Looking for "Lost Quintet" concert attendees

[feliceng]

Professor Michael Veal is currently writing a book on Miles Davis, and is interested in interviewing anyone who heard Davis with his so-called "Lost Quintet" that included Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. The performances of this group took place between late 1968 and early 1970. If you have any interest in speaking to Professor Veal, please email Felice at workbay@yahoo.com to schedule an interview.

[Larry Kart]

Contacted her.

[brownie]

Did the interview. Went on very nicely!

[bertrand]

Brownie,

Had you already done the interview before Felice posted this? If not, I will say: 'Boy, that was fast'.

Felice,

Please tell us more about this book. Is it specifically on the lost quintet? I know of another book in the works on the previous quintet (the one that is fortunately not 'lost' at all). Although I never saw this band, perhaps there is some information I have uncovered in my research on Wayne Shorter that could be of use. I will try to find out more on professor Veal later, but I have to go out now to try to get some supplies for the approaching storm.

I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Bertrand.

[brownie]

Bertrand,

the interview was done last week over the phone. I saw elsewhere a similar message asking for people who attended those concerts and we got in touch.

Prof. Veal is musician ethnologist Michael Veal who will appear later this week at the Sons d'Hiver festival here.

I attended four of the Lost Quintet concerts in 1969. Two at the Juan les Pins/Antibes festival, one in Paris and a fourth one in Bordeaux!

[clifford_thornton]

I attended four of the Lost Quintet concerts in 1969. Two at the Juan les Pins/Antibes festival, one in Paris and a fourth one in Bordeaux!

Wow.

[bertrand]

Brownie,

So you also saw the Bobby Hutcherson/Harold Land concerts at Juan-Les-Pins? if so, you are a very lucky man.

Bertrand.

Edited February 11, 2010 by bertrand

[brownie]

Yes, the Land-Hutcherson quintet (with Joe Chambers) opened for Miles at both concerts.

And while this happened at Antibes/Juan les Pins, the Cecil Taylor Unit (with Jimmy Lyons, Sam Rivers, Andrew Cyrille) was settling at the nearby Maeght foundation for the concerts which were held right after the Antibes ones. I was commuting from one place to the other daily.

A very busy jazz week!

[clifford_thornton]

My head just exploded.

[AllenLowe]

I actually saw that Miles band - and I was so young I cannot remember an effin' thing about the concert.

I guess it's true what they say about remembering the '60s -

[Hot Ptah]

Allen, You should call and give an interview. Then Professor Veal could write in his book,"Despite the legendary status of this quintet, there are those who found their live performances to be completely forgettable."

[clifford_thornton]

[Chuck Nessa]

My head just exploded.

'bout time.

[AmirBagachelles]

Was the "lost quintet" only a five piece group in the summer of 1969 and then sextet by early 1970? The most recent Fillmore CD is a sextet, refers to the band's "lost" legend. Does anybody know if any substantive pre-release work has been done for a still-hopefully-possible release of the July 1969 Antibes sets?

[Guy Berger]

Was the "lost quintet" only a five piece group in the summer of 1969 and then sextet by early 1970? The most recent Fillmore CD is a sextet, refers to the band's "lost" legend. Does anybody know if any substantive pre-release work has been done for a still-hopefully-possible release of the July 1969 Antibes sets?

The lost quintet was the group Miles performed with from March 1969 (or earlier) through November 1969 (or slightly later).

I wouldn't classify the Fillmore 3/70 performances as the lost quintet, they have a different vibe - though it was good marketing for Columbia.

Guy

[MartyJazz]

I would have loved to see the "lost sextet" Miles group of the late '60s when Joe Henderson briefly joined the proceedings.

[bertrand]

I was always under the impression that the 'lost quintet' referred to the Shorter/Corea/Holland/DeJohnette line-up which never made a studio recording ('Sanctuary' from Bitches' Brew has this line-up plus a percussionist). Live recordings and bootleg videos abound, so it's not completely 'lost', but we definitely do not have any examples of them working on new material in the studio. Miles was definitely going into the studio in those days, but he would always expand the personnel on these studio recordings. I will check later on Pete Losin's site to see if there are any other recordings of this basic quintet plus others (apart from the afore-mentioned 'Sanctuary').

Bertrand.

P.S. Most of Bitches' Brew is an expanded version of the 'lost' quintet.

Edited February 11, 2010 by bertrand

[brownie]

What is now known as the Lost Quintet was Miles, Shorter, Corea, Holland and deJohnette. Period.

That quintet never went into a recording studio! Too bad for us.

Fortunately there are a number of official (Juan les Pins) and non official recordings that are circulating.

[AmirBagachelles]

Thanks. The first post in this thread refers to the Lost Quintet performing into 1970, which I had thought was incorrect.

[bertrand]

I queried Pete Losin's site using Jack DeJohnette as a search term, since his presence in the group (in my opinion) defines the lost quintet (Davis/Shorter/Corea/Holland met in the studio, but with Tony Williams on drums).

