bertrand

Damn - I wrote two long posts with all the details after talking to Mike Fitzgerald, and I accidentally lost them both. In a nutshell (it's very late): 1) Tony was at the Club Baron gig up until 2/16/69; this was his last gig with Miles. I got this from an interview with McLaughlin in Jazz Times (11/08). There is also a gig at the Plugged Nickel in late December 1968 (Chicago Defender). 2) Jack was in Europe with Stan Getz in early '69, definitely on 2/26/69 (clip at ina.fr). 3) The Cellar Door gig was 3/10-15/69 with the lost quintet (Washington Post 3/13/69). Rochester was probably after. So 3/10/69 was most likely the lost quintet's very first gig. What was their last? Losin shows a gig in Rotterdam on 11/9/69, and we know that Wayne left on 3/7/70 (and Moreira was on board by 2/21). Was there anything in between? In any case, this group existed less than a year. More details to follow. Somewhat related to this, I have yet to figure out how the piece entitled 'Universe' by Wayne Shorter fits into all this. The copyright date is 8/22/69 (i.e. around the time of Bitches' Brew and during the lost quintet's brief existence) and the instrumentation is as follows: C Flute, Alto Flute, English Horn, two French Horns, two Bassoons, Tuba, Trumpet (Miles), Saxophone ('me'), Electric Piano, Marimba, Tympani, Hawaiian Guitar, Mandolin, Guitar, Fender Bass, Drums and Harp. The trumpet part on the copyright deposit says 'Miles', but to my knowledge this has never been recorded. Bertrand.

So if Tony's last live show was 12/68, and Jack was unavailable until late February, who played drums at the Club Baron gig? Joe Chambers? Jack temporarily on leave from Lloyd? Denardo Coleman? Losin has Miles in Central Park on 7/7/69, but curiously does not mention whether or not Allen Lowe was in the audience. Either Chris Sheridan's Monk bio-disco of Robin Kelley's book can tell us if Monk was in Central Park on this date. I have the latter but not the former. Bertrand.

I queried Pete Losin's site using Jack DeJohnette as a search term, since his presence in the group (in my opinion) defines the lost quintet (Davis/Shorter/Corea/Holland met in the studio, but with Tony Williams on drums). The first session on this web site with these five musicians is from 11/27/68 - it's a studio session with additional musicians, so does not count. Next is a recording from Rochester from the week of 3/11-17/69 with the lost quintet lineup. In this entry, Losin states the following: 'The Quintet resumed its busy schedule of live dates in the spring: Club Baron, New York (January 25-February 16); Cellar Door, Washington (March 5-10); Duffy's Backstage, Rochester (March 11-17); Village Gate, New York (April 25-26, May 23-24, and July 29-August 10); Plugged Nickel Club, Chicago (June 4-14); Blue Coronet Club, Brooklyn (June 21-29); Morgan State Jazz Festival, Baltimore (June 22); Newport Festival (July 4); Central Park, New York (July 7); Juan-les-Pins Festival, Antibes (July 25-26); Rutgers University Stadium, New Brunswick (July 27); Sheraton Park Hotel, French Lick (French Lick Jazz Festival) (July 31); The Spectrum, Philadelphia (August 15); Grant Park Theater, Chicago (August 22); Crosley Field, Cincinnati (Ohio Jazz Festival) (August 23).' Now I am not totally convinced Jack was in the band yet for the Club Baron gig, since between this gig and the Cellar door gig we have Tony in the studio for In A Silent Way (2/18/69) and Joe Chambers for a studio session that was not released at the time (2/20/69). Some accounts have Tony getting angry at Miles during the recording sessions for IASW and quitting the gig on the spot; this may mean Tony was still in the band until that day (although Jack was the drummer on 11/27/68). So was Joe Chambers a possible replacement for Tony who didn't pan out, or just a fill in for DeJohnette until he could join for good? If we could find some newspaper accounts for the Club Baron and Cellar Door gigs, this might tell us who was on drums. All the live sessions from the rest of 1969 are the lost quintet. But the first live session from 1970 is in Michigan (2/21/70) with McLaughlin and Moreira added. McLaughlin is not on the 3/6-7/70 Fillmore gig which is Wayne's last (he does one last tune in the studio on 3/17/70 but not with the quintet), but Airto is at the Fillmore, so we can assume that by 2/21/70, the lost quintet no longer exists as such. So the lost quintet started existing in that from in early 1969 (March or perhaps a bit earlier) and at least until 11/9/69 (concert in Rotterdam) - exactly what Guy said. By 2/21/70, some musicians are added. So it is conceivable that there were a few lost quintet gigs in early 1970, but I very much doubt there were any in 1968. Another source would be Jan Lohman's book, which I do not own but can check next time I go to the Library of Congress. Bertrand. P.S. I have read that Tony left the band on 2/18/69 furious at Miles because he thought Miles was trying to co-opt Lifetime (McLaughlin was on the record and Larry Young was in the studio) and never played with Miles again. But Losin lists Tony and Miles as playing together in September 1985 on the Sun City benefit record, although he says Miles is overdubbed. I believe Miles' brief appearance on the tune 'Sun City' is an overdub, but my recollection is that he plays quite a bit on the other track, 'The Struggle Continues', so that may not be an overdub. I have a tape of this somewhere.

