Bootleg: Miles Davis Quintet Live in Europe 1967

[Free For All]

My heart is strong enough for sexual activity as well as the second quintet, but I'm not sure I could handle the excitement of both at the same time.

That was Bill Evans' concern when he first joined the group (remember Miles' ultimatum?).

[jazzbo]

Just noticed, doing an A/B comparison, that the bootlegs I have of the Paris date are in stereo, while the new version is mono. Odd.

Phooey! (I think I'n one of the only people who almost always prefers stereo when it's available.)

I haven't done a comparison, but I always thought the bootleg was fake stereo. I'll try to find it and compare soon.

Personally, I'm bowled over at the sound on this set. Excellent.

Edited October 24, 2011 by jazzbo

[Rosco]

Just noticed, doing an A/B comparison, that the bootlegs I have of the Paris date are in stereo, while the new version is mono. Odd.

Phooey! (I think I'n one of the only people who almost always prefers stereo when it's available.)

I haven't done a comparison, but I always thought the bootleg was fake stereo. I'll try to find it and compare soon.

Nope, true stereo. Not particularly wide stereo panning but there is some separation between William's cymbals and a little between Miles and Wayne. Herbie is a little left of centre, too. While it's not the widest 'soundstage' (it's most noticeable in the applause), it does seem to create some air around the players and give the sound a little more depth.

[jazzbo]

Okay, I'll check that out one of these days when I root the other one out of the cd collection.I know previously it sounded very fake stereo to me, but I may be confusing it with another of the bootlegs from this tour. Very happy with the sound of this new version.

[Free For All]

Herbie is a little left of centre, too.

You got that right!

[Enterprise Server]

Finally got it yesterday. Still foaming at the mouth............

[Kyo]

Have you guys noticed at the end of the DVD it lists in the credits that "Walkin'" was performed? Not on my copy.

I also note that the booklet and back cover do not list Walkin' as being on the DVD.

That track was on the bootleg.

I can't remember where I read this, but is it true that an almost identical DVD was included with one of the recent huge Miles Davis box sets, just that that one still included Walkin'?

[jazzbo]

That's exactly right, the DVD inside the Complete Columbia Albums box set is identical save that it includes Walkin' from Kharisruhe.

[skeith]

Any thoughts on the music?

I noted the NY Times review particularly praised the Copenhagen set, but I am finding that each of the three concerts have particular pleasures.

I find that the best version of each tune is almost always at another concert, so that one concert is not definitive.

[jazzbo]

I'll agree, the music is not static and different shows have peaks in different tunes. I really love all these shows and don't really have a favorite. I think that the sound being so darned good here has allowed me to connect to these shows again and more firmly than when I listened to the real boots.

[Pete C]

Antwerp is really intense, Paris is really loose. That's what amazes me about that band, how they could make a totally different show out of the same tunes, and not just the usual jazz variations.

[David Ayers]

From this point on I find Miles Davis gigs a bit too variable, too experimental. That's true of some earlier live recordings too, like the reunion with Coltrane, but it is really the case with a lot of the live electric material, which to my way of thinking is more than occasionally uninspired (even if busy and apparently eventful, and always texturally interesting). So though I find these gigs somewhat interesting and I guess sometimes 'exciting' they are also quite raw, really, for my tastes, so even though they stand up better in good patches than most work by lesser musicians, they also document the hit and miss and often not well-focused nature of the open-ended approach to gigging of this and later Miles groups. In fact in patches I seem to hear a lot of tension in the group, as if the openness allows for simple good old-fashioned disagreement. That's interesting but not muscially interesting, maybe.

Good to have the recordings though, and in fair-ish sound.

That said, I have never loved Miles and always ranked him below Coleman and Coltrane. I feel he is too pre-occupied with audience.

[jazzbo]

Wow. I really like what you don't. But I've loved Miles' music since '71 or so and have real nostalgia about the fifties through seventies recordings. In fact I like them most when variable and experimental. Different strokes I guess.

[jeffcrom]

I feel he is too pre-occupied with audience.

Interesting comment. Until the 1980's, I wouldn't say that's true at all. Different strokes, indeed.

[JSngry]

I really preferred it when he played like he' was in a room by himself, like in the '50s when he'd stick the mike all the way up inside the Harmon mute so nobody would hear it, or when he'd wear those Italian suits to blend in with the crowd, or not talk to the audience because that way people would not realize that he was the bandleader.

Miles never was any good at working an audience. Never.

I also don't like how they improvise all the time. They should have worked that shit up in rehearsal and played it the same way every night. If it was really that good, they'd feel it right each time. As it is, they're just wasting everybody's time.

Stupid spontaneity, it's never as worth it as they want you to believe.

Edited November 17, 2011 by JSngry

[Pete C]

[JSngry]

For pure primal satisfaction, no, not even close. But the legal ramifications are infinitely preferable.

Damn laws get in the way of everything...

[BFrank]

Reviewed by Kevin Whitehead today on Fresh Air

[Pete C]

Reviewed by Kevin Whitehead today on Fresh Air

Thanks, Brooks. I never made the "Dang Me" connection before!

[skeith]

thanks BFrank.

Interesting observations, but why he calls it "bizarre" I am not sure. Strange word for what he was describing.

[jazzbo]

Nor do I understand why he says Antwerp was not available before. It's been available a long time as a boot. Ah well.

This is one of the very best reissues of the century.

[Guy Berger]

Nor do I understand why he says Antwerp was not available before. It's been available a long time as a boot. Ah well.

This is one of the very best reissues of the century.

He's probably confusing it with the first two tracks from Paris, which I don't think were previously available.

[David Ayers]

thanks BFrank.

Interesting observations, but why he calls it "bizarre" I am not sure. Strange word for what he was describing.

Kind of what I was saying, n'est-ce pas? According to Kevin, Miles found the same problems with the music that I was talking about.

[bertrand]

Received my set yesterday (Euro version)

My Disc 2 appears to be faulty

It's difficult to load into my computer - keeps rejecting the disc but was eventually able to load it into Itunes

Track 2 (Footprints) has quite audible clicking/ticking at 4:10 (lasting about 20 secs) & 6:25 (lasting approx 10 secs)

Track 5 (Masqualero) as above @ 5:40 (approx 10 secs)

These "anomalies" are most evident when the disc is in the car player - don't think they are part of the recording; nothing mentioned in the liner notes

Anyone else had the same problem?

Would appreciate someone else having a listen to their disc at those times listed above

Will probably have to send the set back for a replacement - usually easy procedure with Amazon UK (have done this before)

At the passages that you mention, I hear the bass being plucked very insistently. Could that be what you are hearing?

Bertrand.

[BFrank]

Not sure why he calls it bizarre or even if I agree with the "Dang Me" reference. It's so slight, that it could just about be anything.

I would call the review "bizarre", though.