Miles Davis 2nd Quintet in Concert

[Guy Berger]

This post is kind of long, but I'd like knowledgeable people -- particularly those who saw this group in concert -- to bear with me and offer their opinions. In Todd Coolman's liner notes to the 65-68 box, he repeats the conventional wisdom about this quintet: though they recorded lots of originals in the studio, their live repertoire was dominated by standards and older material. (I've attached the relevant passages below.) But I think that this "conventional wisdom" is flawed.

The group did most of its studio recordings from May 1967 onward. During its first two years of existence (August 1964 - August 1966) the group only entered the studio once (to record ESP). Hence it isn't surprising that during this period, Davis's "book" consisted primarily of older material. The only official recordings of this lineup are both from this period (all live recordings from August 1966 onward are unofficial). Is this the sum of the evidence for "standards over originals"?

In October 1966 the group entered the studio to record Miles Smiles; the Berkeley gig is the last recording in Losin's database (aside from the somewhat anomalous Dec '68 recording) where older material makes up more than half of the recording. The Newport '67 gig includes only one older tune ("Round Midnight"); on the Europe '67 tour, the more recent material (Agitation, Footprints, Masqualero, Riot, Gingerbread Boy) generally makes up 50-60% of the setlists.

As far as the standards, they start to disappear from recordings after the Plugged Nickel engagement. No more "Oleo", "All of You", "If I Were a Bell" after that gig. No more "Autumn Leaves" or "My Funny Valentine" on record after May '66. No more "All Blues" after July '66. No more "Stella by Starlight" after April '67. In fact, the only pop standards that show up after the spring of '67 are "On Green Dolphin Street" and "I Fall in Love too Easily". Add to that "Round Midnight", "Walkin'", and a few older originals like "Milestones", "So What" and "No Blues". That's it. I'm not saying that Miles never played "Autumn Leaves" or "Stella" again (obviously most gigs weren't documented), but inferring from their rarity in recordings that he was playing them a lot more infrequently.

There's no doubt that most (or many) of the pieces recorded in the studio never made it out to live performance. But the other half of the equation -- that Davis stuck to standards at the expense of recently recorded material -- just isn't true IMHO. He'd always pick a few songs from a recent album for live performance -- he did it with Kind of Blue, Someday My Prince Will Come, and Seven Steps to Heaven -- and he continued to do it in the 60s. Once the pace of recording accelerated, first in the fall of '66 and again in the spring of '67, the older material began to disappear.

I realize the recorded evidence is heavily slanted toward one-off gigs; in clubs the group may have been playing different setlists, perhaps leaning more heavily on standards. So my question to those who saw Miles in the late 60s -- what was he playing, particularly after May '67?

Losin's sessionography

'67 setlists

'69 setlists

The Coolman excerpt:

Having been formed only 14 months earlier and only performing a relatively

small portion of that period, the quintet was already developing a newer,

freer, and more original compositional and improvisational style, while at

the same time embarking on new and fresh approaches to the performance of

standard repertoire in live performances. While these changes were taking

place and being developed nightly in live performances, a different style of

composition was emerging in the recording studio. The quintet was beginning

to have two distinct "lives," one on the bandstand in live performance and

one in the recording studio. As the quintet continued to re-define and

re-interpret the American standard song in live performance, the recorded

material consisted entirely of original compositions. Furthermore, (perhaps

overly) conscious of his loyal following of fans built up over many years

from a steady diet of standards, Davis' repertoire continued to be dominated

by standards in public appearances (with the occasional exception of

originals such as "Agitation," "Masqualero" and "Riot"), presumably for fear

of losing the popularity that had been built over the years.

There were those, perhaps including Davis himself, who found the newer

original compositions too esoteric or inaccessible for mass audience

consumption. Perhaps, also, the practice of performing mostly standards was

related to the frequent absence of Ron Carter. the anchor of the quintet

(Richard Davis and Reggie Workman were among the guest bassists). Tony

Williams dubbed Carter "Checkpoint Charlie." a reference to the stabilizing

influence of Carter's time and the harmonic clarity of his bass lines. At

this time. Carter was in great demand in the studios as well as in live

performance. and therefore was often not able to travel with the quintet.

Davis may have called standard repertoire in Carter's absence in deference

to the bassists who were not regulars with the quintet. In addition,

although the avant garde was making an impact, Davis. always the savvy

businessman, was well aware that it was not nearly as commercially viable as

his tried-and-true, more familiar repertoire.

