Miles in Japan with Sam Rivers

[Pete C]

I don't think any of the tenors between Trane and Wayne really fully meshed into the quintet, though I do enjoy Mobley's playing at the Blackhawk. But I think Stitt was a total mismatch, and Coleman just not good enough at the time (he more than made up for it in later years). While I love Rivers' sound, once again I don't think he really became part of the fabric of the group.

[Rooster_Ties]

Much as I adore "Beatrice" (the tune, which is maybe one of my two or three alltime-favorite jazz tunes ever!), I do think the degree to which it's 'bound by chords' would have been very much in oposition to Miles wanting to break away from the 'tyranny of chords'.

(I'm writing this instead of what I was tempted to post, which was to suggest it might have been interesting to hear Miles playing "Beatrice" -- but the fact is that it probably wouldn't have worked.)

[clifford_thornton]

I could hear Miles c. '63/'64 playing "Beatrice," for sure. Fuchsia Swing Song is a great record though I sometimes want to hear those lines played on trumpet - perhaps mid-Sixties Lee Morgan.

[slide_advantage_redoux]

I first heard Sam Rivers on Dave Holland's Conference of the Birds. That LP blows me away to this day. Wonderful concept and exciting writing.

[six string]

I've always liked the official release and I own the Japanese cd and lp. Not only do we get to hear Rivers play in this great band but Tony Williams is a monster on this album. His highhat work is superb. It's my favorite period of Tony's, before he discovered his tom toms.