New Miles Davis Live Box Set Features Over 4 Hours Of Previously Unheard Music From 1963 & 1964

Miles in France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 (pre-order), boasting over four hours of previously unreleased music, is set for release via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings on November 8. The six CD/eight LP set is previewed by a live rendition of Davis’ towering work, “So What,” from the Festival Mondial Du Jazz in Antibes.

While the Miles Davis Bootleg Series has documented recordings as early as 1955 and as late as 1985, Miles in France marks the series’ first release from an important period in Miles Davis’ career, 1963-’64. By that time, the singular trumpeter had innovated jazz with his landmark 1959 album, Kind of Blue, swapping hard bop for a modal style conducive to freer improvisation.

The early 1960s also saw Davis assembling the Second Great Quintet, full of players who would become jazz legends in their own right: George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. The ensemble came to Antibes in July 1963 for the Festival Mondial Du Jazz. All the music Davis and the Second Great Quintet made there is present on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8.

France was an important place for Miles. Having performed there as early as 1949, the country would become his preferred live market. In 1964, Miles Davis and the Second Great Quintet, this time with tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter in tow, returned to France for the Paris Jazz Festival on October 1. Music from this set closes out Miles In France.

In journalist Marcus J. Moore’s new liner notes for the collection, bassist Ron Carter described his experience performing with Miles.

“I had never played with anyone like that, of course, and certainly not for this extended period of time,” he stated. “It was just stunning to hear him play like this, play with that intensity, play with that tempo, play with that direction night in and night out and not turn it on to the band and say, ‘Stop that.’ He allowed us to do whatever the chemist allowed his proteges in the lab to do. Take these chemicals I’m giving you guys and see what we come up with. Just call the fire department if necessary.”

Preview Miles in France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 with “So What” from the Festival Mondial Du Jazz in Antibes in 1963 below:

Head here for pre-order info and the complete tracklist.