Category: 1969

11.9.1969 Rotterdam

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

While the band closed out 1969 with a multi-night stand in Toronto and a pair of residencies at the Village Gate, this final stop on the European tour is the last known document of the Miles Davis Lost Quintet. Following large band studio sessions on November 19th and 28th, Miles began experimenting with an expanded live lineup – bringing guitarist Sonny Greenwich along for a few Toronto dates, making percussionist Airto Moreira a permanent fixture at the start of the year, and adding John McLaughlin for at least one gig in early 1970. And of course, Wayne Shorter would take his leave in the spring after 6 years by Miles’ side.

But first, Rotterdam. Maybe I was a bit premature in praising the Berlin gig as the quintet’s best of the year, because this show is every bit as good. Being the final night of a long tour, the band is both tighter and more playful than ever. Plus, the radio broadcast recording is phenomenal to boot – even Holland’s bass comes through loud and clear, which can’t be said for many of these ‘69 tapes.

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11.7.1969 Berlin

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

Is this Berlin gig the best Lost Quintet performance of 1969? For my money, it’s hard to find a better representation of this band. In terms of documentation, both the broadcast recording and the concert film are outstanding. Download the set below without hesitation, and if you don’t own the DVD of the performance included in The Bootleg Series Volume 2, make time to watch it in full. Seeing the Miles Davis quintet function as a single organism, one with such unbroken focus, will leave you in awe.

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11.5.1969 Stockholm

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording, Official Release

The inclusion of this Stockholm gig on The Bootleg Series Volume 2 is one of the more curious entries in the Miles Davis official live canon. The curiosity being why Columbia Legacy chose this show out of the many others recorded on this tour.

The band played 2 sets on this date, the first of which begins with Corea grappling with a screeching, howling, very obviously malfunctioning Fender Rhodes. A few minutes into the set, the keyboardist throws in the towel, leaving us with a piano-less “Bitches Brew” and a rare opportunity for Miles and Shorter to occupy the sonic real estate typically filled with some of the wildest playing of the set. Corea returns on acoustic piano for the last third of the tune, and remains on the instrument for the duration of the early set. Mercifully, Miles directs the remainder of the show toward his earlier, pre-electric material better suited for the acoustic lineup. A fine set, but a really peculiar, non-representative choice for official release.

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11.4.1969 Copenhagen

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

Like a lot of shows from the fall European tour, a tape of this excellent Copenhagen performance has been floating out in the ether for decades. Columbia crowned it with semi-official status back in 2010 by including video of the set in its mega deluxe Bitches Brew 40th anniversary package, then gave it a broader audience by posting the complete concert to YouTube a couple months back. Point being, if you haven’t heard or seen this show, remedy that stat.

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11.3.1969 Paris

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

A week into the Newport Jazz Fest European tour, the quintet inexplicably shifts into a new gear here in Salle Pleyel. The set flow is honed to perfection, Corea, Holland, and DeJohnette are dialed in and playful, and a solid sound system allows Miles and Shorter to blow with utter confidence. Everything fell into place here, and thankfully we have video of both sets to bear witness.

Complete video of the second concert.
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11.2.1969 Ronnie Scott’s, London

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

After months’ worth of tapes from concert halls and festival stages, it’s a delight to hear the quintet back in a club setting. Because as much as Miles wanted to ratchet up the band’s volume and intensity throughout the year, the primitive amplification in these larger venues seems to have forced him beyond his comfort zone – often cutting through the mix at higher registers at the expense of that characteristically impeccable tone. Here at Ronnie Scott’s, he’s clearly in his element. 

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11.1.1969 Hammersmith Odeon, London

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Audience Recording

By the time the Newport Jazz Festival tour hit London, the quintet was on day 2 of a 7-day streak of gigs – each day featuring an afternoon and evening set. While at least one, and often both of the days’ sets of the tour were captured for radio broadcast, the only record of this show at the Hammersmith Odeon comes from a rough audience recording of the second set.

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10.31.1969 Vienna

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

Following a monster of a gig in Rome on October 27th, the quintet had a few days to spare between shows. Who knows what sort of culture they immersed themselves in, but it made for a supremely weird set in Vienna. Fortunately, like most shows on this European leg, a broadcast team was there to capture it in prime fidelity. 

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10.27.1969 Rome

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Broadcast Recording

The quintet’s second date on the Newport Jazz Festival European tour brought them to Teatro Sistina in Rome with a TV and radio broadcast crew at the ready. While the quality of the audio recording is superb, it’s worth noting that “The Theme” has been pruned from the end of the afternoon set, and “Directions” is absent from the start of the evening performance – giving the impression of an uninterrupted 89-minute gig. The available video is a bit of a mish mash of partial tunes from both sets, but essential viewing.

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10.26.1969 Milan

On By Jeremy ErwinIn 1969, Audience Recording, Broadcast Recording

While the quintet set off for Chicago, Cincinnati and LA shortly after the August 19-21 Bitches Brew session, the next circulating tape is this murky audience gem from late October in Milan – the first of an incredible, and incredibly well documented run of gigs from the Newport Jazz Festival European tour.

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