Customer Reviews

Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival

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This recording is so fresh and alive sonically and so rich and rewarding musically that forty-five years literally melt away upon hearing it. One doesn't know whether to express gratitude to the producers for releasing a recorded event of such historic significance and rare beauty, or outright annoyance at those responsible for sitting on it for all these years. In any case, it's music that could have been recorded yesterday, assuming a cast like this one could ever be reassembled.

In some respects, this is but yet another example of what is known as Davis' "transition period" (1960-1964) between his "first great quintet," with tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, and "second great quintet," with Wayne Shorter. On this instance, the playing is good enough to make a listener wish the transition had lasted indefinitely. First, there was the fascinating contrast between Davis' free approach and reedman Sonny Stitt's systematic bebop vocabulary, then there was Davis' sophisticated urbanity contrasting with the musky, bluesy, unashamedly soul-baring tenor of Hank Mobley, and here it's the restless and searching Davis vs. the pure, open sound and "singing" approach of tenor saxophonist George Coleman. The fact that the band had been together only several months adds to the freshness and excitement of the performance--perhaps more so than anything that would follow during Miles' "acoustic" period.

On the opening "Autumn Leaves" Davis, on harmon-muted trumpet, conducts a Hamlet-like, alternately meditative and morosely malcontent dialogue with his 23 year-old pianist Herbie Hancock who, quickly reacting to some hints from bassist Ron Carter, provides harmonic substitutions that momentarily reshape the tune's character. At the completion of the trumpeter's turn, Carter and 17 year-old drummer Tony Williams release the ever-mounting tension with a flowing 4/4 time-stream for the linear and lyrical melodic inventions of Coleman, who transforms brooding soliloquy into extroverted aria.

During Coleman's solo, the interplay between Hancock and Williams is worth the listener's undivided attention in itself, as the pair will adapt a motif in the solo to a shared rhythmic pattern, which in turn redirects the soloist's constructions. A similar empathy and serendipitous coupling extend to a way-up-tempo yet strangely serene and flowing version of "So What."

I've never heard a better interpretation of Victor Young's "Stella by Starlight" ever (and I've heard hundreds). The mysterious lady is seen through prismatic colors, with each soloist drawing an evocative portrait of varied colors and shifting moods, from ethereal and mysterious to teasing and saucy. I doubt if Hancock has ever played more sensitively, clearly living up to the school of thought that associates him with Bill Evans. The blues "Walkin'," taken at another torrid tempo, opens with a Williams' solo that challenges the blues form itself, while Carter goes to a half-time bowed solo that demonstrates the expressive possibilities attainable through the mathematical permutations of tempo.

The overall sound is spacious yet up-close and vibrantly present, while every note is crystal clear, assuring the listener of catching each detail, from Hancock's delicate voicings to Williams' innovative, often surprising punctuations (in fact, the audio makes my CD copy of the later studio session "E.S.P." sound artificial and limited, the piano unlistenable compared to the one captured on this 1963 date. Moreover, everyone seems uncommonly committed to swinging and inventive melody-making. By the time of the Plugged Nickel sessions the group would play with a more self-conscious, calculated and cerebral approach to melody (don't give it away), harmony (invent the chords as you go) and time (let it shift, speed up and slow down midstream).

For me this is one of the four most important releases of the new milennium, joining "Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie Hall," Clifford Jordan's "Glass Bead Games" and Bill Evans' last, heroic and glorious stand (collected on "Consecration" and "The Last Waltz"). At the very least, I doubt any knowledgeable follower of the music could disagree that this recording is an indispensable addition to one of the most distinguished canons by a major artist in 20th-century music.

How many live recordings are there of Miles' group with George Coleman? Even confined to the Columbia releases there are "Miles in Europe", "My Funny Valentine" and "Four and More". And the set list here has no surprises.

Yet it is well worth picking up this release even if you have all of these discs. The playing on this Moneterey concert is amazing, from all parties. Miles' soloes are long and energetic. I think this may be the best version of "Autumn Leaves" I've heard from this band, and George Coleman's solo on "So What" is full of vibrancy. In 1963 this was a new band, and you can feel the enthusiasm even when the band is playing such well-worn tunes.

And in case you were wondering, this is NOT a bootleg release, it was released with the blessing of the Miles Davis Estate. The sound quality is fantastic!

I wish to give a very special thanks to the Concord Music Group for releasing these once lost treasures from the Monterey Jazz Festivals. This is an outstanding new series of CD's featuring live, never-before released performances by many of the jazz greats who played at the famous Monterey Festival. I now own a half dozen of these recordings, and the sound quality couldn't be better.

This was some kind of quintet Miles had assembled back in 1963 with George Coleman (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), Herbie Hancock (piano), and a seventeen-year-old phenom named Tony Williams (drums). Miles was sitting on top of the jazz world at the time, and this recording is a prime example of why. His majestic, muted style is simply electrifying and it's also easy to see why he was consistently winning the Down Beat poll as the best jazz trumpet player of the year. The always traditional, conservative Coleman is solid throughout, nothing too spectacular, but then again, sans mistakes (which actually didn't appeal to Williams who hated the fact that Coleman's playing always sounded so perfect and mistake free. He actually preferred musicians who made mistakes, like playing out of key).

Another reason this recording is so memorable and special are the extraordinary performances of Hancock and Williams. These guys were really out to prove themselves and Williams in particular, became the talk of the jazz world after this appearance. Just listen to him at the end of "Autumn Leaves" and tell me anyone could have done it better or sound as unique. And I just love Herbie, he and Miles always seemed to be on the same page and he just kills it on his swingin, smooth, sophisticated solo on "Stella by Starlight". However, these are just two small examples of this near perfect, live recording.

