Guy Berger

As a side note... given the other material played by the '59-'61 Miles groups, I'm not sure "Blue in Green" or "Flamenco Sketches" would have fit in. Guy

I've had some of these recordings (3-10) for about two years and have listened to them on-and-off, but I've been really listening to them for the first time recently. (You could probably spend a lifetime listening to this stuff.) Anyway, some thoughts on the Oct. 30 gig in Rotterdam. The second half of the concert is really poorly recorded, but some crazy shit happens on "Riot". On the original studio recording, there's soloing over a sort of funky-Latin background. The live performance on Oct. 28 is different in that the playing is much more manic, more of a freebop feel than a funky one. But on the Oct. 30, after a typical rowdy opening to the tune, Williams goes silent (or nearly silent, it's hard to tell from the recording). Instead you have Herbie playing weird shifting trills (sounds a little like Steve Reich!) over which both Miles and Wayne play their solos. It's a total mindfuck. Herbie is totally on during the second half of this concert -- his solos on "Green Dolphin Street" and "Masqualero" are fantastic. I know Rooster Ties and Bertrand are big fans of the Antwerp 10/28 gig -- any thoughts on its merits relative to Rotterdam? In general, the music on these concerts is much freer than that on the Plugged Nickel recordings. The group plays the music as a medley; there are rarely pauses between tunes. The tunes guide the improvisations, but you could almost think of the concert as a continuous improvisation with occasional melodies popping up. Hancock is even more responsive to the soloists, and the shift in material from standards toward originals allows the group to be looser with forms. Miles is at the top of his game as far as playing -- his opening " 'Round Midnight" duets with Hancock are stunning. (And interestingly, like the '69 recording Shorter opens the middle section of RM at a racetrack tempo.) "No Blues", which was generally just a "swinging" tune in '65, is more exploratory, There are parts during Shorter's solo in the Rotterdam gig where it almost turns into a sax-drums duet. Guy p.s. If nobody else has offered this stuff before the end of August (26th or 27th), I will probably be able to seed a tree/vine then.

I'd like to start a thread on the incredible live music recorded by the Miles Davis Quintet during 1967. Peter Losin lists 10 live recordings: 1) April 7 @ Berkeley, CA (64:28): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/Masqualero/I Fall in Love too Easily/Riot/Walkin'/On Green Dolphin Street/Gingerbread Boy/The Theme [Albert Stinson plays bass instead of Ron Carter] This Berkeley date was part of a West Coast swing, during which the Quintet also went into the studio and recorded the alternate take of "Limbo". They then returned back east and recorded music for the Sorcerer, Water Babies and Nefertiti albums. 2) July 2 @ Newport Jazz Festival (20:32): Gingerbread Boy/Footprints/'Round Midnight In October the Quintet toured as part of the "Newport Jazz Festival in Europe". 3) October 28 @ Antwerp (62:32): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/Riot/On Green Dolphin Street/Masqualero/Gingerbread Boy/The Theme 4) October 30 @ Rotterdam (49:02): Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/On Green Dolphin Street/Riot/Masqualero 5) October 31 @ Stockholm (33:08): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/Gingerbread Boy/The Theme 6) November 1 @ Helsinki (15:24): Footprints/'Round Midnight 7) November 2 @ Copenhagen (47:12): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/Masqualero 8) November 4 @ Berlin (42:47): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/Masqualero 9) November 6 @ Paris (90:33): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/Masqualero/I Fall in Love too Easily/Riot/Walkin'/On Green Dolphin Street/The Theme 10) November 7 @ Karlsruhe (94:55): Agitation/Footprints/'Round Midnight/No Blues/Masqualero/I Fall in Love too Easily/Riot/Walkin'/On Green Dolphin Street/Gingerbread Boy/The Theme According to Losin and Chambers, Miles had a falling out with George Wein and returned to the US. Interestingly, the next recording date for the Quintet would be the December 4 "Circle in the Round" session. P.S. Joe Henderson played with the group from January to March. Too bad no tapes have surfaced...

I think the Japan set is cool, but not quite top-tier. The performances are a little unfocused. Guy

Definitely worth picking up. I'm not sure whether it includes the full Rome concert (assuming that we are talking about this concert), but this is top-drawer music by one of Miles's best working units. Guy

I realize I'm in a minority on this opinion. Yeah, the 2nd CD rambles like crazy, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Yeah... I saw P4 in SF in October of 1998 (?). Incredible show, at least the second half of it. When I got the Collector's Club CD, it didn't sound nearly as good. I have the ProjeKcts box set and the only one of the albums that I really enjoyed was the one with Bruford (ProjeKct One). P3 gave me a headache. Yeah, saw these guys in LA in early 1999 (?). Really frickin' loud, I wish I'd brought earplugs! Guy

I'm not a big Al DiMeola fan -- I think that RtF really started going downhill when he joined -- but I don't mind listening to the one album I have by him (Elegant Gypsy). Nothing too substantial, but fun to hear once in a while. Especially "Racing the Devil on a Spanish Highway" or whatever it is called. Another album that's probably not even "serious fusion", but in the same "fun to hear once in a while" category is Liquid Tension Experiment with bassist/stickman Tony Levin and a bunch of guys from the prog-metal band Dream Theater. I thought it was ridiculous even when I listened to a lot of fusion, but at this point that doesn't really bother me. And for some surprisingly good fusion, there's ProjeKct Two's Space Groove with Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn and Adrian Belew (on drums). Anybody else heard this one? Not a shred-fest by any means, just long meandering spacy jams. Guy

