Customer Reviews

Miles Davis in Europe

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a transitional band for Miles Davis.

From the final breakup of his band with John Coltrane and/or Cannonball Adderly fronting a rhythm section of Wynton Kelly/Paul Chambers/Jimmy Cobb, until the formation of the famous "2nd Classic Quintet" with Wayne Shorter/Herbie Hancock/Ron Carter/Tony Williams, Miles band went through changes in both personnel and artistic temperament. The rhythm section changed from Kelly/Chambers/Cobb to Hancock/Carter/Williams and the front line experienced even more radical turnover.

After Trane left Miles to begin his solo career, Miles went through a string of saxophonists looking for that elusive quality of exploration/combustibility/agressiveness that Trane brought to the sound of Miles' group. After Trane, Sonny Stitt, Hank Mobley, Frank Strozier, George Coleman, and Sam Rivers all spent some time in the saxophone chair before the band finally gelled with the addition of Wayne Shorter in the fall of 1964 (represented in another new live cd release "Miles: In Berlin").

The signficant thing about this live performance from France in 1963 is that it is the first recorded performance of the band with Tony Williams on the drums. With the addition of Williams, the rhythm section of the 2nd classic quintet (Herbie Hancock/Ron Carter/Tony Williams) became firmly entrenched and the future artistic trajectory of the group was set.

What is most interesting about this performance to me is hearing the tension between Miles' musical past and future playing out in the sound of this group. George Coleman on tenor saxophone represents the hard bop/mainstream approach that had dominated Miles sound since the formation of the "first classic quintet" in the mid 1950s. In my opinion, Coleman's performance here and in the February 1964 concert (My Funny Valentine/Four and More) represent some of the best recorded solos of his career. Taken together they beg for a reassesment of Coleman as a much greater player than he has traditionally been given credit for. Hopefully the release of this recording on cd in the U.S. will help in that regard.

Coleman was incredibly confident at this point and plays with absolute authority and complete control over his instrument. Moreover, he doesn't seem the least bit intimidated by the more adventerous young rhythm section he was playing in front of. If anything, based on the aural evidence, he actually was greatly inspired by the challenge they presented.

The seeds of Miles future development were planted with the opening chords played by the Hancock/Carter/Williams rhythm section. One of the things that made this rhythm section so special was its incredibly elastic sense of time/rhythm. Even at this early date, you can already sense the extent to witch Hancock, Carter, and particularly Williams are chomping at the bit to stretch the confines of traditonal "swing" rhythms to the breaking point. At the same time, they remain absolutely tight and cohesive.

In addition, Herbie Hancock already shows a willingness to take the harmonic sopistication and impressionistic/absract sound of Bill Evans a step further.

Granted, on this album, the rhythm section is still playing relatively conservatively. Nonetheless, you can catch unmistakable glimpses of their youthful exuberance and sense of adventure as they almost imperceptibly push the music ever so slightly "out" only to have it edged back in again by Miles/Coleman.

Listen closely and all these undercurrents are there in this band in this concert: Miles and Coleman at the top of their respective games and reeling off inspired solo after inspired solo while also somewhat reining in the radical tendencies of the rhythm section. Meanwhile, the rhythm section provides unflagging support to Davis and Coleman while also subtly subverting and pushing against them at the same time.

Fascinating stuff.......

Miles Davis was obviously a genius and one of the seminal figures of not only jazz music but of 20th century American music. However he was never considered a particularly gifted technical trumpeter compared to more virtuoso players like Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, or Freddie Hubbard. What Miles is known for is the strength of the musical ideas he expresses through his horn and his uncanny use of space/silence to accentuate the effectiveness of the notes he actually plays.

In spite of this general reputation for a lack of technical rigor, I find Miles' playing from this period with this band to be some of the most technically commanding and rigorous of his career. Listen to his solo in this album on "I Though About You" or his solo on "My Funny Valentine" from the February '64 concert and you would question the discernment of anyone who had the audacity to impugn Miles' chops on the trumpet.

Located somewhat awkwardly in time and style between the peaks of Miles more famous bands and recordings, this live recording nonetheless contains endless pleasures for those willing to delve into its intricacies.

