Stitt plays alto saxophone on "Autumn Leaves," "'Round Midnight," "No Blues," and
"The Theme" (first concert), and on "Fran Dance" and "All of You" (second concert).
He plays tenor on the remaining titles unless indicated otherwise.
The concerts were recorded by Europe-1 Radio; the Trema CDs bear the subtitle "En
Concert avec Europe-1." I suspect that more music was performed than is listed here;
it may be that the Quintet performed two sets in each concert as they did in Stockholm
on October 13.
That would account for the two instances of "The Theme" listed in the second concert.
(The brief one following "Two Bass Hit" is not listed on either Trema release.)
Brian Priestley recalls listening to the Europe-1 broadcast of this performance
and hearing a rhythm-section-only version of "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise."
I have not been able to find any reviews that confirm these suspicions, but there
is almost certainly more to be heard than what is listed above.
Update November 2024:
The Lost Recordings is releasing what they are describing as
the complete concerts on this date.
The first volume, which purpotedly includes the first concert, includes the following titles:
All Blues (12:35)
Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (7:04)
Walkin' (11:45)
Four (8:46)
Autumn Leaves (13:11)
Makin' Whoopee (6:28)
No Blues (14:34)
The Theme (1:00)
What has become of "Unidentified" (an unknown extemporaneous blues in C#, a feature for Sonny Stitt)
and "'Round Midnight"? The details for this date are awaiting clarification...
Sonny Stitt joined the Davis Quintet in May 1960 for a one-week engagement at the
Showboat Lounge in Philadelphia (May 9-14); they played a week at the Regal Theatre
in Chicago in late May, and two weeks at Henri's Show Lounge in Milwaukee (June 3-12).
The Quintet then headed west: Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles Jazz Festival, June 17);
Blackhawk Supper Club, San Francisco (June 21-27). After that, Sutherland Hotel Lounge,
Chicago (July 6-17); Apollo Theatre, New York (July 22-31); Village Vanguard, New York
(August 2-14); Brandywine Music Box, Wilmington DE (August 15-20); Randall's Island Jazz
Festival (August 21); Minor Key, Detroit (September 6-11).
Norman Granz arranged for the Davis Quintet to tour Great Britain and a few continental
venues in the fall of 1960. Surprisingly few recordings from this tour have surfaced.
The itinerary was as follows:
September 24: Hammersmith Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
September 25: Guildhall, Portsmouth (two concerts)
September 26: DeMontfort Hall, Leicester
September 27: Free Trade Hall, Manchester (two concerts)
September 28: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
September 30: Colston Hall, Bristol
October 1: Finsbury Park Astoria Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 2: Lewisham Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 5: Town Hall, Birmingham
October 7: City Hall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
October 8: Hammersmith Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 9: Kilburn Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 11: Olympia Theatre, Paris (two concerts)
October 12: Konserthuset, Gothenburg (two concerts)
October 13: Konserthuset, Stockholm (two concerts)
October 15: Kurhaus, Scheveningen
October 16: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
After returning to the U.S. the Quintet (with Jimmy Heath subbing for Stitt) played
a week at the Regal Theatre in Chicago (October 21-27), and then at the Crawford Grill
in Pittsburgh (October 31). They were booked for a week at the Howard Theatre in
Washington DC (December 2-6) -- during this engagement Stitt was hospitalized with
pneumonia and Jimmy Heath again replaced him. Davis married Frances Taylor on December
21, and the Quintet -- now with Hank Mobley -- was booked at The Cloister in Chicago
for two weeks (December 26-January 8).
Thanks to Jan Lohmann and Mark White for help with this session.
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