This was the opening concert in the "Birdland All-Stars in Europe" tour. In addition to Davis, the tour featured
Lester Young, Bud Powell, The Modern Jazz Quartet, the René Urtreger Trio,
and (on some of the German dates) the Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra. The itinerary was
as follows:
November 2: Salle Pleyel, Paris
November 3 (evening): Concertgebouw, Haarlem
November 3 (midnight): Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
November 4: Cercle Artistique,
Antwerp (afternoon)
November 4: Palais de
Beaux-Arts, Brussels (evening)
November 6: Sportspalast, Berlin
November 7: Festhalle, Hamburg
November 8: Rosengarten, Mannheim
November 9: Kongresshalle, Frankfurt
November 10: Unknown venue, Hamburg
November 11: Deutsches Museum, Munich
November 12: Stadthalle, Freiburg
November 13: Konserthuset, Stockholm
November 14: KB-Hallen, Copenhagen
November 16: Unknown venue, Lille
November 17: Salle Pleyel, Paris
November 18: Unknown venue, Strasbourg
November 19: Kongresshaus, Zürich
November 20: Victoria Hall, Geneva
November 21: Musikhalle, Basel
November 22: Teatro di via Manzoni, Milan (two concerts, afternoon and evening)
November 23: Teatro Nuovo, Turin (two concerts, afternoon and evening)
November 24: Unknown venue, Marseilles
November 25: Unknown venue, Lyons
The few fragments that survive from this tour show Davis in fine form and a very
frail Lester Young.
According to an interview with Jeanne de Mirbeck, René Urtreger's sister
and Davis' companion during this time, there were 28 concerts in this tour (see
Jazz Magazine, December 2007, pp. 20-21).
After the evening concert on November 22, Davis participated in a jam session in
a Milan club, the Taverna Mexico, with Renato Angiolini (p), but Davis apparently
did not like his playing and so replaced him with Milt Jackson; the other participants
were Alceo Guatelli (b) and an unknown Italian drummer. Thanks to Stefano Biosa
for this information. And thanks to Winfried Müller for providing the image of
the Munich concert poster.
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