Miles Davis’ live work with his Second Great Quintet — as documented in a handful of unreleased French concerts — is the focus of the upcoming eighth volume in the late jazz legend’s Bootleg Series.
Miles in France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8, due out November 8 via Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, features four hours of unreleased music that the trumpeter and his Second Great Quintet — pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams and saxophonists George Coleman (in 1963) and Wayne Shorter (in 1964 — performed over five concerts in France in that two-year span.
Ahead of The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8’s arrival, check out the album opener, a 10-minute rendition of the Kind of Blue classic “So What,” recorded at a July 26, 1963 show at the Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins.
Miles in France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 covers three nights from the Festival Mondial Du Jazz — July 26, 27, and 28, 1963 — as well as early/late gigs from the Paris Jazz Festival on October 1, 1964, with Shorter in tow.
Vol. 8 — available to preorder now as a 6-CD or 8-LP set, with a 2-LP version including just the 1964 shows — also marks the first time in the ongoing series that the Second Great Quintet — which recorded classic LPs like E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti and more with Davis — has featured on a Bootleg Series set, though the lineup was responsible for the legendary Live at the Plugged Nickel.
As bassist Carter says of playing with Davis and the Second Great Quintet in Volume 8’s extensive liner notes, “I had never played with anyone like that, of course, and certainly not for this extended period of time. It was just stunning to hear him play like this, play with that intensity, play with that tempo, play with that direction night in and night out and not turn it on to the band and say, ‘Stop that.’ He allowed us to do whatever the chemist allowed his proteges in the lab to do. Take these chemicals I’m giving you guys and see what we come up with. Just call the fire department if necessary.”
Editor’s picks
Miles in France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 Track List
Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins, July 26, 1963
1. Introduction by André Francis (:46)
2. So What (9:46)
3. All Blues (11:59)
4. Stella By Starlight (14:13)
5. Seven Steps To Heaven (11:01)
6. Walkin’ (10:43)
7. My Funny Valentine (9:55)
8. Joshua (11:02)
9. The Theme (2:59)
10. Closing announcement by André Francis (0:37)
Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins July 27, 1963
1. Introduction by André Francis (:52)
2. Autumn Leaves (13:55)
3. Milestones (9:23)
4. I Thought About You (11:47)
5. Joshua (11:31)
6. All Of You (16:44)
7. Walkin’ (16:16)
8. Bye Bye Blackbird (16:49)
9. The Theme (6:06)
Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins July 28, 1963
1. Introduction by André Francis (1:21)
2. If I Were A Bell (12:46)
3. So What (12:41)
4. Stella By Starlight (15:47)
5. Walkin’ (18:19)
6. The Theme (:28)
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Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, October 1, 1964 (1st concert)
1. Autumn Leaves (12:49)
2. So What (9:39)
3. Stella By Starlight (11:05)
4. Walkin’ (9:07)
5. The Theme (0:38)
Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, October 1, 1964 (2nd concert)
1. All Of You (16:05)
2. Joshua (12:35)
3. My Funny Valentine (12:18)
4. No Blues (13:13)
5. The Theme (1:05)