Miles Davis

a selective discography & gigography with links to audio and video
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
Refresh browser to reset the audio players when too many are downloading at once. My particular favourites are marked with a $\star$ .

1940s

“The greatest feeling I ever had in my life – with my clothes on – was when I first heard Diz and Bird together in St. Louis, Missouri… I’ve come close to matching the feeling of that night in 1944 in music…but I’ve never quite got there. I’ve gotten close, but not all the way there. I’m always looking for it, listening and feeling for it, though, trying to always feel it in and through the music I play every day.”
~~+++++~~– Miles’ autobiography

The Birth of the Cool, 1949 youtube

1950s

the first great quintet

Miles Davis Quintet with John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums):

$\star$ 4 albums recorded on 2 days in 1956:
Cookin’ youtube Steamin’ youtube Relaxin’ youtube Workin’ youtube

$\bullet$ Cafe Bohemia 1956-7 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Peacock Alley, St. Louis, Feb 1957 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Radio broadcast from Café Bohemia, NY, with Sonny Rollins (tenor) and Art Taylor (drums) (and over-interviews), 20 July 1957 setlist mp3
– 27 July setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Radio broadcast from Birdland, NY, Oct 1957 with Bobby Jaspar (tenor), Tommy Flanagan (p) setlist mp3
$\star$ Round About Midnight, 1957 youtube
$\star$ Milestones with Cannonball Adderley (alto sax), 4 Feb & 4 March 1958 youtube
Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else, 9 March 1958 with Hank Jones (p), Sam Jones (b), Art Blakey (d) youtube

Sextet with Cannonball, Coltrane, Bill Evans (p), Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb (d)

$\bullet$ Spotlight Lounge, Washington DC Aug-Nov 1958 setlist mp3
$\iff$ Wynton Kelly replaces Bill Evans on piano, Nov 1958
$\Box$ The Sound of Miles Davis, The Robert Herridge Theater, CBS Studio 61, NY, 2 April 1959
Part 1 – So What youtube
Part 2 – with Gil Evans – The Duke/Blues for Pablo/New Rhumba youtube
$\bullet$ Radio broadcasts 1959 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Playboy Jazz Festival, Chicago, 7 Aug 1959 (So What only, Cannonball is the only sax) setlist mp3

$\star$ Kind of Blue, 2 March & 22 April 1959 youtube
– $\star$ Flamenco Sketches youtube

$\star$ The albums with Gil Evans’ big band and arrangements:
Miles Ahead, 1957 – Porgy and Bess, 1958 – Sketches of Spain, Nov 1959 youtube – Quiet Nights, 1962-3 youtube

1960s

Quintet with Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb

$\bullet$ Olympia Theatre, Paris, 21 March 1960 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Tivoli Koncertsal, Copenhagen, 24 March 1960 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Kongresshalle, Frankfurt, 30 March 1960 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Deutsches Museum, Munich, 3 April 1960 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Kongresshaus, Zurich, 8 April 1960 setlist mp3
$\star$ $\bullet$ Kurhaus, Scheveningen, Holland, 9 April 1960 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 27 Sep 1960 setlist mp3

Quintet with George Coleman (tenor), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums)

$\bullet$ The Jazz Villa, St. Louis, Missouri, May or June 1963 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Juan-les-Pins, France, 26-8 July 1963 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Miles Davis In Europe, Juan-les-Pins, 27 July 1963
$\bullet$ Monterey Jazz Festival, California, 20 Sept 1963 youtube setlist mp3
$\bullet \star$ Four and More and My Funny Valentine, Lincoln Center, NY, 12 Feb 1964
These records, with George Coleman on tenor, are superlative. Four and More seemed “the” jazz record to me as a teenager. Miles at his best.

with Sam Rivers (tenor):
$\bullet$ Tokyo, 12 July 1964 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Tokyo, 15 July 1964 setlist mp3

the second great quintet

Quintet with Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie, Ron, Tony

$\Box$ Steve Allen Show, 10 Sept 1964 – No Blues video
$\Box$ Steve Allen Show, 11 Sept 1964 – So What, All Blues video video

