Miles Davis Quintet - 'Round Midnight - 31 Oct 67 (3 of 4)

Davis' second great quintet, October 31, 1967, Stockholm, Sweden. Complete set.

The quintet had recorded both SORCERER and NEFERTITI earlier that year (the combo's third and fourth studio LPs, respectively), and by this time the quintet had essentially abandoned traditional chord-change-based bop, and were playing modal music almost exclusively. Their music was becoming increasingly complex, abstract and free, as Davis moved closer to his electric "fusion" period.

With the rhythm section given a much more central role than Davis ever allowed previously, the group was transforming freebop into something else: hypnotic, unpredictable and poetic. Davis was at a creative pinnacle similar to the height his sextet with John Coltrane and Bill Evans reached in 1959.

Note: Starting in '67, the quintet began to play live concerts in continuous sets, each song flowing into the next without pause -- and only melodic and tempo changes indicating transition.

Set:

Agitation (Miles Davis, from E.S.P, Nov. '65)
Footprints (Wayne Shorter, from MILES SMILES, Jan '67)
'Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk, Cootie Williams, from 'ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT, 18 Mar '57)
Gingerbread Boy (Jimmy Heath, from MILES SMILES)
The Theme (from 'WORKIN, Sept. '59, recorded in '56)

Personnel:

Miles Davis - tp
Wayne Shorter - ts
Herbie Hancock - p
Ron Carter - b
Tony Williams - d

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Miles
• Davis
• Quintet
• 1967
• 67
• Wayne
• Shorter
• Herbie
• Hancock
• Ron
• Carter
• Tony
• Williams
• around
• 'round
• midnight

[wiliscool]

I listen to jazz quite a bit, but ive been taking it pretty easy on myself. I have no idea whats going on compared to more straight ahead players like bill evans or milt jackson. Can someone please explain this to me?

[kenjames64]

@wiliscool What does it sound like to you? Miles was on the verge of fusion, and was starting to feel he'd exhausted the "quintet/sextet/quartet," and he was very close to abandoning the format forever. Do you hear any free-jazz elements? Is this post-bop? How much of 'Trane can you hear in this? Can you even classify it as hard bop or any sort of bop? Are the solos staying with melody? Are they modal? Are they chromatic? Are they even melodic in any traditional sense of the word?

[wiliscool]

@kenjames64 I suppose my confusion stems from this seeming like its mostly free? Atleast for me ( like i said i feel like im missing something) it seems like they arent even playing Round Midnight at all. I hear hints of it in the beginning though, but past that i cant tell. Are the solos modal?

[kenjames64]

@wiliscool you tell me.

[DrummerPie]

Everyone should know Miles is a fundamental in history of music, but then musical taste is personal. And personally I'm literally in love with Miles' second quintet, which I'm discovering in these last two months. But I still have to listen to everything!

I'm new to jazz music in general, and I found out Miles' autobiography to be very useful to understand Miles' music and thought, but also the history of jazz from be-bop to recent years (obviously through Miles' point of view). Great book.

[KA1ZR]

Can't say I like this recording, I'm not a fan of miles when he started to get older.

[kaneda0511]

Wayne Shorter solo is great!!

[DAOFFICIAL505CONNECT]

amazing im glad to be alive

thnk you miles

[polymath7]

@bradley1107 You mean Hendrix? I've been hearing that rumor for years. It would have been so badass if it had happened...

[alexclou0041]

miles davis: a bad ambassador of jazz music or the ambassador of bad jazz music?