Customer Reviews

Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968 (Exp)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-1968" features nothing less than some of Miles' best music. This box set showcases many of Davis' most innovative albums including "E.S.P.," "Miles Smiles," "Sorcerer," "Nefertiti" and "Miles in the Sky." While the music leans towards psychedelia and the impending fusion movement, this is still jazz by any stretch of the imagination. The mood is cool, intelligent and laid back. While the box set documents the inevitable introduction of electric instruments, it is a gentle preamble. The electric piano is a mere suggestion and the plugged in guitar seems light years away from squealing Jimi Hendrix type power chords. While [...] Brew would eventually pass the point of no return, these six discs suggest mind expansion, but never cross the line. With this 2004 reissue, the listener gets the same music as on the original box set release but for about $30.00 less. Considering that this reissue also comes with a handsome full-color booklet, it is a mystery as to why anyone would pay an additional thirty dollars for the original. The Amazon description claims that this contains additional tracks. While this has tracks not found on the 60's releases, this reissue has the same music found on the 1998 box set. If you've always wanted Miles' 'light trip' music in one place, the "Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-1968" is the perfect box set.

There are already solid Amazon reviews singing the praises of this great music, as well as evaluating the quality of the product itself (in general and in comparison with earlier releases of the same set). But I tried to put together a clean list of what it contained, and thought it might help others considering a purchase:

It has the following Miles albums, including alternate tracks when available:
1) E.S.P.
2) Miles Smiles
3) Miles in the Sky

It has a majority of two other albums
4) Sorcerer (minus a track recorded much earlier with Gil Evans)
5) 3/5 of Filles de Kilimanjaro (the rest is in the Silent Way box)

From the later Columbia compilations it has:
6) From Water Babies: "Water Babies," "Capricorn," & "Sweet Pea"
7) From Directions: "Water on the Pond"
8) From Circle in the Round: "Sanctuary," "Side Car I" & "Side Car II"

Finally, it includes the following unique tracks:
9) "Thisness", a previously unissued mono rehearsal
10) the full 33:32 of "Circle in the Round" (edited on Circle album)
11) "Fun," which appeared in slightly edited form on Directions
12) "Teo's Bag," which appeared on Circle with a spliced ending
13) rehearsals of "I Have a Dream" and "Speak Like a Child"

This remarkable box set focuses on a period of Miles Davis' career that many jazz neophytes tend to overlook. A great deal of attention is spent on Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain and Bitches Brew - all deservedly so - but each of them represent only a portion of Davis' musical scope. Of all the stylistic changes that Miles Davis undertook, few had been as adventurous and rewarding as the work he created with his second `classic' quintet lineup, featuring Wayne Shorter on saxophone, Herbie Hancock on keyboard, Ron Carter on bass and the explosive Tony Williams on drums.
Unlike the most popular works of Miles Davis, this is not easy listening music, not by any means. The music created by this quintet is challenging and demanding, which is precisely why it is so extraordinary. Repeated listening continues to pay dividends, in spades. Difficult, angular arrangements constantly veer off into ingenious, mind-boggling directions. Following the supple movements of this rhythm section is about as difficult as chasing a kitten, but soloists Davis and Shorter (and Hancock, too, who is a major component of the rhythm section and a startling soloist as well) never seem to lose their footing. It is jazz music as an intricate game of prodding and suggestion, able to go in virtually any direction, with all five members listening to each other with an intensity that most musicians could only aspire to.

Although I am a huge Miles Davis fan (His Autobiography is essential reading), I was hesitant to make such a lump-sum investment in this boxed set, even at $70.00 for the 2004 re-issue. However, after reading most of the reviews here and listening to sound bites, I decided to pick it up. I have mixed emotions about my purchase.

First of all, the music is astounding! I concur with most of the other reviews regarding the music, and have nothing to add except to emphasize that every jazz fan MUST own these historical recordings. I honestly can't believe I have been on this earth for three decades, a jazz fan for one, and never owned this music before.

On the other hand, I was disappointed in the packaging. Yes, Todd Coolman's essay, "The Quintet" is revealing and informative, and the packaging has some rare photos that are fantastic additions. However, notably absent are the liner notes and artwork of the original album releases from which these six discs derive most of their material! I was planning to savor the original album art of "E.S.P.", "Miles Smiles", "Sorcerer", "Nefertiti", "Water Babies", "Miles in the Sky", and "Filles de Kilimanjaro", and to read what was written about the musicians and music on these albums when they were released. So, I was disappointed that this classic jazz was not accompanied by these historic visual representations of the music.

Still, the music itself is worth any price. The alternate takes and previously unissued tracks are great, and I personally enjoyed the chronological arrangement of the music. This boxed set is highly recommended and essential if this is how you plan to purchase this music. However, if you want the rest of the history surrounding these recordings, I suggest picking up the individual albums.

I bought this handsome 6-CD retrospective because I wanted to dig into the birth of fusion, and Miles Davis gets the credit. The booklet is excellent, very informative. I knew that it covered the Miles Davis Quintet from 1965-68, and that the material from many landmark albums was included. (E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and Miles In The Sky). Dollar for dollar, that's a very efficient buy - each CD is over 70 minutes long. The material makes good on the promise, it reaches from traditional jazz all the way through to pre-Silent Way, Brew long jams. Really fascinating, diverse, beautiful, and thoroughly listenable music. The Davis Quintet creates its own atmosphere, almost its own vocabulary.

