This 4 cd set (also available in vinyl) comprises the last concert recordings of Miles Davis’ “First Classic Quintet” with John Coltrane, Jimmy Cobb/b, Wynton Kelly/p and Paul Chambers/b. These concerts from Paris, Stockholm and Copenhagen, while most having been available before, have been remastered to rich sonority, capturing The Last Hurrah with impressive sound quality.
Putting this tour in perspective, Miles’ career was at its apotheosis, have recently recorded classics such as Kind of Blue, Porgy & Bess and Sketches of Spain. Coltrane was chewing on the bit as well, ready to leave Davis’ band and go out on his own since recently recording Giant Steps and Plays the Blues. The solid rhythm team of Chambers/Kelly/Cobb would remain with Davis for a bit longer, and were humming along as one of the best, if not THE best unit around.
The songs are almost all from Davis’ repertoire from recent albums, with a few repeated titles, but not solos. There are 4 takes of “So What,” 3 versions of “On Green Dolphin Street” and a pair of “All Blues” and “Walkin’.” Coltrane is inspiringly diverse during his solos for “On Green Dolphin Street,” already experimenting with harmonics and pointing to the direction of freeing up his dynamics and range. Davis, while repeating a few of his cliché’s also keeps things fresh, with a clarion call on “’Round Midnight” and spitting out notes like a Chicago cop with a Tommy Gun during “So What” and “Walkin’”, with slithering like a snake during “Bye Bye Blackbird.”
Kelly is a soulful tour de force in his own right, creating waves of energy as if passing a torch on to future Coltrane pianist McCoy Tyner on his majestic solos during “On Green Dolphin Street” and “So What.” The trio is as deft and tight as the Houston Astro infield, throwing the ball around the horn on a nifty “Oleo” and ballroom suave on “All of You” while Cobb hammers the ride cymbal like a hummingbird during “So What.”
An interview from Stockholm with Coltrane is intimate and revealing. You can feel the restless spirit from the future Pied Piper of jazz. People have always argued about which was the “best” of Davis’ bands. This is the material I personally keep going back to, and it hasn’t failed me yet.