The Quintet played several venues in Europe in late October-early November 1967
as part of the "Newport Jazz Festival in Europe" produced by George Wein. According
to Billboard magazine, groups from the tour were booked in the following
cities, although each booking involved a subset of the groups involved: Baden (West Germany),
Barcelona (Spain), Belfast (Ireland), Berlin (West Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dublin
(Ireland), Epernay (France), Helsinki (Finland), Karlsruhe (West Germany), Lecco (Italy),
London (England), Lugano (Switzerland), Lyons (France), Mainz (West Germany), Paris (France),
Rotterdam (Holland), Stockholm (Sweden). The Quintet, usually paired with
the Archie Shepp Quintet, was booked in ten cities:
October 28: Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp, Belgium
October 29: Hammersmith Odeon, London, Great Britain
October 30: De Doelen, Rotterdam, Holland
October 31: Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden
November 1: Kulttuuritalolla, Helsinki, Finland
November 2: Tivoli Konsertsal, Copenhagen, Denmark
November 4: Philharmonie, Berlin, West German
November 5: Teatro Europa, Lecco, Italy
November 6: Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
November 7: Stadthalle, Karlsruhe, West Germany
November 12: Palacio de la Música, Barcelona, Spain
Also on the tour were the Thelonious Monk Octet, the Gary Burton Quartet with Larry
Coryell, Sarah Vaughan and the Bob James Trio, and many others. Davis apparently
left the tour early after a dispute with producer George Wein. The rest of the Quintet
performed the final concerts of the tour as "The Wayne Shorter Quartet." About this
incident George Wein has written
I have had a good relationship with all the musicians I've worked with, even with Miles. Once he told me,
"You're a real son of a bitch, but you're also the best.” However, it was with him that I had the biggest
confrontation of my career. It was in 1967, on a Friday. He was in Barcelona, I was in Paris. Suddenly,
he calls me to tell me that under no circumstances was he going to do two concerts in one day unless he
received more money. I told him there was no more money: "You signed the contract to play two shows, Miles,"
but with Miles, you couldn't argue. "I’m not going to do two shows unless I get more money." Also, at
that time, he was deeply in love with Cicely Tyson and felt very lonely whenever he was on the road.
But mostly, if he said he wasn't going to play, there was no way to convince him: "I don't have a gun
to put to your head, so tell Charlie, my road manager, to give you a plane ticket and you go back."
And that's what he did. And the big scandal happened, as expected. However, almost no one knows what
really happened. I had met with him in Paris on Thursday, and we had reviewed the tour, and I paid him
with a check, but what Miles wanted was cash. That was the real problem. Miles thought he hadn't been
paid, and the only thing he had was a piece of paper, and what he wanted was cash. So I received his
call from Barcelona on Friday night, and the next day I was flying back to New York from Paris.
And then it happened. My wife and I were still at the airport when we saw a flight from Barcelona
arriving, and we leaned over to see who was getting off the plane -- back in those days, you could do
that -- and we saw Miles calmly coming down the stairs. That really touched my soul: "He's a son of a
bitch, the motherfucker!" So that same Monday morning, I went to the bank and ordered the check to
be canceled. Miles called me on Wednesday, outraged: "Why did you order that they don't pay me?"
"Because you didn't play," I replied. He said, "Fuck you," and hung up. I never had a problem
with Miles again."
Two early bootleg CD issues of this concert are confusingly different (probably
due to variation in tape speed of the analog master tapes):
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Jazzman JM 11742
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Agitation (first two notes missing), 5:32
Footprints, 9:45
'Round Midnight, 7:41
No Blues, 11:22
Riot + applause (0:03), 3:33
On Green Dolphin Street, 8:09
Masqualero (first note missing), 8:55
Applause (0:03) + Gingerbread Boy, 6:05
The Theme + applause (0:19), 1:19
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Jazz Birdies of Paradise J-Bop 042
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Agitation (inc; fade in as theme ends), 5:41
Footprints, 10:28
'Round Midnight, 7:43
No Blues, 11:58
Riot + applause (0:03), 3:45
Applause (0:03) + On Green Dolphin Street, 8:40
Masqualero + applause (0:03), 8:53
Gingerbread Boy, 6:15
The Theme + applause (0:11), 1:05 (the applause spliced in is from a different show)
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In fact, both CD versions are slightly slow (about 20 cents); the times above are taken from a
copy of the tape used for the original broadcast. A Mega Disc CD-R is basically a copy of the
Jazzman disc, though there are a few editing errors (repeated notes, wrongly-placed indexes, etc.).
The version included in Columbia Legacy's Bootleg Series, Vol. 1 - Live in Europe 1967
is from a Belgian Radio and Television master tape.
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