Miles Davis and Ron Carter in Milan (screen shot from the YouTube video being discussed)
Recent browsing on YouTube led me to an opportunity to examine a film of a performance by what is usually called Miles Davis’ “Second Great Quintet.” This was the quintet led by trumpeter Davis, whose other members were Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). The film was made at the Teatro dell’Arte in Milan (Italy) on October 11, 1964. Since Shorter joined Davis the preceding September, this would have been the first tour he made with the trumpeter, which seems to have begun in Berlin at the end of that September.
The tour clearly preceded any of the albums made by that quintet, whose studio recording sessions would not begin until January of the following year. As a result, all of the selections were made during what may be called the “Seven Steps” period, which featured “Seven Steps to Heaven,” a tune that Davis composed working with his pianist Victor Feldman. During that period Hancock would replace Feldman; and the primary saxophonist was George Coleman. As a result, all of the selections on the Milan program reflected tunes that had been previously recorded with Coleman.
Most notable of these was another Feldman composition, “Joshua,” which is the last of the five tunes presented on this hour-long video. This is clearly a digitization of a film made during the Milan performance, and image quality leaves much to be desired. Nevertheless, the historical significance cannot be overlooked, since within a year the repertoire of this “Second Great Quintet” would become far more adventurous than the music that emerged during the “Seven Steps” period. Indeed, in many respects, “Joshua” is the first sign of the changes that are to come, beginning with the fact that it is the only piece on the Milan program that begins with playing by both trumpet and saxophone.
However, most of the program reflects “standards” that would have registered with collectors of Davis albums. These include “real” standards, such as “Autumn Leaves,” “My Funny Valentine,” and “All of You,” along with the Davis composition “All Blues,” which, for all intents and purposes, had achieved “standards status.” The program also marks one of the earliest recorded instances of Davis providing his own “sign-off” theme.
If image quality leaves more than a little to be desired, there is still much to say about what one can observe. Most interesting is probably the detachment between Davis and Shorter. This is not a matter of either of them being disagreeable. Rather, it shows the extent to which Davis is willing to “give up the spotlight” to allow Shorter to improvise without any threat of interruption. One result is that the improvisations are so free that many listeners will be hard-pressed to identify the tune being improvised.
Since my own instrument is the piano, I particularly appreciated the camera looking down at the keyboard from over Hancock’s left shoulder. Watching him at work, one develops a better appreciation of how frequently he is working with a single monophonic line, seldom providing much by way of harmonic context with the left hand. It is almost as if Hancock wants his own improvisations to fit comfortably with the monophonic outpourings of both Davis and Shorter. On the other hand the camera gives very little attention to the rhythm work, although the smiles given off by Williams are sure to raise the spirits of even the most dead-serious viewers. My only real regret with this viewing/listening experience is that I never really had the opportunity to experience Carter’s rich capacity for invention.
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