There is energy, a wildness about Miles, intense, dramatic, using pauses juxtaposed against furious passages. Sheer drama throughout.

Sony

Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins, July 26, 1963
Introduction by André Francis (:46) / So What (9:46) / All Blues (11:59) / Stella By Starlight (14:13) / Seven Steps To Heaven (11:01) / Walkin’ (10:43) / My Funny Valentine (9:55) / Joshua (11:02) / The Theme (2:59) / Closing announcement by André Francis (0:37)

Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins July 27, 1963
Introduction by André Francis (:52) / Autumn Leaves (13:55) / Milestones (9:23) / I Thought About You (11:47) / Joshua (11:31) / All Of You (16:44) / Walkin’ (16:16) / Bye Bye Blackbird (16:49) / The Theme (6:06)

Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins July 28, 1963
Introduction by André Francis (1:21) / If I Were A Bell (12:46) / So What (12:41) / Stella By Starlight (15:47) / Walkin’ (18:19) / The Theme (:28)

Personnel for 1963 concerts:
Miles Davis (trumpet); George Coleman (tenor saxophone); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (double bass); Tony Williams (drums)

Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, October 1, 1964 (1st concert)
Autumn Leaves (12:49) / So What (9:39) / Stella By Starlight (11:05) / Walkin’ (9:07) / The Theme (0:38)

Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, October 1, 1964 (2nd concert)
All Of You (16:05) / Joshua (12:35) / My Funny Valentine (12:18) / No Blues (13:13) / The Theme (1:05)

Personnel for 1964 concerts:
Miles Davis (trumpet); Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (double bass); Tony Williams (drums)

Antibes! This was even more prestigious, more cultured than Paris. Picasso had made his home just a few kilometres away, Marc Chagall was in St Paul De Vence just up the hill. It was the place to be. In 1963 Antibes was a very glamorous, sophisticated place: galleries, bars, restaurants, festivals. It was a welcoming place. Miles was welcomed then, and now there is even a statue to Miles just down the road in Nice. Dizzy Gillespie was at the festival to record an album, so was Sarah Vaughan, Stephane Grappelli and Dollar Brand (soon to change his name to Abdullah Ibrahim).

In 1963 Miles had a new band formed a couple of months earlier. This was their debut.

Miles Davis was energised throughout the three concerts playing with zest and creativity. Whisper it softly but Miles is not a technician, that was not his strength: musical invention and innovation was. In spite of that, during the two concerts he made few errors. Miles was as competitive as he was musical. Davis always played close to the edge. He simply accepted the inevitable missteps. There are examples throughout the concerts where Davis’s ambition exceeded his technique. Nevertheless, his reaching for notes is part of the excitement. Miles was now beyond technique. He was intent on impressing, pushing hard and he was being driven especially by Tony Williams. There is energy, a wildness about Miles, intense, dramatic, using pauses juxtaposed against furious passages. Sheer drama throughout.

The first three concerts from Antibes show the quintet approaching a peak. It is difficult not to feel sorry for George Coleman. He was really a very good musician. It was just unfortunate for him that he was just a placeholder for Wayne Shorter. The first Antibes concerts are just a prelude. Did Coleman know that he was not the first choice? I think that he guessed. Miles had been pursuing Shorter for some time. Coleman was not included when Hancock, Carter and Williams had post-concert considerations of their evening. Tony Williams was critical of Coleman; he was arguing for Sam Rivers to be included. However, it must have been inhibiting for Coleman to have to create with that thought at the back of his mind. Coleman was considered to be too straightforward to be included with such radical colleagues. You can hear Coleman straining in his solos to alter his natural way of playing to be more avant garde.

The background to these years is that Jazz was changing and Miles Davis did not want to be left behind: Coltrane was dominant; Mingus was prowling, Ornette Coleman was changing the rules; Cecil Taylor was innovating furiously. Davis was scathing about some of the developments. He did not like Eric Dolphy or Ornette and some of his comments were bitter. Nevertheless, Davis tried to ensure that he did not fall behind; the hiring of Tony Williams the seventeen-year-old drummer was one result.

Tony Williams was a phenomenon. At seventeen he joined the leading group in jazz and he proceeded to dominate. His explosive drumming demanded submission not because he was loud but because the patterns were new and inventive and strangely right. He could alter the tempo almost at a whim. The experience of listening live to the quintet was rocked by the intensity and volume of Williams’ drums which sometimes tended to obscure the work of others in the quintet. In many ways the recordings give a better picture of the quintet.

