Thursday, March 14, 2013

CD/DVD Set of the Month (Historical) - "Miles Davis: Live in Europe 1969"

CD/DVD Set of The Month (Historical)
Miles Davis Quintet: "Live in Europe 1969 - The Bootleg Series Vol.2" (Sony)

"Live in Europe 1969" lives up to the Miles Davis Bootleg Series mission of presenting live performances that are previously unreleased, have previously only been bootlegged, or are very rare. This new set is the first collection of Miles's Third Great Quintet, aka "The Lost Band" of 1968-1970 with Miles (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (soprano & tenor sax), Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes), Dave Holland (bass) & Jack DeJohnette (drums) at their peak; they were never recorded in the studio).

This long awaited 3CD + 1DVD release captures the short-lived freeheeling quintet in three separate concert settings, starting with two full-length (one hour-plus) sets at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France on June 25 & 26, 1969, in Stockholm as part of "The Newport Jazz Festival In Europe" five months later, and completed with a stunning NTSC DVD 46-minute performance at the Berlin Philharmonie, filmed in color.

Rhythms here are completely unbound – sometimes wilder even than the sounds on "Bitches Brew," and played with a similar intensity on the keyboard, trumpet, and sax solos – an unbridled power that really takes off over the space of the very long cuts on the collection! The whole thing's an essential addition to these very important years for Miles, and the tunes include "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down", "Sanctuary", "It's About That Time", "Footprints", "Paraphernalia", "Nefertiti", "No Blues," "Masqualero", "Spanish Key", "Directions", and "Bitches Brew". DVD also features a November 7, 1969 performance from the Berliner Jazztage – of titles that include "Directions", "Bitches Brew", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "It's About That Time", and "The Theme". Essential for all Miles' fans.

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