The Quintet played two concerts (7:00 pm and 9:00 pm), both of which were attended by
at least 2,000 people. It is clear from from these recordings that the audiences were
very enthusiastic. Stitt plays alto saxophone on "Autumn Leaves," "No Blues," and
"The Theme" (first concert), and on "Fran Dance," "'Round Midnight," and "All of You"
(second concert). He plays tenor on the remaining titles unless indicated otherwise.
The division of titles into concerts and sets above is speculative. What we know is that
the concerts were recorded and later broadcast by Europe-1 Radio. But they have never
been released in their complete form. Certainly more music was performed than is listed
here. The Quintet seems to have performed two two-set concerts as they did in Stockholm on
October 13 -- hence the two instances of "The Theme"
in each concert. (The version following "All Blues" in the first concert is not listed
by TLR; and the brief one following "Two Bass Hit" is not listed on either Trema release.)
The Lost Recordings published a tantalizing photo
of one of the tape boxes from this date; the titles are numbered and listed as
4. Flamenco Sketches [= All Blues] (11'25)
5. Unknown [= The Theme] (0'43)
6. Trio Wynton Kelly - Makin' Whoopee (6'20)
7. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (7'35)
8. Stardust - S. Stitt (6')
Presumably "Walkin'," "Autumn Leaves," and "Four" were on an earlier reel, numbered 1-3;
together, the reels give us most of the first concert as listed above. A review of the first
concert in the November 1960 issue of Jazz Magazine mentions only "Walkin'"
("du premier morceau"), "le climat impressionniste de 'Autumn Leaves',"
"Two Bass Hit," and "le blues final au cours duquel Miles improvisa pendant de longues
minutes avec un swing superbe" (probably "No Blues"). A review by Henri Renault in the
November 1960 issue of Jazz Hot (pp. 22-23) mentions only Kelly's features "Softly,
As in a Morning Sunrise" and "Makin' Whoopee" and Stitt's "Stardust" and "ses variations
au ténor sur le blues (deux morceaux qu'il présente en quartet en début
de seconde partie)." The only quintet number mentioned by name is "Autumn Leaves"
(Les feuilles mortes).
The Lost Recordings release is described "The Complete Live in Paris 1960, Volume 1" -- their
claim is that "C'est la première fois que ce concert est publié dans son
intégralité". But it is quite clear that these LPs do not contain the
complete concert -- the music is not even presented in performance order. Here is what's on
the LPs:
A1 All Blues (11:42) - The Theme (0:51)
A2 Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (7:03)
B1 Walkin' (11:43)
B2 Four (8:42)
C1 Autumn Leaves (13:11)
C2 Makin' Whoopee (6:5)
D1 No Blues (14:34)
D2 The Theme (0:44)
In addition to the unissued "Stadust" from the first concert, at least two or three
trio and quartet titles are missing from the setlist for the second concert. But until
more music is released, and/or new information about the concerts comes to light, the
listing above is the best I can do in making sense of the available music.
Sonny Stitt joined the Davis Quintet in May 1960 for a one-week engagement at the
Showboat Lounge in Philadelphia (May 9-14); they played a week at the Regal Theatre
in Chicago in late May, and two weeks at Henri's Show Lounge in Milwaukee (June 3-12).
The Quintet then headed west: Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles Jazz Festival, June 17);
Blackhawk Supper Club, San Francisco (June 21-27). After that, Sutherland Hotel Lounge,
Chicago (July 6-17); Apollo Theatre, New York (July 22-31); Village Vanguard, New York
(August 2-14); Brandywine Music Box, Wilmington DE (August 15-20); Randall's Island Jazz
Festival (August 21); Minor Key, Detroit (September 6-11).
Norman Granz arranged for the Davis Quintet to tour Great Britain and a few continental
venues in the fall of 1960. Surprisingly few recordings from this tour have surfaced.
The itinerary was as follows:
September 24: Hammersmith Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
September 25: Guildhall, Portsmouth (two concerts)
September 26: DeMontfort Hall, Leicester
September 27: Free Trade Hall, Manchester (two concerts)
September 28: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
September 30: Colston Hall, Bristol
October 1: Finsbury Park Astoria Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 2: Lewisham Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 5: Town Hall, Birmingham
October 7: City Hall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
October 8: Hammersmith Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 9: Kilburn Gaumont Theatre, London (two concerts)
October 11: Olympia Theatre, Paris (two concerts)
October 12: Konserthuset, Gothenburg (two concerts)
October 13: Konserthuset, Stockholm (two concerts)
October 15: Kurhaus, Scheveningen
October 16: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
After returning to the U.S. the Quintet (with Jimmy Heath subbing for Stitt) played
a week at the Regal Theatre in Chicago (October 21-27), and then at the Crawford Grill
in Pittsburgh (October 31). They were booked for a week at the Howard Theatre in
Washington DC (December 2-6) -- during this engagement Stitt was hospitalized with
pneumonia and Jimmy Heath again replaced him. Davis married Frances Taylor on December
21, and the Quintet -- now with Hank Mobley -- was booked at The Cloister in Chicago
for two weeks (December 26-January 8).
I am grateful to Axel Van Looy, Jan Lohmann, Enrico Merlin, and Mark White for help
with this session.
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