steps to Heaven/ Walkin’/ My Funny Valentine/ Joshua/ The Theme/ Closing announcement by Andre Francis. (83:22); Antibes, France, July 27, 1963; Introduction by Andre Francis/ Autumn Leaves/ Milestones/ I Thought About You/ Joshua/ All of You/ Walkin’/ Bye Bye Blackbird/ The Theme (103:37); Antibes, France, July 28, 1963; Introduction by Andre Francis/ If I Were a Bell/ So What/ Stella By Starlight/ Walkin’/ The Theme (62:18); Paris, France, October 1, 1964; First concert: Autumn Leaves/ So What/ Stella By Starlight/ Walkin’/ The Theme. Second concert: All of You/ Joshua/ My Funny Valentine/ No Blues/ The Theme (98:52). www.legacyrecordings.com
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