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Miles Ahead session details

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November 3, 1969 (17 items; TT = 126:48)
Salle Pleyel, Paris (France)
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) TV broadcast (B)

Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ss, ts); Chick Corea (el-p, d); Dave Holland (b); Jack De Johnette (d, el-p); André Francis (ann)
First concert
1 Introduction (André Francis) 0:32
2 Directions (J. Zawinul) 7:59

Theme stated at 0:39
3 Bitches Brew (M. Davis) 14:17
4 Paraphernalia (W. Shorter) 13:30
5 Riot (H. Hancock) 2:29
6 I Fall in Love Too Easily (S. Cahn-J. Styne) 2:06
7 Sanctuary (W. Shorter-M. Davis) 4:06
8 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (M. Davis) 19:27
9 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 1:04

Second concert
10 Introduction (André Francis) 0:21
11 Bitches Brew (M. Davis) 13:54
12 Agitation (M. Davis) 9:24
13 I Fall in Love Too Easily (S. Cahn-J. Styne) 3:22
14 Sanctuary (W. Shorter-M. Davis) 4:05
15 Masqualero (W. Shorter) 12:57
16 It's About That Time (M. Davis) 16:10

For part of this tune Corea plays a second drum set (4:20-13:38), and De Johnette plays el-p (5:28-10:02)
17 The Theme (with applause, announcement) (M. Davis) 1:05

2 Directions
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

3 Bitches Brew
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

4 Paraphernalia
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

5 Riot
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

6 I Fall in Love Too Easily
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

7 Sanctuary
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

8 Miles Runs the Voodoo Down
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

9 The Theme (with applause)
CD: Jazz Music Yesterday JMY 1013

The tunes from the first concert are wrongly indexed on JMY:

  1. Directions (7:54)
  2. Bitches Brew (14:08)
  3. Paraphernalia (13:18)
  4. Riot (2:06)
  5. Sanctuary (6:10)
  6. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (19:06)
  7. The Theme (0:53)

Most audio tapes of the second concert contain a splice between "Bitches Brew" and "Agitation" and another at 1:07 of "Masqualero." The material between the splices is sonically inferior and may be from an audience recording. On these tapes "It's About That Time" is cut off at about 15:20.

The master tapes for these performances are on 1/2" BASF tape. Both concerts were filmed by in color by ORTF and the tapes are in the RTF/INA archive.

The Davis Quintet toured Europe in October-November 1969 as part of the Newport Jazz Festival in Europe produced by George Wein. The itinerary was as follows:

October 26: Teatro Lirico, Milan (two concerts);
October 27: Teatro Sistina, Rome;
October 31: Stadthalle, Vienna;
November 1: Hammersmith Odeon, London (two concerts);
November 2: Ronnie Scott's Club, London;
November 3: Salle Pleyel, Paris (two concerts);
November 4: Tivoli Konsertsal, Copenhagen;
November 5: Folkets Hus, Stockholm (two concerts);
November 7: Philharmonie, Berlin;
November 8: Sart Tilman, Liège;
November 9: De Doelen, Rotterdam.

Most of the performances from this tour were recorded, though some are not complete.

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