Customer Reviews

My Funny Valentine

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD was part of the 2 CD set Miles Davis in Concert 1964, My Funny Valentine & Four and More. This part is broken off. The original CDs interlaced ballads and upbeat tunes as they were performed. Then the ballads were put on one CD and upbeat stuff on another, now (finally) the ballads are released by themselves. And I say "Good for Columbia!" Ordinarily, this would be a poor practice but not in this case.

This concert was months after the Kennedy assasination (JFK). The country was in shock. The Concert was a benefit for the NAACP, CORE and SNCC. The backup band found, when they got there, that they were donating their time. Surprise! They were quite wizzed and it showed, especially in the upbeat stuff, on "Four and More" which is far too up-beat and has a forceful strong angry edge.

The ballads, captured only on this CD are wonderful. Sensitive. Miles poured his soul out through the horn. He had done this before on "Round About Midnight" "Kind of Blue" "Someday My Prince Will Come" etc (see my list) but sadly, he would not do that again.

Miles had a change of mind (or a change of heart) after '64. He played and composed his own music and continued til his death in '91. But he never really exposed the depth of his feelings like this again. And he fled from playing standards with that harmon mute.

(Yeah, Late CD's "Aura" and bit of "Tutu" are good, and other bits here and there, but he never sounded like this again.)

All cuts are good. "All Blues" is far too fast, but not angry. The much maligned George Coleman, like Hank Mobley, has a fine lyric tone (less ascerbic than Coltrane).

Brooding title cut is rumoured to be dedicated to Kennedy. CD label says "incandescent beauty and romance". Yes.

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.

"My Funny Valentine" by and large collects together the ballads that were performed-- Davis was a remarkably lyrical trumpet player, and in his young rhythm section Davis had a group that could inspire and push him-- his playing had rarely in the past been as adventerous, with his solos finding him reaching, both in terms of ideas and his horn's register. In Coleman, Davis had an odd foil who could match his romanticism. The best performances show off how well this group worked together in framing Davis and Coleman's lyricism-- the title track finds the leader lush and inventive with Carter countering in the upper register before Coleman manages to out-Miles Miles. "All Blues" gets an excited presentation (no doubt due to Tony Williams' explosiveness), and "I Thought About You" features Davis at his most speechlike, enunciating through the horn before turning over to a soulful solo from Coleman and a lovely touch from Hancock.

All in all, this is quite a good show albeit not quite a flawless performance-- Davis seemed pretty uninterested in the theme on "All of You" and I don't really care for this reading of "Stella By Starlight" (although Hancock is fascinating behind the soloists). Noentheless, fans of Davis' lyrical playing wil want to check this out. Recommended.

This is pure, absolute instrumental poetry. The title cut is a definitive answer to the question 'what's so great about Jazz?', in that it is one of those amazing spikes on the curve of sonic/emotional ambience that occurs all too rarely. George Coleman does not just make an enjoyable accompanist, he delivers a course on cool jazz saxaphone for the uninitiated. This album is art of a level that is rarely reached by individuals, and here we have a group reaching it together. Of course, the group was composed of giants, but this performance was one of those synergy things, in which the whole was greater than the sum of its parts - This album is an absolute must in any music collection, even if only for the cool jazz mood, which, to paraphrase Eric Dolphy, is gone, in the air, like a bird - it can never be captured again -

This is a splendid live recording, and probably one of my favorite Miles Davis CDs (I own about 30). The original recording at Lincoln Center was obviously of very good audio quality. The 1992 CD version--COMPLETE CONCERT 1964--sounded quite good. This remastered edition, which represents half the concert (disc 1 from the original set, which I prefer over disc 2) sounds even better, with more detail. Two other improvements in this new edition: 1) it starts right off with music, rather than the lengthy (1:40) Introductions by Mort Fega; 2) the liner notes include a nice new essay about the concert by bassist Ron Carter. If you haven't heard this music before, note that Miles is in very good form, George Coleman provides what's probably some of the best recorded work of his career, and Hancock, Carter, and Williams are, well......not too shabby. A most elegant performance.

In 1964, Miles brought his quintet, with George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, to give a concert as a Civil Rights benefit. The gig was unpaid and some of the band members threatened to leave when they found out, but Miles pulled them back together and they went out on stage to play. This album documents half of the material yielded by the concert, the other half being released on "Four & More."