Whether you are a Miles fanatic or a relative newcomer, you will find it greatly rewards repeated listenings.

The recordings of Miles' 1964 Philharmonic Hall concert have acquired a reputation for being Miles' best live recordings from the '63-'64 period. As an avid Miles fan, I agreed with that assessment. That was before I had ever heard this concert from the Antibes jazz festival.

This album is AS GOOD if not in some ways better than Miles' justly famous "My Funny Valentine" and "Four and More" albums. Miles himself plays as intensely as in the 1964 Phil. Hall concert, and his trumpet technique itself is often crisper in the Antibes concert. George Coleman's playing may be more adventurous and intense here than on the 1964 concert, which makes him a better fit with the Hancock/Carter/Williams rhythm section. All through this recording, the quintet's interaction has a giddy, at times playful tone, and the musicians' excitement can be easily heard.

It was high time that Columbia made this recording available in the US.

I bought "Miles Davis in Europe" on vinyl over 30 years ago & never got tired of listening to it - a great band recording great music just before Miles went off into his abstract period.

One of the distinctive apects of this classic disc is the piano playing of Herbie Hancock. His geometric solos & ornamentations are endlessly interesting, perfectly complementing the ethereal playing of Miles Davis & George Coleman.

Despite all of the kudos for the fine "Friday & Saturday Night at the Blackhawk" sessions, I think "In Europe" is much more interesting.

One side note - the cd cover reproduces the original album art, which mistakenly identifies the recording as stereo. The sound, which is excellent, is actually mono.

Five Stars? No, easily a SIX! A one word Review? SPECTACULAR!! An Essential Recording for any serious jazz collection. It's as if all of the previous quintets were pointing to this one brilliant, non-pariel live performance. And this quintet, as usual, was itself pointing off into the future which would shortly include the brief Sam Rivers-sideman era. From the previous quartets of the Prestige years to the early Columbia recordings with the likes of Garland, Coltrane, Wyn Kelly, Bill Evans, Cannonball, Hank Mobley, et al., this one seems to build on their individual excellence to a wonderous group excellence, all in one fell swoop. The big difference here is intensity and Tony Williams!! The addition of the teenage drumming genius Tony Williams was a brilliant acquistion by Miles and it revitalized the quintet with his youthful freshness and orchestral cunning. And Davis formed one of the greatest rhythm sections in jazz history, along with Herbie Hancock on piano and the redoubtable Ron Carter on bass. George Coleman, who synthesized Coltrane and Rollins into a personal style, was also a great 'get' for the quintet (beating out Frank Strozier, I'm told). And they play like dervishes on this CD, finally released at a sensible price for such a classic recording.

All performances are the "Pieces D'Resistance" of this disc. "Autumn Leaves" is FANTASTIC, both individually and collectively. Mile's muted solo is so fresh, relaxed, and inventive. Coleman's solo, composed of packets of notes, packs a powerful punch leading to a crescendo, opening the door for Hancock's relentlessly brilliant, rhythmically varied solo with some great block chording. Note the fascinating musical conversation between Hancock and Williams at the beginning of the piano solo, before it surges back into 4/4. Carter's arco bass solo is equally brilliant. But Williams is operating on a level of jazz drumming on a par with the greatest drum masters, driving and inspiring the musicians to new heights during their solos. WOW!! I've listened to this song for decades and it still amazes me. But this was just the beginning...enter "Milestones".

We've heard "Milestones" a million times but Miles has concocted a new version for this occasion. It begins at a breathtaking pace, with a unison head that is not the usual toss-away head that Miles was sometimes fond of. "Get it over with and let's get to the solos." Not this time. The quintet is on top of 'all things unison'. Mile's fiery solo is one of his best up-tempo solos ever, Coleman's ribbon of sound solo is fascinating, leading to Hancock's truly spectacular solo. All pushed along by the brilliant rhythm trio, especially future DownBeat Hall of Fame member Williams. A fabulous performance.

"Joshua" is in a similar vein as "Milestones", but Miles had a plan. "Joshua" is distinct and invigorating with choppy rhythmic breaks delineated by Williams' rim shots. Note how Miles stops in mid-solo, almost as a challenge ("What cha' gonna' do now, guys?"), and Carter and Hancock rush to fill in the pause before Miles surges back to finish an AWESOME solo. And Hancock's solo is 'too much'. After you listen to it, go back and key in on Tony Williams' performance, he is formidable!!