I was always under the impression that the 'lost quintet' referred to the Shorter/Corea/Holland/DeJohnette line-up which never made a studio recording ('Sanctuary' from Bitches' Brew has this line-up plus a percussionist). Live recordings and bootleg videos abound, so it's not completely 'lost', but we definitely do not have any examples of them working on new material in the studio. Miles was definitely going into the studio in those days, but he would always expand the personnel on these studio recordings. I will check later on Pete Losin's site to see if there are any other recordings of this basic quintet plus others (apart from the afore-mentioned 'Sanctuary'). Bertrand. P.S. Most of Bitches' Brew is an expanded version of the 'lost' quintet.

Thanks. I know that I had posted this question elsewhere, but found it since by talking to other people that I need both region-free and PAL/NTSC compatible. So is 'region-free/multistandard' the technical term for this dream machine I am looking for? The guy at Myer Emco told me about Oppo - bummer I missed out on it. Has anyone used the vendor recommended by Dave? Thanks, Bertrand.

How do you call Newbury? I never saw a phone number. Bertrand.

He's registered here. Perhaps he could post and explain his business model to us. Bertrand.

Happy birthday. Michael! Bertrand.

Actually, I was wondering about the rhythm section for the multi-tenor thing. Lonnie Smith is Lonnie Liston Smith (who is also on Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith aroung this time), not Dr. Lonnie before he got his PhD, correct? Bertrand.

I assume there was a rhythm section as well? Bertrand.

Brownie, So you also saw the Bobby Hutcherson/Harold Land concerts at Juan-Les-Pins? if so, you are a very lucky man. Bertrand.

Brownie, Had you already done the interview before Felice posted this? If not, I will say: 'Boy, that was fast'. Felice, Please tell us more about this book. Is it specifically on the lost quintet? I know of another book in the works on the previous quintet (the one that is fortunately not 'lost' at all). Although I never saw this band, perhaps there is some information I have uncovered in my research on Wayne Shorter that could be of use. I will try to find out more on professor Veal later, but I have to go out now to try to get some supplies for the approaching storm. I'm looking forward to hearing more. Bertrand.

The Wayne Shorter video on their website is stunning. Bertrand.

Can anyone recommend a DVD player that is region free and accepts PAL and NTSC? I want to buy something that plays all DVDs. My current player is on the fritz anyway, so I want to get something that can handle everything to replace it. Bertrand.

A Waldron bio is in the works. Bertrand.

How many Level 3s are allotted? Bertrand.

Not sure why you are selling these because you can't find the one title, but someone is offering the one you were looking for on your other thread (Claude, I think) for a reasonable price. Go for it, it's by far the best version of Cookin'. Bertrand.

The Hutcherson is back; I've been waiting forever. Ordered it yesterday. Bertrand.

I remember the thread but I wouldn't know how to find it. I can tell you that I'm 99% sure the track is an out-take from the session that yielded the first side of Ernie Henry's Last Chorus. One of the things I remember about the thread is how absurd it was that Keepnews claimed that Cannonball was immediately recognizable on the 'mystery' track, when in fact it is Ernie. Bertrand.

John L. on 1/14/08 posted a quote regarding a lost quartet session on 3/6/63. Do we know anything more about this? Bertrand.

Glad to hear that someone else likes this music as much as I do. Bertrand.

Mike, I'm very sorry to hear about this and I hope things start looking brighter for you soon. Bertrand.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier to save you a trip, but I think he's back in China. It's starting to tick me off, because now he's taking his sidemen with him. If you are near Utopia tonight, I highly recommend the Sarah Hughes quintet playing Mulligan/Konitz music. I won't be able to come due to early meetings tomorrow, but I highly recomend it. Last week's Ornette Coleman retrospective with 2 altos, tenor bass and drums was brilliant. Bertrand.

Probably music from Three Blind Mice, which was on UA. Bertrand.

OK, I think their sets were excellent. You are free to disagree. That's just what my ears tell me. Bertrand.