Wonderful Document of Short-lived Quintet
Fritz Gerlich | admin@audioetc.info | 12/15/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This was a group featuring Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, & Jimmy Cobb. During the performance, you can feel some tension between the players, but each one contributes mightly. The concerts are hard driving affairs, with each player man handling their instruments (except for the pianist). I think there was some machismo being worked out through the notes, almost as if they were trading blows. This quintet didn't have a future, as Miles sought to replace the departed Coltrane and he didn't see Stitt as the right fit. Stitt plays within the harmonies of the tune and locks into the time. Not exactly to Miles liking. On these tracks, one can hear Davis more than on the latter Coltrane recordings. Davis felt confident with Coltrane that he could leave 70% of a song to him and everything would be well. He didn't have the same feel of Stitt, so he compensated by taking a larger part of the load. This dynamic produced some startling playing, and I think the results are stunning.
There is also three bonus tunes from a '63 concert featuring Davis, Coleman, Hancock, Carter, & Williams. I found these enjoyable but not up to the fare on the first disc and a half.
The sound quality on the Manchester '60 material is quite good. Like any portable mono recording from the era, it's not mixed particularly well. And some of the insturments are are burried. Also, the mastering is top notch. The Lonehill Jazz people have done a good job. And thanks for not over using (if they used it at all) the NoNoise noise reduction system. There is tape hiss, but that means that more of the music is there as noise reduction always also reduces the music as well.
In short, this is a worthy purchase if you like Stitt or Davis."
Miles and stitt
Steven D. wheeler | LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK United States | 01/12/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with previous poster 100%.miles was very confident with trane .sonny stitt had a problem with competition anyway"
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1