As I played one CD after another, I became happier and happier about buying 6 Miles Davis CDs. But I realized something rather obvious that I had overlooked. This was an all-star quintet. I had also purchased 6 Tony Williams CDs, and he has never sounded better. Same for Herbie Hancock, who, at the time, was something of an enfant terrible. Same for Wayne Shorter who simply smokes like a southbound train. Same for Ron Carter who had the nice habit of quietly turning up on just about every jazz record worth listening to in those days. I read recently that Davis wasn't a technical virtuoso and I guess that's true. But he had a genius for picking talent and he was certainly a visionary. This superb collection showcases some of the most interesting and pivotal music of its day. Wonderful.

This awesome box simply puts together all of the studio recordings with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. The songs are sequenced in the order they were recorded. The notes are thorough, and give the exact lineup (Buster Williams plays bass on one song; Joe Beck, George Benson, and Bucky Pizzarelli play guitar on seven different songs). This is a 5-star box set not because every song is perfect, but because the music is classic and the package is excellent.

The box set puts together the entirety of "E. S. P.", "Miles Smiles", "Nefertiti", and "Miles In The Sky". "Sorcerer" is missing only a vocal song recorded before the quintet came together, so you pretty much get "Sorcerer". Three of the five "Filles De Kilimanjero" songs, half of "Circle In The Round", half of "Water Babies", two from "Directions", three unreleased songs, and eleven alternate takes make up the 56 songs on the set. I consider "E. S. P.", "Miles Smiles", "Sorcerer", and "Nefertiti" to be very strong 4-star CD's. "Miles In The Sky" and "Filles De Kilimanjero" are 3-star CD's. It's best to read the reviews of those CD's to get a sense of how they play out. The miscellaneous other songs as a group could be considered two 4-star CD's, and I will only talk about them in this review:

"Circle In The Round" starts with Joe Beck's single note guitar plunks and Tony Williams' restless drumming. Wayne Shorter then introduces Miles' witchy melody. Herbie Hancock plays an electric piano. It's very long, but you don't lose interest, which is remarkable. "Teo's Bag" is okay, but almost certainly a let-down. "Side Car" has a jumping melody. "Side Car II" adds George Benson's guitar. "Sanctuary" isn't quite as good as the later version on "Bitches Brew".

"Water Babies" has a poking melody, but is a little too inconsequential. "Capricorn" comes out off the gate louder, and has good soloing. "Sweet Pea" is more contemplative, but has great group improvisation. "Thisness" is a ballad with a lot of Miles' trumpet-playing. "Water On The Pond" starts hesitantly, and only gets slightly better. "Fun" seems like it needed more development. The rehearsal versions of "I Have A Dream" and "Speak Like A Child" are pretty good, but for whatever reason Miles didn't want to record a finished version.

With the music on this box, Miles Davis essentially recorded the template for much of the mainstream, non-fusion jazz that has come since. People have certainly taken their jazz quintets and quartets in different and original places, but Miles laid a lot of foundations for the jazz to come with this group. The music is good, essential, and everyone should buy it in one form or the other. If you have the albums seperately, you don't need the whole box set for three unreleased songs.

If one wants to study the direction of contemporary music or jazz as some people call it, then look no further than to acquire this box set. Miles Davis has always been a trend setter and his magical group of Hancock, Shorter, Williams & Carter paved the way for jazz from modal to fusion. This group of gifted musicians created a cohesive blend of form plus talent to create art. I would be hard pressed to find any flaws in this collection but there is one gem that shines above the others and that would be the "Miles Smiles" session and then perhaps "Nefertiti" and "Sorcerer" ones as well. If you want to go beyond the break-up of this splendid unit and Miles' introduction to fusion then also check out the "In a Silent Way" sessions which introduces Chick Corea on piano in place of Herbie Hancock and Dave Holland on bass who replaces Ron Carter. Either way you can't lose if you're a Miles fan!!

This set presents the recorded work of one of the greatest musical groups of all time. The level of composition, and the interplay among the members is stunning. I have listened to the individual albums created by Miles, Shorter, Williams, Hancock and Carter for a few decades, and still marvel at the music. Having all of the work, and unreleased tracks in one place is the bonus here. Being able to load the music for portability is wonderful. The LPs sound great, when I want to listen at home, but on a long flight it can be a source of joy to hear "Hand Jive" or "Masquelero" with the push of a button. I can't recommend this set highly enough.

in a pop rock motown world. The Last Stand of Soul Jazz is what this set should be called. The last great jazz period in US history. And is all here. Miles seventh rebirth. (He did have 9 lives) Kool Kat. 20 years of being the king of jazz into 3 years of musical jazz universality. The implications are real and the sounds are here. Awesome and Universal. Into Infinity. Deep into the Soul, out there and in here. Listen and live.

This is the second released Columbia box , covering Miles tenure there. Originally released in 1998 , this material would be the 4th chronologically. As with the first released box , good luck finding it in the metal-encased box. The man is Miles , the music is Miles. That's all that matters. Listen and marvel....put it in your cart , now.