Miles Davis at l’Olympia 21st March 1960
Saturday 29th March, 14:00 – Past, Present & Future.
On 21st March 1960, the Miles Davis Quintet starts a tough European tour. In three weeks, it performs on about twenty stages in eight countries: France, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands. It is Davis’ first major European tour with his own, well-rehearsed quintet. Next to him is tenorist John Coltrane; furthermore Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Jimmy Cobb on drums – partly the same line-up that created the iconic album Kind of Blue a year earlier.
The kick-off is in the Paris Théâtre Olympia. A large part of the audience is not charmed by, or shocked by, John Coltrane’s playing, and expresses this. Coltrane himself does not have musical, but other problems.
John Coltrane, after almost five years, has had enough of being next to Davis. He has been restless for a while, wants to leave, wants to start his own business, but still lets Davis talk him into this tour. Perhaps he thought that this performance would create a European entrance for his yet to be formed group. Two weeks after returning to the States he starts his own business – leaving Davis with a problem. For years Davis will try out a series of saxophonists: Jimmy Heath, Sonny Stitt, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Frank Strozier, George Coleman, Sam Rivers… He was not lucky.
The quintet plays familiar repertoire pieces on the Parisian stage. There is room for long solos. The professional recording – the French radio – is of excellent quality. Bassist Paul Chambers can be followed note by note, and what a fantastic performance he gives here again! Unfortunately, the out-of-tune piano deserves a big fail. (What is it with pianos at jazz concerts and in jazz clubs.)
In All of You (Cole Porter), the vast majority of the audience hears Coltrane’s sheets of sound for the first time. A bridge beyond the tenor solos they know from Kind of Blue. There is a lot of whistling in the hall. So What (Miles Davis) delivers a fierce trumpet solo with drummer Cobb on top of it. The theme is started immediately, without the ‘searching’ intro we know from Kind of Blue. And the tempo is taken faster here. In 1965, that tempo will once again receive a major upgrade, as can be heard on Live at the Plugged Nickel. After this, On Green Dolphin Street and Walkin’.
More information in the Guide.
Past, Present & Future – a programme by Jaap van de Klomp