All in all, this is a really nice suprise and one not to be missed. I had no idea it was going to be as great as it was, and can't recommend this one enough!

Over the past several years there have been many Miles Davis live recordings released, ranging from poor to good, so when you see a new release yet again, you may wonder about the quality. This recording stands out head and shoulders above all the rest, Miles playing is excellent, so too is the recording, crisp and clear, this is a must buy!

This is a revelatory find for the Davis catalogue. Excellent recording, especially for a live show at that time. Miles and band are in fine form, displaying their usual consistency. Great to hear the 60's quintet in its nascence. Even George Coleman plays well, soon to be eclipsed by Wayne Shorter. Very worthwhile for any Miles fan interested in his 60's quintet.

I just ordered this release along with the Thelonious Monk Monterey 64 title and both are excellent! Sound quality and perfomances on both discs are great. Regarding the Miles set, I loved this group during this period of time, especially with (the under-rated) George Coleman on sax. What a treat! In fact, I'd love to hear more recordings of this quality with George Coleman in tow. The band cooks on "So What" & "Walkin'"-playing these tunes at a ferocious pace and very similar to the way they were performed at Lincoln Center in 1964 (i.e. as found on Four and More). On the ballads, the band also pushes the envelope and wrings as much emotion out of the standards "Autumn Leaves" & "Stella by Starlight" making them sound fresh and vital.
All around, a great new series of recordings and a must have for the old Miles Davis collection!

This is a live performance of the quintet with Miles, George Coleman on sax, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. It opens up quite nicely with "Autumn Leaves". They play an inspired version of the old chestnut. "So What" is a fast version of the "Kind Of Blue" opener. Miles seemed to do the song fast more often than slow. His soloing throughout is very good. George Coleman, Hank Mobley, and Sam Rivers were the tenors unfortunately sandwiched between Coltrane and Shorter. Coleman's quite good, but he doesn't hit the 'pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming' heights Coltrane can reach. "Stella By Starlight" is done as a ballad. It has some good moments, but is the weakest song of the set. "Walking" is another fast take of a jazz standard. Ron Carter plays a long bowed solo towards the end. "Walking" turns into the "Theme" and it ends 51 minutes of very good music. This is recommended to any Miles Davis fan who'd like a little more from this era.

I know this was a transitional band for Miles. He was waiting for Wayne Shorter to become available to join his band, and utilized George Coleman in the tenor sax chair until Wayne showed up. However, I happen to love this band quite a bit on its own merits. And it is criminally under-recorded, so this recording is a treasure for those who prefer Miles on the swinging side. As noted, the recording quality is superb, which is fabulous for those who love this particular aggregation. But the performances a super-fine, too. One of this things that I love about this particular band was that it pushed and stretched the boundaries of each composition, but never to the breaking point. They managed to develop each composition almost as a suite, with a variety of moods and tempos, without violating the integrity of the composition, and ALWAYS with a swinging approach. The rhythm section, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, are largely responsible for this ongoing, shifting spectrum of moods, and Miles and Coleman responded with a great sense of adventure and responsiveness, but again, without losing that certain "thing" - the sense of swing.

It was only when Wayne Shorter showed up that this sense of adventure became greatly expanded, with tunes becoming only platforms for creative deconstruction and re-arrangement, sometimes at the expense of internal cohesion and good, old fashioned swing. Don't get me wrong; I love the band with Wayne Shorter on tenor; I possess the Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel and love it. But it's a different experience. It's just a bit more free and wild and wooly, and the notion of "swing" is also deconstructed and "re-engineered". Sometimes I just want to hear some ultra-sophisticated and flexible swing that is just a tad easier to understand, and this band fills that spot quite well. So I highly recommend it. It just fills a hole in Miles' catalogue like nothing else. Highly recommended.

Once again we find proof that the Miles Davis Quintet of the sixties was truely great. This long lost gem just confirms it.

Poul

South Korea

A new CD for 2007 is the Miles Davis Quintet "Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival". Recorded live on September 20, 1963 all the selections are previously unreleased material. This release comes at us as a gift from Universal Music and Monterey Jazz Festival records, which is a new label with a new series of unreleased live jazz music. Containing the usual suspects George Coleman on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and of course the world famous, undeniable Miles Davis on trumpet.

Tracks 2-5 are their full length cuts with each session lasting over 10 minutes a piece. The total track time of this disc is about 50 minutes roughly. The sound quality ain't bad on the album either.

"Autumn Leaves" starts the album off on a relaxed note. Ron Carter has a crazy bass solo in this which sounds so-so. "So What" is extremely fast, groovin', and cool. Typically the kind of jazz you can swing and dance to. Judging by the title of the fourth track "Stella by Starlight", you can already expect a mellow tune. A slow song that invokes in my mind thoughts of a lady or a special someone. Smooth blowing Miles!

"Walkin" is another energy based tune with fast horns by Miles and drums by Tony. Tony gets a solo in this, a lot better than the earlier one provided by Ron. "The Theme" is just that. A quick 1 minute jam probably meant as a theme for Miles himself. I highly recommend this purchase for completest and all fans of Miles Davis and jazz music.

Also released on the same date as this album but under a different record label is "Evolution of the Groove". EOTG is a remix EP album of unreleased Miles Davis songs featuring hip hop artist Nas and guitarist Carlos Santana, and Olu Dara on three of the four cuts. The album was produced by Steve Berkowitz and Miles's nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr.