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Historical | By John Ephland
‘Bootleg’ Series
Unearths Classic
Miles Davis
Miles Davis (right) and Ron Carter
They were in their prime. All of the material from
Miles Davis Quintet Live In Europe 1967:
The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 (Columbia/Legacy
8869794053; 62:09/64:26/72:00/65:18
HHHHH) is from European concerts in October
and November of 1967, when Davis and
his “second great quintet” were touring as
part of George Wein’s Newport Jazz Festival
in Europe. As it turns out, the Plugged Nickel
material from Chicago in December 1965
was the last live music of this band officially
recorded by Columbia. Starting with the only
other officially released live recording, Miles
In Berlin (September 1964), the trajectory
this band took in concert was exponential in
terms of group interplay, musical telepathy
and unfiltered dialog. From covering songs
that reflected Davis’ past (e.g., “Milestones,”
“So What”) to the carryovers here from years
gone by, including “On Green Dolphin Street,”
“Walkin’” and “The Theme,” this new band had
it all. Along with new stuff, too.
What is significant is the way this Miles Davis
Quintet—the greatest band ever in or out
of the studio—took the old and the new and
made the material a consistent launching pad
for symphonic improvisation and “the sound
of surprise.” Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter,
Ron Carter and, especially, Tony Williams
helped catapult the recently once-searching,
temporarily musically dormant Davis, inspiring
him toward a new, more elevated plane of artistic
expression. In turn, the youngsters took
their inspiration from this master. But it was the
master who, for the first time, discovered in a
younger generation of musicians the spark he
was looking for.
That spark is well documented here,
through the constant reinvention of those “carryovers”
cited above but especially through the
unleashing of compositions that were unique
to this group. Davis himself contributed to the
book with his fiery, explosive “Agitation,” the
tune that would start most of these concerts.
Originally recorded with an introductory drum
solo from Williams both eloquent and fearsome,
“Agitation” was a great scene-setter.
Davis’ originally muted trumpet (in the studio)
gives way to volume across four versions, the
speed-demon tempo maintained throughout.
Except when it isn’t. It was a tune open to reinterpretation,
it’s catlike overture a welcome
mat for extemporaneous exploration, heard
here with blasting, over-the-top-solos here and
there and quiet, almost intermission-like solos
somewhere else.
Another one of the treats to this four-disc
set of three CDs and one DVD is being able to
hear and witness the variety within the sameness,
the stage presentation (as opposed to
club) varying slightly in terms of song selection,
but played mostly as one long medley,
with variations on essentially the same material,
over and over again. And while some
may bark because of this limited format this
set is really only for completists, it could be
argued that these “bootlegs” (a slight misnomer
of the term since all these concerts were
authorized recordings) are designed for music
lovers, period.
These CDs are well recorded, and the
DVD also has good sound. Listeners have
state-owned European radio and television to
thank for all of it, a testament to their known
appreciation for jazz and a black-eye for the
more superficial American media that has little
or no record of this band apart from the official
recordings. The three CDs were from concerts
in Antwerp, Paris and Copenhagen (Copenhagen
never available until this release).
The DVD was originally available in the
Complete Miles Davis Columbia Albums Collection
from 2009. From television concerts
recorded in Stockholm and Germany, the
Stockholm set is complete while the Germany
show has a blistering “Walkin’,” deleted due
to money issues. These two shows become
vital documents of how this band’s musical
process, how they interacted and responded
to one another. Whether it was Carter steering
the ship’s pacing on the different versions of
“Agitation” or “Footprints”; the way a frenetic
“Footprints” from Germany suddenly gives
way to the quiet intro duet between Davis and
Hancock with “I Fall In Love Too Easily”; a
more modulated, perhaps TV-sensitive Shorter
(when compared to his more incendiary work
heard on the CDs) breaking up “Agitation”’s
hell-bent fire or slowing the swing down in the
midst of “Gingerbread Boy” in Stockholm; or
getting the best seat in the house as Williams’
ground-shattering drumwork drives and upends
and unifies this band. DB
Ordering info: legacyrecordings.com
Legacy Recordings
DECEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 97