The Miles Davis Quintet: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 – Miles In France 1963 and 1964 (Columbia/Sony Legacy 19802801681)
As the 1950s flipped over into the 1960s Miles Davis was enjoying one of the most prolific periods of his recording career, having released a run of albums that many considered some of his best. On the live stage though, things were a little different. The trumpeter had developed an inattentive attitude to live performance, to touring and to rehearsing up fresh material, and this was largely down to ongoing health issues and a battle he had with joint-affecting disease sickle-cell anemia. It was a lamentable period for Davis that would force, firstly, the disbanding of some of his most authoritative working outfits and, by 1962, a near retirement from the jazz concert circuit.
Miles in France is the eighth boxset in Columbia’s Davis Bootleg Series and is an important release for numerous reasons but mostly because it documents a musical recharge Davis would enjoy as a live performer thanks to a newly hired working quintet that would go on to be for many the greatest small group he ever led. Across six discs – collecting five sets from festivals in Antibes (’63) and Paris (’64) – we are tuned into two incarnations of this band, not to mention some remarkable playing, energy and near-telepathic interplay between Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams and tenor saxophonists George Coleman (Antibes) and Wayne Shorter (Paris).
While the material featured is still typical of Davis’s early 60s shows, the familiar standards and Davis originals we hear were all purposefully rearranged by Miles with this new exciting outfit in mind. The Antibes sets open with a start, the once light, breezy and blasé traits of tunes such as So What, Seven Steps To Heaven, Milestones and Walkin’ reimagined. They’re blown hard at bop tempos and often sprawl over the 10-minute mark.
Past a short introduction by radio host André Francis we hear the rapid tapping of Williams’ ride cymbal driving a rush of energy and ideas off the bandstand, his fast, effortless swing, abrupt bass-drum bombs and whip-crack snare accents adding to the intensity of Carter’s busy walking lines, Davis and Coleman’s gymnastic phrasing, urgent flurries and unisons runs, and Hancock’s tireless shifts in melody, harmony and rhythm.
Given this sustained delirium it goes without saying that the ballads dropped between breakneck speeders play as calming interjections. Indeed, with Davis’s often muted horn casting lush lyrical lines over soft bass and brushes and Hancock’s subtle planting of moving chords, staples such as My Funny Valentine, Autumn Leaves and most notably a 16-minute bounce through Cole Porter’s All Of You stand out as some of the boxset’s highlights.
While so much has already been said about the vital addition of Wayne Shorter to the band (replacing Coleman in late ’64) his fire, skill and superiority over Coleman as contributor to the quintet is clearly on display here. In fact, through the Paris sets and the noticeable lift Shorter’s approach brings to classics like Joshua, Stella By Starlight and the final disc’s emotive swish through Autumn Leaves, it’s almost debatable whether Davis actually led the band once dubbed the Mount Rushmore of modern jazz. Listeners may agree with bassist Carter who suggests in the liner notes that Davis’s role was more chief chemist in a lab that relied on his lab team to experiment with the chemicals he supplied. Whatever their individual roles and super powers, this must-have box (the Paris sets especially) is proof enough that this killer collective managed to plug our Prince of Darkness back in.
John Patitucci: Spirit Fall (Edition EDN1258)
In the press release for this, John Patitucci’s 18th album as leader (and first for the Edition label), the renowned bassist reveals the inspiration for the record to be the classic trios of New York City, such as those led by Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and Joe Henderson. In what reads as a passionate statement, he goes on to describe the trio assembled for this date as being “a true reflection of his journey as a bandleader”.
From this disclosure, from the countless great leaders Patitucci played sideman to and more so from the vibe of the 10 new tracks on offer here, you can take that journey to be stylistically diverse. But while Patitucci, saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Brian Blade don’t do anything drastic like “reflect” by revisiting the smooth, highly polished, slap-infused formula of the bassist’s late 80s output for the GRP label, the warm groove and some great writing does remain at the heart of this expressive set.
Recorded in a single session, the album opens with the bop-inspired Think Fast and Potter essaying a playful melody on tenor over samba-felt acoustic bass and some lively light-and-shade comping from Blade tacked to fast ride cymbal. The track takes in some inspired early solos from all, before trailing towards Pole Star, a ballad blending modern jazz and folk styles and echoing mid-60s Miles or, melodically, maybe something from Jan Garbarek.
Reputedly written after a memorable residency the trio played at the infamous Village Vanguard last spring, the bluesy Deluge On 7th Avenue follows and builds from its lazy, brush-swished beginnings underpinning some Michael Brecker-like tenor traits from Potter to a long, seductive bass break from Patitucci.
From here, Thoughts And Dreams signals a change sonically and a switch from upright acoustic to multi-ranging six-string electric bass. Awash with dark cymbals and Pattitucci and Potter in unison, dancing between low and high registers, the light theme eventually sits atop a slow funk groove. A warmer reminder of Patitucci’s funk credentials is the Afro-Cuban-licked highlight Lipim, the low-end bass hook to which sounds Superfly-ish against what could be double-tracked horns and a loose, syncopated groove from Blade.
While Wayne Shorter’s House Of Jade shines light on the relationship between bassist and drummer, Light In The Darkness opens with Potter on bass clarinet against soft, sparse accompaniment that erupts into free-style bursts before the group break to the spirited Sonrisa, another samba-felt tune that closes if not Patitucci’s most “reflective” disc to date, then certainly his most personal.
