Description

When the great trumpeter-bandleader Miles Davis (1926-1991) invaded the South of France in the summer of 1963, it was with a band that had been together just over two months. It’s doubtful that the audience at the Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes was prepared for the ways in which Davis and company altered upon the mostly familiar material in this stunning set, for the inveterately mutable Davis had moved in a new direction: freebop. On “In Europe” (which now contains a bonus track, the poignant ballad “I Thought About You”), we hear the band ushering in this new style, extending and expanding on it’s repertoire in every possible way. Only “Joshua,” written by pianist Victor Feldman, a long time mainstay of the Los Angeles jazz and studio scene, was of recent vintage. Clearly, this was not your older brother or sister’s Miles Davis quintet. Pushed at every hairpin turn by the dynamic young rhythm section of pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and the astonishing 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams, Davis and tenor saxophonist George Coleman repeatedly surpass themselves.