The first session on this web site with these five musicians is from 11/27/68 - it's a studio session with additional musicians, so does not count. Next is a recording from Rochester from the week of 3/11-17/69 with the lost quintet lineup.

In this entry, Losin states the following:

'The Quintet resumed its busy schedule of live dates in the spring: Club Baron, New York (January 25-February 16); Cellar Door, Washington (March 5-10); Duffy's Backstage, Rochester (March 11-17); Village Gate, New York (April 25-26, May 23-24, and July 29-August 10); Plugged Nickel Club, Chicago (June 4-14); Blue Coronet Club, Brooklyn (June 21-29); Morgan State Jazz Festival, Baltimore (June 22); Newport Festival (July 4); Central Park, New York (July 7); Juan-les-Pins Festival, Antibes (July 25-26); Rutgers University Stadium, New Brunswick (July 27); Sheraton Park Hotel, French Lick (French Lick Jazz Festival) (July 31); The Spectrum, Philadelphia (August 15); Grant Park Theater, Chicago (August 22); Crosley Field, Cincinnati (Ohio Jazz Festival) (August 23).'

Now I am not totally convinced Jack was in the band yet for the Club Baron gig, since between this gig and the Cellar door gig we have Tony in the studio for In A Silent Way (2/18/69) and Joe Chambers for a studio session that was not released at the time (2/20/69). Some accounts have Tony getting angry at Miles during the recording sessions for IASW and quitting the gig on the spot; this may mean Tony was still in the band until that day (although Jack was the drummer on 11/27/68). So was Joe Chambers a possible replacement for Tony who didn't pan out, or just a fill in for DeJohnette until he could join for good? If we could find some newspaper accounts for the Club Baron and Cellar Door gigs, this might tell us who was on drums.

All the live sessions from the rest of 1969 are the lost quintet. But the first live session from 1970 is in Michigan (2/21/70) with McLaughlin and Moreira added. McLaughlin is not on the 3/6-7/70 Fillmore gig which is Wayne's last (he does one last tune in the studio on 3/17/70 but not with the quintet), but Airto is at the Fillmore, so we can assume that by 2/21/70, the lost quintet no longer exists as such.

So the lost quintet started existing in that from in early 1969 (March or perhaps a bit earlier) and at least until 11/9/69 (concert in Rotterdam) - exactly what Guy said. By 2/21/70, some musicians are added. So it is conceivable that there were a few lost quintet gigs in early 1970, but I very much doubt there were any in 1968. Another source would be Jan Lohman's book, which I do not own but can check next time I go to the Library of Congress.

Bertrand.

P.S. I have read that Tony left the band on 2/18/69 furious at Miles because he thought Miles was trying to co-opt Lifetime (McLaughlin was on the record and Larry Young was in the studio) and never played with Miles again. But Losin lists Tony and Miles as playing together in September 1985 on the Sun City benefit record, although he says Miles is overdubbed. I believe Miles' brief appearance on the tune 'Sun City' is an overdub, but my recollection is that he plays quite a bit on the other track, 'The Struggle Continues', so that may not be an overdub. I have a tape of this somewhere.

Edited February 11, 2010 by bertrand

[Guy Berger]

Bertrand's analysis seems on the dot. Losin says that the December '68 Jazz Workshop performances were Tony's last live gigs with the band, and that Jack joined permanently in late Feb. There might have been an interim drummer in the interim?

[AllenLowe]

I saw Miles at Central Park, I think 1969 - it was when Monk opened for him.

That's the concert that I just cannot remember. Was that the lost band? Is that the right year?

I was also there one of the nights they taped at the Fillmore in 1970. That I remember.

(and strangely enough, as an old friend reminded me not long ago, I played in a high school jazz band that opened a concert that was Eubie Blake's comeback in Brooklyn, at a concert produced by the RFK family as some kind of Bed Stuy benefit. All I can remember is a crazy old man walking around back stage and complaining about something).

[JSngry]

Jack had the Charles Lloyd gig, remember, so maybe he had outstanding obligations to fulfill before he could leave & join Miles.

That was one helluva band...to follow their captured gigs in chronological sequence is like a musical acid trip...it keeps getting more and more intense and you wonder when it's all going to just explode and dissolve, but it never does....amazing music, all of it.

[bertrand]

So if Tony's last live show was 12/68, and Jack was unavailable until late February, who played drums at the Club Baron gig? Joe Chambers? Jack temporarily on leave from Lloyd? Denardo Coleman?

Losin has Miles in Central Park on 7/7/69, but curiously does not mention whether or not Allen Lowe was in the audience. Either Chris Sheridan's Monk bio-disco of Robin Kelley's book can tell us if Monk was in Central Park on this date. I have the latter but not the former.

Bertrand.

[Larry Kart]

So if Tony's last live show was 12/68, and Jack was unavailable until late February, who played drums at the Club Baron gig? Joe Chambers? Jack temporarily on leave from Lloyd? Denardo Coleman?

Barrett Deems