The six-disc
Miles in France 1963 & 1964: Miles Davis Quintet The Bootleg Series, Vol.8 showcases previously unreleased performances by two quintets from the 1963 Festival Mondial du Jazz in Antibes (July 26-28) and the 1964 Paris Jazz Festival (October 1). The first time the "Bootleg" series has delved into this period, it reveals the evolution and changes in the
Davis quintet's approach between 1963 and 1964, resulting in a live prequel to one of his most creative periods as saxophonist
George Coleman was replaced by
Wayne Shorter (
Davis courted him for four years). Containing six CDs or eight LPs, the first four discs feature
Davis with the 18-year-old drummer
Tony Williams, pianist
Herbie Hancock, bassist
Ron Carter, and saxophonist
George Coleman, on tour supporting
Seven Steps to Heaven, issued just ten days before. The band encountered here is radically different from the groups that produced
Kind of Blue and
Sketches of Spain.
From the opener "So What," this quintet offer a muscular approach. At more than twice the original tempo, this blazing exercise in modal hard bop contains killer solos from the trumpeter and
Coleman.
Hancock pushes the harmony in a different direction, with tempo-driven intensity courtesy of
Carter and
Williams; his modal shift is underscored in "All Blues." Obviously,
Davis was pushing a new direction. An illuminating example of the group's -- particularly
Hancock's -- restless ambition appears in "Joshua."
Davis had begun cutting standards from his repertoire in favor of original material, so only a handful appear in the set lists and include "Stella by Starlight," "Autumn Leaves," "My Funny Valentine," and a few others. Night to night, they were offered as vehicles for innovative, propulsive group improvisation. Check "All of You" from July 27, as it moves from a sprightly, midtempo ballad to modal to hard bop and back in 17 minutes. As the Antibes music flows,
Coleman solos and accents, doing his best to keep the music rooted in more familiar terrain as
Williams and
Hancock push him hard in their experimentation. He can and does offer authority in kinetic, flowing abstraction as well -- check his chromatic interlude in the third night's performance of "Walkin."
Shorter appears on the final two discs, from October 1964 in Paris. His solo on "So What," already dictates a change in the tune's harmonic movement. He gave himself room by laying back a bit behind
Williams' jet-propelled tempo, asking musical questions that he leaves unanswered. That said, he also plays with blazing intensity as on the revelatory version of "Joshua" from the second Paris concert.
This handsomely packaged box offers stellar sound across four discs. The sound on the final two suffers a bit as
Carter's playing is sometimes difficult, though not impossible to hear: It's a minor, fleeting irritation. The CDs are packaged in gatefold mini-jackets that are housed in a slipcase box. It includes a 32-page booklet with dozens of unseen photos, interviews with
Carter and
Coleman, and an excellent liner essay by author and journalist
Marcus J. Moore. ~ Thom Jurek
