Miles in Tokyo [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: B0007OP2CK
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,792 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 1.75th Great Quartet DID exist, March 26, 2005

By 

Marty Nickison II (Austintown, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Miles in Tokyo (Audio CD)

When we talk about the music of Miles Davis, there were many epiphanies that his music had. One was expressed in the album Birth of the Cool, where he broke away form a sound similar to Dizzy Gillespie to start his own distinct tone. The second major epiphany came about with first great quintet. With Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones and John Coltrane, Miles was able to extend his themes and developments into longer solos and also stretch the inert abilities of each piece they played. The third epiphany is expressed here on this album, Miles In Tokyo.

Well, George Coleman's time to leave the band came. So, with amounted to a promissory note for Wayne Shorter from Art Blakey, Miles need a tenorist yesterday. Sam Rivers, newcomer to the scene, was selected and to Tokyo the band. Here, available in an American pressing for the first time ever, is the concert date at Kohseinerkin Hall on July 14, 1964.

The sound was different here than any other date Miles did.

The sound is the question, right? Well, if you listen to My Funny Valentine, Live At Plugged Nickel, Seven Steps To Heaven, or Live in Berlin; you know the sound of the early quintet. They are developmental, experimental, polyrhythmic, fluid and (the difference in the early performances) conservative. Everyone, including Miles, is using the musicality of space to enhance his motifs and thematic material. Herbie is, as always, turning the melody into a song length harmonic experiment. Ron Carter is following behind the group with some early elements that would become know as `funky'. `Ant' Williams (R.I.P.) makes the whole song his solo. Tony always had a way of developing his approach to the tempo through the entire piece.

One final note is the presence of Sam Rivers. Well, if you have any of his early works (Fuchsia, Fuchsia Swing; Countors, Inventions and Dimensions, Trio Live) then you already know what to expect. His playing is punchy, dynamic, employing much staccato and almost paying to attention no any time restrictions.

Any fans of the second quintet or Sam Rivers will love this album. Also, give a hard listen to the album Countors (Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers (lead), Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams).

Not for the novice, this is jazz as only Miles can do it.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An unusual recording., November 3, 2005

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Miles in Tokyo (Audio CD)

One of the more bizarre recordings in the catalog of Miles Davis, "Miles in Tokyo" finds the trumpeter with only one missing piece in his "Second Great Quintet"-- the rhythm section of pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams was in place, but while Wayne Shorter was promised to join Davis on tenor sax, he was not yet available, and on the recommendation of Tony Williams, Sam Rivers was brought in for replacement.

Now, I love Rivers' work, but clearly this was not a match that Davis was ready for, and Rivers sounds out of place. The set in the summer of 1964 was largely unadventerous, Davis had not recorded regularly with his small group in several years (1963's "Seven Steps to Heaven" being the only date during between March 1961 and January 1965), and there was a lack of new material (attributed by Davis to having "nothing left" after recording "Sketches of Spain"). As a result, the music Davis was playing was rather tame compared to what the Ornette Colemans and the Cecil Taylors (and for that matter the Charles Minguses and John Coltranes) were doing by this point. While his young band was far more schooled in free jazz, Davis was not ready.

So what we have is Davis playing a bunch of tired pieces with a rhythm section that pushes the level of energy up-- Davis plays well enough, railing away agressively pretty much throughout, but he's nothing compared to Rivers. Rivers' soloing is explosive, fierce, energetic, and unpredictable, often eschewing standard time and rhythmic ideas ("So What"), and yet sometimes surprisingly lyrical ("If I Were a Bell"), so far beyond what the rest of the band was doing that he sometimes loses them. And certainly Davis was unhappy with him, not allowing him to state the themes.

It's really an interesting record, and certainly everyone plays well enough, but Rivers was a square peg and it shows.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miles Meets The New Thing - An IMPORTANT Recording for Students of Miles, December 28, 2008

By 

Talking Wall "Never trust a man with manicure... (Queen Creek, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Miles in Tokyo (Audio CD)

Those who study Miles' career know that he was in something of a creative rut in the early 60's. The departure of Coltrane and later the Kelly, Chambers & Cobb rhythm section left Miles looking for a new creative pool of ideas and expression. The arrival of Carter, Hancock, Williams, and Coleman gave him a working band and while the music these guys made was exceedingly good, there was nothing extraordinarily new and exciting really happening. When Coleman vacated the tenor sax chair, Miles once again tried and failed to secure Wayne Shorter - the man Coltrane recommended to Miles when he departed. Enter Sam Rivers for a stint that lasted but a few weeks.

Rivers was recommended by the young Tony Williams. Note that Tony had also recommended Eric Dolphy but Miles was having none of that. What's interesting is Rivers and Dolphy, while they sound nothing alike and don't even play the same horn, approach the sax in much the same way. Both have a very expressive way of playing each and every note.

While it's true that Rivers wasn't the player Miles was looking for, it is clear that his presence changed the way Miles' band listened to one another and played. Just listen to the version of "So What" on Tokyo and compare it to the recording made in Berlin a couple of months later with Wayne Shorter on sax. It's as if Miles made a giant leap forward on Tokyo and then took a step back. The rhythm section on Tokyo sounds much closer to what we hear on ESP than the first recording with Shorter (Berlin). Rivers is positively outrageous on So What, you've never heard a Miles Davis band that sounds like THAT.

Another good reason for purchasing Tokyo is that is includes what biographer Chambers calls the essential performance of Funny Valentine. I have to agree with that assessment.

Rivers might not have been the sax player Miles had in mind but it's clear that Rivers is the person who managed to nudge open the door to a much more flexible sound for Miles' 2nd great quartet.

This is great stuff! Buy it!