Edited June 14, 2005 by Guy Berger

[Rosco]

It's a fair point, actually... the set list did evolve (slowly but surely) over 1966- 68. I guess what made Miles' repertoire seem more static was the fact that some of the pieces were getting quite long in the tooth. The main staples were pieces like Autumn Leaves, So What (1959), Milestones (1958), Round Midnight, All of You (1956), Walkin', Oleo (1954). In the era of the New Thing, trotting out a 12 year old blues line no longer seemed cutting edge (albeit played at three times its original tempo!)

Hard as it is to appreciate from this distance by the mid-60s Miles was seen as something of a spent force, his best work belonging to the 1950s.

Remember that Miles hadn't had a big hit (small group) studio album since 1959. Someday My Prince and Seven Steps hadn't been the major successes that Kind of Blue had been and Miles may have been careful about adding too many pieces from them (Teo/Neo, Seven Steps, Joshua, No Blues excepted).

The lack of pieces from the fine ESP album is something of a mystery, though.

[Stereojack]

I saw Miles a number of times in the years 1965-1970. I'm going from distant memory here, but besides "Agitation", most of the material was usually older. In the years 1965-67 one usually heard "Walkin'", "Joshua" & "'Round Midnight". I remember them doing "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Gingerbread Boy" before they appeared on "Miles Smiles", but maybe because I was already familiar with those tunes at the time, they made a greater impression. I do recall hearing "Mood" once, but can't recall them doing any of the tunes from "Sorcerer", "Nefertiti", "Miles in the Sky", or "Filles De Kilimanjaro".

[Guy Berger]

I saw Miles a number of times in the years 1965-1970. I'm going from distant memory here, but besides "Agitation", most of the material was usually older. In the years 1965-67 one usually heard "Walkin'", "Joshua" & "'Round Midnight". I remember them doing "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Gingerbread Boy" before they appeared on "Miles Smiles", but maybe because I was already familiar with those tunes at the time, they made a greater impression.  I do recall hearing "Mood" once, but can't recall them doing any of the tunes from "Sorcerer", "Nefertiti", "Miles in the Sky", or "Filles De Kilimanjaro".

←

Very interesting, Jack, and a nice complement to what we have on recordings. Any chance you have a stash of audio tapes lying around? Interesting that they played "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Mood" live; neither of those tunes appear on any live recording. I didn't realize "Joshua" continued to be played after ESP was recorded -- it appears several times in '63 and '64, never again afterward. Also, I'm kind of surprised that you don't recall hearing any tunes from the later albums -- "Masqualero", "Nefertiti", "Riot", "Paraphernalia" all crop up quite a few times in the recordings. Did you see these gigs in clubs or in one-off situations?

Guy

Edited June 15, 2005 by Guy Berger

[GregK]

I saw Miles a number of times in the years 1965-1970. I'm going from distant memory here, but besides "Agitation", most of the material was usually older. In the years 1965-67 one usually heard "Walkin'", "Joshua" & "'Round Midnight". I remember them doing "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Gingerbread Boy" before they appeared on "Miles Smiles", but maybe because I was already familiar with those tunes at the time, they made a greater impression.  I do recall hearing "Mood" once, but can't recall them doing any of the tunes from "Sorcerer", "Nefertiti", "Miles in the Sky", or "Filles De Kilimanjaro".

←

Very interesting, Jack, and a nice complement to what we have on recordings. Any chance you have a stash of audio tapes lying around? Interesting that they played "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Mood" live; neither of those tunes appear on any live recording. I didn't realize "Joshua" continued to be played after ESP was recorded -- it appears several times in '63 and '64, never again afterward. Also, I'm kind of surprised that you don't recall hearing any tunes from the later albums -- "Masqualero", "Nefertiti", "Riot", "Paraphernalia" all crop up quite a few times in the recordings. Did you see these gigs in clubs or in one-off situations?

Guy

←

I wonder if there ever will be a legitimate release of any of these concerts by Legacy. I'm sure they have some of these tapes

[Stereojack]

[CJ Shearn]

aren't there exceptions to the removal of standards in the repertoire, such as some 1969 gigs? I remember seeing something in Losin's discography.

[Guy Berger]

aren't there exceptions to the  removal of standards in the repertoire, such as some 1969 gigs? I remember seeing something in Losin's discography.

←

Standards are rare from '69 onward. There's the ubiquitous "I Fall in Love Too Easily" duet between Chick and Miles, usually as an introduction to "Sanctuary" (just like on Bitches Brew). "On Green Dolphin Street" appears once, as do "So What" and "Walkin'". There are 3 or 4 recordings of "Round Midnight", 2 of "Milestones". Esto es.

Guy

Edited June 16, 2005 by Guy Berger

[CJ Shearn]

thank you Guy .