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Miles Ahead session details

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November 6, 1967 (12 items; TT = 93:05)
Salle Pleyel, Paris (France)
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) radio broadcast (A-)

Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ts); Herbie Hancock (p); Ron Carter (b); Tony Williams (d); André Francis (ann)

1 Introduction (André Francis) 1:09
2 Agitation (M. Davis) 6:32
3 Footprints (W. Shorter) 10:14
4 'Round Midnight (B. Hanighen-C. Williams-T. Monk) 8:19

Incomplete (8:06) on JMY and Golden Age of Jazz
5 No Blues (M. Davis) 13:01
6 Masqualero (W. Shorter) 10:22

Splice at 7:09, where a few seconds of Hancock's solo are missing
7 Announcement (André Francis) 2:37
8 I Fall in Love Too Easily (S. Cahn-J. Styne) 10:34
9 Riot (H. Hancock) 3:42
10 Walkin' (R. Carpenter) 8:58
11 On Green Dolphin Street (N. Washington-B. Kaper) 9:04
12 The Theme (M. Davis) 8:33

Shorter plays with the theme from "Masqualero" toward the end of his solo (5:22-5:30)


2 Agitation
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

3 Footprints
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

4 'Round Midnight
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

5 No Blues
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

6 Masqualero
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

8 I Fall in Love Too Easily
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

9 Riot
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

10 Walkin'
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

11 On Green Dolphin Street
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9

12 The Theme
12" LP: Music on Vinyl MOV LP421
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 341, Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1003, Columbia Legacy 88697 94053, Sony SICP 20316/9


"Agitation" and "Footprints" were not broadcast by ORTF and are not included on any issued recordings prior to the Sony Live in Europe 1967 set. The opening ascending run and set-up for the theme to "'Round Midnight" is missing on JMY and Golden Age of Jazz. In addition, the tunes are wrongly indexed on JMY:

  1. 'Round Midnight (8:05)
  2. No Blues (13:05)
  3. Mascalero [sic] (8:40)
  4. I Fall in Love Too Easily (9:00)
  5. Riot (5:30)
  6. Walkin' (9:40)
  7. On Green Dolphin Street (16:50)
  8. The Theme (0:40)

There was an intermission after "Masqualero" and before "I Fall in Love Too Easily" -- the announcement from the stage mentions several other artists also on the bill and encourages people to stay for the second half of the concert. There may be a similar break between "Masqualero" and "I Fall in Love Too Easily" in the Karlsruhe concert the following day.

This is the only concert on this tour where "The Theme" gets a full performance. Davis has a long relaxed solo (0:10-3:00), followed by a very inventive solo by Shorter (3:02-5:48) which involves some wonderful saxophone/piano interplay and some brief quotations of the theme from "Masqualero"; Hancock has a relaxed solo (5:48-7:26) before Davis states the closing theme.

The Quintet played several venues in Europe in late October-early November 1967 as part of the "Newport Jazz Festival in Europe" produced by George Wein. According to Billboard magazine, groups from the tour were booked in the following cities, although each booking involved a subset of the groups involved: Baden (West Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Belfast (Ireland), Berlin (West Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), Epernay (France), Helsinki (Finland), Karlsruhe (West Germany), Lecco (Italy), London (England), Lugano (Switzerland), Lyons (France), Mainz (West Germany), Paris (France), Rotterdam (Holland), Stockholm (Sweden). The Quintet, usually paired with the Archie Shepp Quintet, was booked in ten cities:

October 28: Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp, Belgium
October 29: Hammersmith Odeon, London, Great Britain
October 30: De Doelen, Rotterdam, Holland
October 31: Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden
November 1: Kulttuuritalolla, Helsinki, Finland
November 2: Tivoli Konsertsal, Copenhagen, Denmark
November 4: Philharmonie, Berlin, West German
November 5: Teatro Europa, Lecco, Italy
November 6: Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
November 7: Stadthalle, Karlsruhe, West Germany
November 12: unknown venue, Barcelona, Spain

Also on the tour were the Thelonious Monk Octet, the Gary Burton Quartet with Larry Coryell, Sarah Vaughan and the Bob James Trio, and many others. Davis apparently left the tour early (ca. November 10) after a dispute with producer George Wein. The rest of the Quintet performed the final concert or two of the tour as "The Wayne Shorter Quartet."

I am grateful to Jan Lohmann for discussion of this session.

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