Four & More [Original recording remastered]

Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0007OP2CA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,175 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wild ride..., February 2, 2006

By 

Robert Bezimienny (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four & More (Audio CD)

This session bristles with energy. The pace is exhilarating! Aside from the astonishing virtuosity, the sheer verve of the music is uplifting - literally - it's hard not to have both feet tapping and find yourself leaning towards the edge of your seat. The remastered sound is excellent - great depth and breadth to the sound-stage, punch and drive from the bass, clarity and bite in the upper registers without any digital harshness - terrific immediacy - the sister recording, "My Funny Valentine", shares these virtues.
*
Miles is supercharged throughout. He deploys staccato volleys and wavering glissandos, going for an urgency rarely equalled on other recordings. George Coleman is of the same spirit, although he prefers a more classical, clean delivery of his torrents of notes - in the liner essay Miles is quoted as judging this night to be Coleman's best-ever performance. The entire essay by John Ephland is very interesting and has many nice turns of thought - for example, "Imagine, if you can, the sheer ecstasy, the rush of playing faster than you can think, the magical, perfect blend of technique with feeling spiralling out this way and that." A good summation of the listening experience. Tony Williams is a dynamic powerhouse - coupled with Ron Carter, the rhythm is impossible to ignore. In this context, Herbie Hancock is in danger of being overwhelmed, and while his work is fine and adds to the fire, this is not the best showcase of his wide talents.
*
The selection of these tracks from the February 1964 night at the Lincoln centre makes for a wild and exhausting listen - mixed with a few of the more reflective numbers played that night, from "My Funny Valentine", the ride becomes more comfortable and even more engaging. A stunning night's music.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Light Speed Jazz, February 28, 2009

By 

Robert Moran "remoran" (Redding, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four & More (Audio CD)

I saw Miles play at least 10 times but sadly, not on the night of February 12, 1964 at Lincoln Center, the night his group created light speed jazz at tempos bordering on the unconscious. Tony Williams, the 18 year old prodigy, just took over and made these guys move in a way that simply is astonishing given just how experienced and talented a group this truly was. Every time I listen to this, I am struck by the spacing and openness of the sound and the power this group had in playing tunes they know by heart. It is a masterpiece that, in a round about way, is an up tempo salute to Kind of Blue, the greatest jazz album of all time as many of the compositions here are the same ones that Miles and Bill Evans penned for the earlier work. Absolutely one of the best jazz albums Davis ever did in this humble reviewer's opinion.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Half of the Philharmonic show., November 3, 2005

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four & More (Audio CD)

On February 12, 1964, Miles Davis took his band (then George Coleman- tenor sax, Herbie Hancock- piano, Ron Carter- bass, and Tony Williams- drums) to perform at New York's Philharmonic Hall, recording the show for release. Not one but two albums were yielded from this recording, "Four and More" and "My Funny Valentine". By this point, this group was a well honed unit, and their work together on these two albums is fantastic.

"Four and More" tends to get the more aggressive pieces from the set-- the improvs tend to be more exploratory than "Stella By Starlight" (which is saying something as Davis and Coleman both reach pretty far on that record), and the rhythm section pushes the tempos way up. Davis is in fine form, tearing through "So What", "Four", "Seven Steps to Heaven" and the other cuts on the record with frantic soloing and energy, and Coleman is rarely left behind. Still, as exciting as the performance is, there's a bit of a sameness to it that detracts from the listening experience and Davis feels like a train wreck on "Joshua" where he sputters on the theme, falls over himself early on in his solo, and just seems to pump out frantically throughout the performance.

For all its faults however, "Four and More" is a decent performance and probably worth investigation. It's really a pity the show is not available intact outside of the "Seven Steps" boxed set, which sequences the pieces as they were performed and incudes one extra track.