$\bullet$ Miles in Berlin, Philharmonie, 25 Sept 1964
$\bullet$ Johanneshovs Isstadion, Stockholm, 3 Oct 1964 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ KB Hallen, Copenhagen, 4 Oct 1964 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Stadhalle, Sindelfingen, West Germany, 8 Oct 1964 – 1st set setlist mp3
– 2nd set setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Teatro dell’Arte, Milan, 11 Oct 1964 setlist mp3 video
E.S.P. – Jan 1965
$\bullet \star$ Live at the Plugged Nickel, 22-3 Dec 1965 (double album)
– 1. Walkin’, Agitation youtube – 2. Green Dolphin St, So What youtube – 3. Round Midnight, Stella by Starlight youtube

$\bullet$ Oriental Theatre, Portland, Oregon, 21 May 1966, with Richard Davis (b) setlist mp3

$\bullet$ Festival Field, Newport, Rhode Island, 4 July 1966 setlist mp3
$\star$ Miles Smiles, 24-5 Oct 1966
$\bullet$ Harmon Gymnasium, University of California, Berkeley, April 7, 1967 with Albert Stinson (b) setlist mp3

Sorcerer, May 1967
$\star$ Nefertiti, June-July 1967 youtube – $\star$ Nefertiti (title track) youtube
Water Babies, June 1967 and Nov 1968
$\bullet$ Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp, Belgium, 28 Oct 1967 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ De Doelen, Rotterdam, 30 Oct 1967 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki, 1 Nov 1967 (15min only) setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Tivoli Konsertsal, Copenhagen, 2 Nov 1967 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Philharmonie, Berlin, 4 Nov 1967 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Salle Pleyel, Paris, 6 Nov 1967 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Stadthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany, 7 Nov 1967 video

— everything from here on uses electric instruments —

electric

Miles In The Sky, Jan-May 1968
Filles de Kilimanjaro June-Sept 1968 youtube

Quintet with Wayne, Chick Corea (rhodes), Dave Holland (b), Tony

$\bullet$ Jazz Workshop, Boston, 5-8 Dec 1968 (apparently it’s Wynton Kelly (rhodes) sitting in on Round Midnight!) setlist mp3

In a Silent Way, 18 Feb 1969 youtube
with John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Wayne, Tony

Quintet with Wayne, Chick, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette (drums)

$\bullet$ Antibes, France, 25 July 1969 video
$\bullet$ Salle Pleyel, Paris 1969 Second Concert video
$\bullet$ Copenhagen 1969 video

1969 interview with Les Tomkins

Bitches Brew, 1969-70 youtube

1970s

Big Fun, 1969-72 (mostly 1969) – CD1 youtube – CD2 youtube

Sextet with Wayne, Chick, Dave Holland, Jack, Airto Moreira (perc)

$\bullet$ Hill Auditorium, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, 21 Feb 1970 with John McLaughlin (g) setlist mp3
$\unrhd$ 17 March, 1970 – Duran: take 4 (6min) youtube – take 6 (11min) youtube with Wayne, Bennie Maupin (b clar), John McLaughlin (g), Dave Holland, Billy Cobham (d)
$\iff$ Steve Grossman replaces Wayne on saxes, March 1970
Jack Johnson, 7 April 1970 youtube with John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Herbie etc
$\unrhd$ 21 May 1970 – Konda info youtube (14min) with Keith Jarrett (rhodes), John McLaughlin, Jack, Airto (Mostly just trumpet (with various weird electronic octave effects)/wah-wah guitar/rhodes)

Septet with Gary Bartz (alto/sop) Keith Jarrett, Chick, Dave Holland, Jack, Airto

$\bullet$ Tanglewood, 18 Aug 1970 video
$\bullet$ Isle of Wight Festival, 29 Aug 1970 video