I could go on describing each excellent individual track. Later, Miles was so impressed that he made coast to coast telephone calls to Ralph Gleason to play and rave about certain parts of the recording, especially what Tony Williams was doing on the drums. For one known to be so self-critical, Miles was blown away by this quintet's live performance! So am I and I have been listening to this recording for decades! This is a CLASSIC recording, jazz fans, A Real Keeper. Six SIZZLING Stars !!!

Though "My Funny Valentine-Miles Davis Quintet live in Concert" was better recorded and in stereo where this was not, this live set is the first official recording of this group before Shorter replaced George Coleman in the tenor chair. Also the solos appear to be more adventurous and the rhythm section of Hancock, Williams & Carter really bristle with youthful energy. So forgive the muddy quality of the recording and listen to some great music performed by one of the best groups of the '60s.

This album should definitely have five stars. That's why I'm trying to bring up the average by writing this dumb review. Don't even read it, just go buy the stinkin' album. It changed my life. It should say right on the cover: "Contains several perfect solos by George Coleman". If you haven't liked him on other recordings, you probably will on this one, unless you just don't like good music. This is also one of Herbie Hancock's best recordings. Ever.
Blah, blah, I've said enough.

In 1963, Miles Davis took his new quintet-- tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams on the road. No less than three live albums-- "Miles Davis in Europe", "My Funny Valentine", and "Four and More" were drawn from these shows. "Miles Davis in Europe" is the weakest of these.

The set consists of a handful of originals and standards Davis had been associated with for several years and Victor Feldman's "Joshua", recorded in this studio the previous month. The performances are decent enough, but it seems to lack something. Part of the problem is that Davis is at times detached-- his performance on "Autumn Leaves" for example finds him pretty really not digging in at all (curiously enough, Coleman digs deep and produces a real gem of a performance). Much of the rest of the set shows that this was a very new band-- "Milestones" and "Joshua" both find Davis running full bore and soloing explosively (particularly the latter, where Tony Williams pushes him on and on), but when Davis' solo ends and Coleman takes over, the intensity drops way down, particularly on "Milestones" where Coleman seems to run out of steam.

For all these gripes, there are still quite a bit of brilliant performances-- "Walkin'" is probably worth the price of the disc alone-- Davis comes skidding in and whirls through his solo before turning over to Coleman, whose angular solo is unceasingly inventive. And Davis really digs in deep on "I Thought About You", opening in a ballad form and really cutting loose into a deep blues feel.

Still, all in all, there are other recordings by this band that are significantly better-- start with the studio effort or the other two live albums (recorded some time later), come back to this one if you need more.

Recorded in July 1963, just two months after Miles had put this band together. The group had recorded its half of Seven Steps to Heaven in May, played a series of engagements in St. Louis, Chicago, and Cleveland from late May through June 23, then hit the stage in France to record for posterity a month later.

Of course the band hardly had a chance to form its own identity. George Coleman sounds heavily under the influence of John Coltrane, and the new rhythm section of Hancock-Carter-Williams, which would later turn the Miles book inside-out, here sounds not unlike the Kelly-Chambers-Cobb unit it had just replaced. Four of the five numbers on the album were familiar selections of the Miles book from '54-58 (and the bonus track on the latest CD issue originates from 1960); "Joshua" being the one tune new to the audience at the time. There is no deconstruction, no stretching and pulling at forms, like the musicians would start to do in 1964. The festival audience, familiar with the Blackhawk records or Miles' Fall 1960 European tour with Sonny Stitt, heard probably just what it expected.

What makes it still worth hearing is the energy of the performance. Miles sounds invigorated, and most of the set is taken at a rapid clip, urged on by Tony Williams. It's almost like a Miles Davis & the Jazz Messengers kind of kick. Sometimes a record of frisky mainstream jazz is just what hits the spot, but this is one of the less essential live albums in Miles' career. There would be much more important and interesting records to come by Miles with this band, and the rhythm section in particular.