Miles Davis In Europe CD

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Miles Davis; Ron Carter (bass instrument); Tony Ruption Williams , Tony Williams (drums); George Coleman (tenor saxophone); Herbie Hancock (piano).
Audio Remasterer: Mark Wilder.
Liner Note Authors: Harvey Pekar; Ralph J. Gleason.
Recording information: Festival Mondial Du Jazz Antibes, Juan-Les-Pins, France (07/27/1963); The Festival Mondial Du Jazz Antibes, Juan-Les-Pins, Fr (07/27/1963).
Photographers: Vernon Smith; Francis Wolff; Jan Persson.
Recorded live in France at the Festival Mondial, du Jazz Antibes, Miles Davis in Europe captures trumpeter Miles Davis in late 1963. While Four & More and My Funny Valentine -- both taken from the same 1964 New York Philharmonic Hall concert -- are most often cited as this lineup's essential live recording, Miles Davis in Europe is a no less exciting listen. The band, including tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams had recorded Seven Steps to Heaven a few months earlier, which would turn out to be the one studio album Davis would make with the lineup. Already, the band's adventurous, avant-garde leanings are on display with the young Williams propelling Davis to scorching heights on the fast swinger "Milestones." Similarly, Hancock helps turn the standard "I Thought About You" into an impressionistic and free-flowing ballad allowing Davis to spread wide swaths of tonal color and deep note bends across the stage. Although Coleman would depart the group in less than a year, he proves himself here to be a muscular, keen improviser who deserved more attention than he got at the time. ~ Matt Collar
MILES DAVIS IN EUROPE, recorded live in France during 1963, is one of the first indications of the direction trumpeter Miles Davis would take through the rest of the '60s and early '70s. Compared to MY FUNNY VALENTINE, on which the group's free bebop aesthetic was more thoroughly defined, IN EUROPE finds the quintet bridging the modal bop of Davis's late-'50s sound with an edgier, more expressionistic style. The lynchpin of these changes was the band's new rhythm section, comprised of bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams.
Hancock builds on the lyricism of Bill Evans (another Davis alum), yet introduces an extremely spare chordal technique that gives the music a free-floating, spacious feel. The blistering cross-rhythms of Carter and Williams propel breakneck takes on "Milestones" and "Joshua," and add intriguing complexity to the ballads "All of You" and "I Thought About You." Saxophonist George Coleman is a formidable player with a light, fleet-fingered, and harmonically inventive approach. Davis balances his famed soft, poetic sound with a bolder attack, exploring an energized, vigorous style that would continue to grow through the decade.
Recorded live in France at the Festival Mondial, du Jazz Antibes, Miles Davis in Europe captures trumpeter Miles Davis in late 1963. While Four & More and My Funny Valentine -- both taken from the same 1964 New York Philharmonic Hall concert -- are most often cited as this lineup's essential live recording, Miles Davis in Europe is a no less exciting listen. The band, including tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams, had recorded Seven Steps to Heaven a few months earlier, which would turn out to be the one studio album Davis would make with the lineup. Already, the band's adventurous, avant-garde leanings are on display with the young Williams propelling Davis to scorching heights on the fast swinger "Milestones." Similarly, Hancock helps turn the standard "I Thought About You" into an impressionistic and free-flowing ballad allowing Davis to spread wide swaths of tonal color and deep note bends across the stage. Although Coleman would depart the group in less than a year, he proves himself here to be a muscular, keen improvise