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Miles Ahead session details

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October 8, 1964 (13 items; TT = 97:56)
Stadthalle, Sindelfingen (West Germany)
Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR) radio broadcast (B)

Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ts); Herbie Hancock (p); Ron Carter (b); Tony Williams (d)

First concert
1 Autumn Leaves (J. Prevert-J. Mercer-J. Kosma) 10:43
2 So What (M. Davis) 8:58
3 All Blues (M. Davis) 12:28

Fade out mid-Hancock solo (9:12) on Musica Jazz
4 Oleo (S. Rollins) 6:15
5 Stella by Starlight (N. Washington-V. Young) 10:13
6 Walkin' (R. Carpenter) 7:07
7 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 1:07

Second concert
8 Milestones (M. Davis) 7:00
9 No Blues (M. Davis) 9:58
10 All of You (C. Porter) 12:38
11 Joshua (V. Feldman) 9:06
12 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 1:39
13 Closing announcement 0:44


1 Autumn Leaves
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 372, Moon MCD 033

2 So What
CD: Moon MCD 033

3 All Blues
CD: Musica Jazz MJCD 1090

4 Oleo
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 372, Musica Jazz MJCD 1090

6 Walkin'
CD: Musica Jazz MJCD 1090, Jazz Door JD 1225

7 The Theme (with applause)
CD: Musica Jazz MJCD 1090, Jazz Door JD 1225

8 Milestones
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 372, Moon MCD 033

9 No Blues
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 372, Moon MCD 033

10 All of You
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 372, Musica Jazz MJCD 1090, Jazz Door JD 1225

11 Joshua
CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 372, Moon MCD 033

12 The Theme (with applause)
CD: Moon MCD 033


The Moon CD contains two medleys ("Autumn Leaves/Yoshua/The Theme" and "So What/Milestones/The Theme"). The first medley is a composite, with "So What" from the first concert spliced onto "Milestones" and "No Blues" from the second concert.

The Davis Quintet embarked on a European tour, the USA Jazz Festival, in late September. In addition to the Davis Quintet, several other groups were involved, though I don't know if they all performed at every stop on the tour. The itinerary (with several gaps) was as follows:

September 25: Philharmonie, Berlin, West Germany
September 26: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Holland
September 29: Le Théâtre Municipal, Lausanne, Switzerland
September 30: Kongresshaus, Zürich
October 1: Salle Pleyel, Paris, France (two concerts)
October 3: Johanneshov Isstadion, Stockholm, Sweden
October 4: KB-Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
October 5: Mässhallen, Gothenburg, Sweden
October 6: Messuhalli, Helsinki, Finland
October 8: Stadthalle, Sindelfingen, Germany (two concerts)
October 10: unknown venue, Marseilles, France (two concerts)
October 11: Teatro dell' Arte, Milan, Italy

The Quintet was booked in other cities as well -- e.g. Vichy, Barcelona, and Frankfurt -- but I have been unable to find dates or confirm that these concerts occurred. Thanks to Flurin Casura for the advertisement for the Zürich concert, and to Frederik Adlers for providing the festival poster and for telling me about the Gothenburg date. Apparently the drummer for Papa Celestine's Original Tuxedo Jazz Band was sick that day and Tony Williams stepped in to take his place. He brought the house down!

Davis' deteriorating hip joint caused him trouble and led him to cancel an engagement at Birdland (ca. October 14-22). The Quintet was booked for four nights at the Casa Loma Club in Montréal (November 4-7); and for two weeks at the Plugged Nickel, Chicago (November 11-22). A week-long engagement at the Penthouse in Cincinnati in early December may have been canceled. The Quintet closed the year with two weeks at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington DC (December 4-17) and a three-week stay at Basin Street West in San Francisco (December 30-January 19).

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