The price of the CD is more than worth it for one tune, a fifteen minute version of "My Funny Valentine" which is the quintessential jazz performance. It begins with a beautiful piano introduction with Miles coming in and stating the melody (sort of) in a very rubato duet with Hancock. Eventually the band comes in and the groove establishes itself and peaks with an amazing chromatic trumpet run. The band just explodes. Coleman takes a lengthy but very very pretty saxophone solo (he was never as inventive as his replacement, Wayne Shorter, but he acquits himself well here) before Herbie waxes a GORGEOUS improvisation with only Carter behind him most of the way. I have a transcription of said solo and I am amazed that anyone could even write that, let alone make it up on the spot. Miles comes back in with the melody at the bridge and the tune ends quietly, the close of a magnificent melodic journey filled with amazing interplay and near-telepathy between the band members. This is what jazz is all about, creating spontaneous beauty that has never existed before and never will the same way again. Of course, we have the record to play it over and over.

The rest of the album follows in more or less the same mold: extended standard performances that are beautiful and top quality, though none of them quite reach the poignancy and power of the title track. The way the material was divided between the two albums is a little strange in that most of the medium tempo material is here while the faster material is on "Four & More," so it can get a little repetitious listening to "My Funny Valentine," "All of You," and "Stella by Starlight" all in a row, with little variation of tempo and approach. My suggestion? Either listen to the tunes one at a time or buy this album and "Four & More" and shuffle them...just a thought.

From the very first chord that 23 year-old Herbie Hancock plays the listener realizes that they've popped something very special (dare I say magical?) into the CD player. I am a huge fan of Miles's electric period but lately I've been collecting the earlier releases. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, I picked it up along with its sister release "Four and More" that was recorded during the same concert.

Surely this release was inspirational to Manfred Eicher who founded the ECM record label, known for its extraordinary sound production. "My Funny Valentine" sounds as though it could have been produced for that label, in fact, I'm very much reminded of Kenny Wheeler's 1975 release "Gnu High" (that featured x-Miles sidemen Jarrett, DeJohnette, and Holland). After listening to this I can understand why Miles's earlier fans were so upset with Bitches Brew - it hasn't changed my mind about the brilliance of Miles's electric music but this release is a testament to his ability to create great music in any genre (except maybe polka music).

I don't think I can add much more to what anyone else has said in the other reviews other than it is clear that on this disc and on "Four and More" that these musicians were playing and communicating on a level that is a rare achievement, thank God the tapes were rolling that night in February 1964! All of the players far exceed their usual brilliance. In particular I want to point out Herbie's playing on this release. I've always been aware of Herbie Hancocks abilities and brilliance, but his incredibly sensitive touch on those keys is almost overwhelmingly beautiful in places.

Not sure why everyone equates Miles's second great quintet with the addition of Shorter to the Carter-Williams-Hancock group. In my mind the second great quintet started with this band that included Coleman.

It's all good folks. I can't fathom why anyone who in musically knowlegeable would give this release less than 5 stars. Buy this along with its sister release "Four and More" You will not be disappointed!

certainly one of my favorites, miles or any other recording. each song is a stellar performance. particularly the playing of george coleman; based on this recording, coleman remains one of my favorite tenors, whether it's the setting, the selections, or inspiration of the moment, i accept his masterful performance without question.

I can't add much more to all the previous reviews, except to say that I'm astonished & deeply moved by this recording. The mood is so palpable that you can feel it tingling across your skin. "Magic" is such an overused word, but there's no better one for the seemingly telepathic unity of the musicians, the apparently effortless ebb & flow between them. In fact, anything else I might add is superfluous -- this IS Miles Davis, after all! -- so just put this CD on & lose yourself in its stunning music. Most highly recommended!

All you need to know before purchasing this album? This disc is a "missing link" from the Prestige-era Davis quintet and the "Bitches Brew" band. Listen especially to Ron Carter's bass- chords, off-kilter walks, the touches that pull this out of any "pop" interpretation rehash and straight into voodoo. Herbie Hancock does some of his most angular work here, playing light-as-a-ruffle chords inside and out.
And Miles? This band must have turned him on. Listen to the first few minutes of the title track- Miles builds it up, the band swings it out. For a laugh, the melody mutates into "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" for a few bars, and back into "My Funny Valentine", all in the clipped, pugilistic, murmuring tone that built his most adventurous music. This is music at its most human- catching an inspiration and riding it as far as you could. Listen and be changed. That's all they wanted.

Typically satisfying live release during Davis's early-mid career finds one of many all-star lineups dazzling and rarely over-embellishing a few stirring ballads to contrast the up-tempo numbers found on a companion disc.