Only acoustic at the beginning but after Bitches Brew he started playing electric as well. Guy

An incredible band -- my favorite live Miles. I have about 13-15 CDs (not sure about duplicates) from March to November. The sound quality is variable, but the music is always amazing. They've been discussed previously here. Guy

Good news for those of us with iPods:

Couw's link on another thread is forcing me to resurrect this one. I'm going through the 2nd quintet material (live and studio) chronologically over the past few weeks. And once you get to the 1966 and 1967 recordings, Miles's playing is commanding. I mean, if you don't like his tone, you don't like his tone (in the same way that some people might not enjoy what Trane played on Giant Steps or Interstellar Space), but there's no way anybody can convince me that the trumpet playing on Miles Smiles or Sorcerer isn't some of the most incredible ever laid down on tape. Guy

And that JS Bach guy, he sucks too. Guy

Alright, I'll get things started. This was the second Keith Jarrett album I ever picked up, after the excellent Whisper Not (and some sideman stuff with Miles and C Lloyd). As soon as the spiky vamp that opens "Misfits" started, I was totally sucked in. I put this album at the halfway point of this band's life. Their early recordings (for Atlantic and Columbia) are a grab-bag of different styles, not always totally well-integrated but also full of enthusiasm. Their later recordings show a greater maturity but less wild eclecticism and more self-conscious "seriousness", culminating in Mysteries, Shades, and The Survivor's Suite. Fort Yawuh mixes the best of both worlds. In addition, the live setting means you can hear the band stretch out; like some other working groups, these guys were much tamer in the studio. Dewey Redman in particular plays exceptionally well. And though I don't think Shorter or Lacy ever felt seriously threatened, this has some of the best soprano playing of Jarrett's career. Onto the individual tracks. "Misfits" showcases Jarrett debt to Ornette both as a composer and an improviser. The opening vamp sets up Keith and Dewey's solos are great, as is Paul Motian's free drumming underneath. At the end, Keith comes in on soprano and there's a nice bit of collective improv between him and Dewey. "Fort Yawuh" has a mysterious introduction with Keith plucking the piano strings, then a Coltrane-ish theme statement. Jarrett solos over a vamp, then Dewey comes in with an excellent solo on his musette. "De Drums" is the weak link on this album. The outer sections have a nice rock-ish groove and the middle part swings along nicely, but I think unlike the other performances on this disc this one never catches fire. "Still Life, Still Life" starts out as a solo Jarrett improv. It's a nice example of Keith's ability to merge lyrical and abstract playing. The Evans and Bley sides of his personality. I love it when Dewey Redman enters near the end of this performance (which unfortunately fades out!). "Roads Travelled, Roads Veiled" is maybe the most powerful performance on this CD. It opens up with a stunning Jarrett solo introduction before moving into the dramatic Coltrane-ish theme. Then there are two terrific reed solos, first by Jarrett on soprano and then by Dewey on clarinet (!!!), both with a distinct Middle-Eastern or North African flavor. Jarrett then returns for a piano solo. Haden's solo rambles a bit, but other than that I think this is the highlight of the album.

"Wavy Gravy" is one of the coolest song titles ever. Guy

There's an excellent Weather Report Discography here, or at least there used to be. Hopefully it will come back online soon. Guy

Am I the only one who thinks the blurb about Star Trek is a little weird/over-the-top? Is Oliveros (or McPhee) a hardcore Trekkie or am I missing something? Guy

Well, when your students are paying $40K/year to study at your institution, you have the luxury to splurge on trendy, expensive toys for them. What percentage of the people who are in the market for external hard drives buy iPods for that purpose? What about people in the market for PDAs? Guy

Chris, Nobody is denying that an iPod can do things beside storing a lot of music. My question is whether those things can be done better, or cheaper with something else. Guy

I'm with you, Jim. It seems to me that the live '65 stuff is where Coltrane fully realized a lot of his ideas for the quartet. And "Creation" is an unbelievable performance, even by the standards of '65 Trane. Guy

"Blue Valse" is a quartet version of "Ascension" from 1965. Guy

Two great albums, but I think these are more "hot, lazy summer afternoon" than "intimate late night". Guy

Good choices, Barak, though I don't think either album is quite as good as Midnight Blue. What about Idle Moments? It has that same late-night vibe. Guy

This set is essential if you are interested in Coltrane's live material, despite documentation problems. It makes the individual Pablo albums superfluous. My favorite stuff on this box is from 1963. (The last three CDs.) Guy

The Half Note date contains a stunning version of "Song of Praise", but I'd wait until Impulse's forthcoming reissue of this music. The Five Spot material has been released domestically by Blue Note. The Newport '65 CD actually has more Shepp than Trane. Not one of the most essential '65 quartet performances, but if you like this period you should pick it up. Live in Seattle is a live recording with Pharoah Sanders. Some intense free jazz, particularly on "Cosmos" and "Evolution", though some performances are lacking focus. The Newport '63 CD has the classic quartet with Roy Haynes replacing Elvin. Classic performances of "I Want to Talk About You", "MFT", and "Impressions". (An intense Roy-Trane duet on that last one.) Live at the Village Vanguard Again has the best-sounding recording of Coltrane's final group with Rashied Ali and Alice. The version of "Naima" is incredible, though you should pass on this if you dislike Pharoah. Guy

I realize that Miles, Herbie and Ron had been playing with Tony Williams for over 3 years by this date (and Wayne for over 2) and were used to all sorts of insane stuff happening behind the drum kit, but... ...when they finished recording "Footprints", do you guys think the thought "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED???" just crossed those four guys' minds? Guy