Ron Carter was probably the most conservative member of the quintet. He had enough technique to keep up with Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams when both were intent on polyrhythmic adventures. Carter was a point of stability during the more extreme passages where he demonstrated exceptional rhythmic flexibility: He worked particularly well with Hancock and helped the pianist to develop his own ideas.

During the first concert in Antibes, Miles takes “Walkin’” at a furious pace. At times it sounds as if he is playing a duet with Tony Williams, they are inspiring each other. The George Coleman solo indicates why he was not really suited to the group, His solo seems to lack direction and he does not seem to pick up on the percussion clues from Tony Williams. Was the speed too fast? The repetitions in the solo seem almost desperate rather than avant garde. Trying too hard?

“Autumn Leaves” on the second concert is more leisurely and there is the chance to listen to the brush work of Tony Williams and the bass of Ron Carter. The transition from brushes to cymbals is beautifully handled. It is a pity that Miles uses the mute because his open horn at this stage was magnificent. George Coleman seems happier at this pace and his solo is exploratory. Herbie Hancock has Tony Williams in support and his wide-ranging percussive solo has stimulating ideas.

“Stella by Starlight” on the third concert has Miles using space, bending notes, holding notes, searching out blue notes, with characteristic intensity, taking chances. George Coleman seems relaxed at this tempo and he lays back on Ron Carter’s steady beat. This is probably one of Coleman’s best and most varied solos where he varies the rhythm. Hancock seems to have elements of Debussy as his arpeggios ring out superbly supported by Ron Carter.

There is something special about Miles in 1964. The quintet had gained Wayne Shorter and more intensity. “Walkin’” played in Paris has a less expansive, more abstract solo as if Miles was making space for Wayne Shorter who creates a solo out of broken ideas, spat out rhythms, altered tones, a rising tension, new ventures. In the 1964 concerts Wayne Shorter brings in his intensity, his unconventional adventuring.

The Paris version of “Joshua” is remarkable not just for Miles but for the others. Miles has more duels with Tony Williams: both are forceful. In his solo Wayne Shorter moves in another direction. He is almost communicating with himself; at times the direction of his solo is difficult to predict and the conclusion of his solo is unconventional. Herbie Hancock takes over the tempo. Hancock’s solo which is expansive with the promptings from Williams inspiring him to greater fluidity. Carter and Williams support him in bringing the tempo right down almost to a stop. The abstraction is complete. They are in a different world: the members of the rhythm section, exploring their own preoccupations.

The highlight of the whole set is “My Funny Valentine” played at the last concert. When I played it to colleague George Cole his only word was: “Sublime”. And that was no exaggeration. The pauses, the sympathetic accompaniment from Herbie Hancock, the soaring technical bravura; the single note punctuation, the brushes from Tony Williams, the dramatic falling away, the inventive mid-chorus melody, the tentative almost withheld romanticism. You can sense the hesitation from the rest of the group who are unsure about when to come in, when to interrupt Davis. They knew it was special.

This was a band in a hurry, in transition, a transition largely driven by Shorter and Williams. Because of that the quintet in 1963 is very different from the one in 1964 so each year there was growth until the group’s slow breakup in 1968. The abstraction in Davis’s solos was increasingly evident. Davis was not just leading, he was listening. They would continue to move on.

Sony should gather in all the quintet’s bootlegs from around this time and reissue them in good sound. Bootlegs Vol 1 and Vol 8 are a good start. There is nothing as good in jazz as this quintet playing at the highest level. It has been over fifty years since these concerts were recorded. Sony owes it to posterity to rescue the bootlegs. After all, European radio stations had the foresight to record the group in the first place in contrast to US stations which largely ignored the group.

The concerts from the 26th and 28th have been bootlegged for years. Each of them contains wonderful music that deserves to be better known outside the bootleg closets. The producers of this new bootleg claim to have researched a great deal but they did not have to look very far for the tapes. French radio (RTF) recorded the concerts. Indeed, jazz lovers everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to radio stations all over Europe who had the foresight to record jazz concerts. There are other recordings of this quintet, and many other groups, across the continent.

There is immense musical pleasure to be gained from this music. Sony, however, should not be pleased with aspects of the package. The slip cases are too tight and it is highly possible that discs could be damaged as they are extricated. Why did no one bother to interview Herbie Hancock? He was such an important member of the quintet, far more important than George Coleman. The notes written by Marcus J Moore are superficial and seem aimed at casual buyers and they give no indication why many people regard this group so highly. The price of both CDs and Vinyl is excessively high. It is budget packing at a deluxe price.

Looking for more? 

Check out our round up of the most famous Miles Davis albums in jazz history, or our pick of essential jazz albums.