Group with Keith, Michael Henderson (b), Gary Bartz, Jack, Airto

with Juma Santos (perc):
$\bullet$ Seattle Center Arena, 4 Oct 1970 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Fillmore West, San Francisco, 17 Oct 1970 setlist mp3
– 18 Oct setlist mp3
$\Box$ The Tonight Show with Bill Cosby, NBC Studios, LA, Oct 1970 setlist mp3

$\bullet$ Electric Factory, Philadelphia, 17 Nov 1970 setlist mp3
$\bullet \star$ Live-Evil, mostly 19 Dec 1970 (double album) with John McLaughlin – Funky Tonk youtube – What I Say youtube – Inamorata youtube
$\bullet$ Lennie’s on the Turnpike, Peabody, Massachusetts, 11-14 Mar 1971 (Does anybody in this audience own a trumpet, and do they have one with them?) setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Fillmore West, San Francisco, 6-9 May 1971 setlist mp3

Group with Keith, Michael Henderson, Gary Bartz, Leon Chancler (drums), Don Alias (perc), James Mtume (perc)

$\bullet$ Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, Milan, 21 Oct 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Stadthalle, Dietikon, Switzerland, 22 Oct 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 26 Oct 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Théâtre Nationale Populaire, Paris, 27 Oct 1971 – Early setlist mp3
– Late setlist mp3
$\bullet$ De Doelen, Rotterdam, 29 Oct 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Dom Sindikata (Union Hall), Belgrade, 3 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Wiener Konzerthaus, 5 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Philharmonie, Berlin, 6 Nov 1971 setlist mp3 video
$\bullet$ Universitets Aula, Uppsala, Sweden, 7 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Tivoli Koncertsal, Copenhagen, 8 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Oslo, 9 Nov 1971 video
10 Nov – Keith recorded Facing You in Oslo. (Which I consider the greatest jazz/improvised solo piano recording of all time.)
$\bullet$ Sartory-Festsaal, Köln (Cologne), 12 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Royal Festival Hall, London, 13 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Teatro della Fenice, Venice, 14 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Palazzetto dello Sport, Bologna, Italy, 15 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Palazzo dello Sport, Turin, 16 Nov 1971 setlist mp3 video
$\bullet$ Sports Pavilion, Cascais, Portugal, 20 Nov 1971 setlist mp3
Two short clips from this date: (12 + 8 min) 2. video

Group with Carlos Garnett (sop sax), Reggie Lucas (g), Khalil Balakrishna (sitar), Cedric Lawson (keyb), Michael Henderson, Al Foster (d), James Mtume (perc), Badal Roy (tabla)

$\star$ On The Corner, 1972 (funk + indian music)
$\bullet$ Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 10 Sept 1972 setlist mp3

$\bullet$ Paul’s Mall, Boston, 14 Sept 1972 setlist mp3
– 15-17 Sept setlist mp3
$\bullet$ Frost Amphitheater, Stanford U, Palo Alto, 1 Oct 1972 setlist mp3

Get Up With It (music from early-mid 70s)
– Rated X youtube
(A crazy, crazy track. A kind of extreme, as far out as Miles got. Stockhausen + James Brown. on/off. Miles on organ! Like bleach for the brain.)
– Maiysha (Part 1) youtube
(I’ve always liked this. Not quite like anything else. Happy, sunny, relaxed, lots of great moments.)

$\bullet$ ‘Electric and Brutal’, Berlin 1973 – my go-to youtube video for surviving internet cafes unscathed.video
$\bullet$ Vienna, 1973 video
$\bullet$ Stockholm, 27 Oct 1973 video
$\bullet$ Tokyo 1973 video
$\bullet$ Pangaea, live at Osaka, Feb 1975 youtube

Continued on page 2 here

Also check out an amazing interactive map of all Miles’ musicians and recording sessions here : Scaled in Miles

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