The four sets that grace this 2-CD volume were recorded on April 22, 1961 in San Francisco. Miles
Davis was in his prime, and his rhythm section knew the tunes well. Each of the sets appears here in
its original performance order. Since nine of the tracks have never been issued before, this 24-bit
Super Bit Mapping reissue carries a special significance.
The Miles Davis quintet was in such fine form that night that it makes you pause to ask, “Why
weren’t these particular tracks issued before?”
The ensemble swings hard and fast on “Walkin’,” but Davis may have been dissatisfied with his
tone on that number. Who’s to say? He lays out for “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise.” Paul Chambers
moves off pitch and out of tune through parts of “I Thought About You.” Maybe a few of the
selections contained too much of a classical nature in parts. But these subjective thoughts should
not
interfere. The band is pumped and everyone turns in a great performance. Maybe there simply
wasn’t
room on the LP. This time out, the complete performance has plenty of room. Excluding breaks, the
performance runs over two hours. Each set, give or take, goes for about a half hour.
”Neo” on Saturday night is as exotic as it was on Friday night. “Autumn Leaves” and “Someday
My Prince Will Come,” on the other hand, show up only on Saturday night. The last six tracks listed
are issued here for the first time. Each represents the quintet in its prime, exploring the music and
creating new avenues for expressing the pleasures of straightahead jazz.
See the companion Friday Night review.
~ Jim Santella
