They listen to the possibilities inherent in the improvisations of each band member.Genius takes what is not there and transform it into the jewels of the kingdom. The Manhattan Project did not happen by happenstance. It was foreordained by the characters that comprised the team.No small piece band had a greater assembly of talent and individual genius. Who could assess the musical I.Q. Of this Band?
I had this video over two decades ago and I feel the same. It's like we are very lucky to have this captured on film. Just image if we had Bird with Dizzy in this condition on video in the 40's. Thank goodness for Europe for taping so many jazz shows.
The great Wayne Shorter has passed away. He has given us such a treasure trove of recordings of his compositions and improvisations! I feel so blessed to have been able to hear some of them and get to experience his amazing creativity. There will never be another one like him, I’m afraid. Rest In Peace Wayne Shorter 🙏🏾🎷
Beautiful footage of a magnificent performance, by maybe the scariest band of them all. Wayne tune. Scary as in how scared mere mortals would be to walk on this bandstand.
I was in the 6th grade when I first heard this song. That was 1966. My oldest brother had a record player and played this song one day. It was mysteriously pleasing to my ears but, strange,,,,,,,,,,, I didn't quite understand it. This tune stuck in my head for years. When my musical appetite developed and finally caught-up to what was in my head, I was in college (1975) and then, I understood it for by that time I had heard Trane, Monk, Horace, Art and all the others. I'm now 66 years old and this song is still stuck in my head for it is one of my all-time favorites.
THE GOATS THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY. LISTENED TO THIS ALBUM MILES SMILES WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER AMAZING THEN. STILL LISTENING TO IT IN MAY 3RD 2020. LOVE YOU ALL FOR THIS GREAT PIECE OF MUSIC.😚
This is the single most important recording in Jazz. THE quintet at the height of their powers on the simplest yet most complex, easiest, yet hardest tune, in the book... The advanced afro-polyrhythms meet modal simplicity. It is perfection and beauty like will never again be achieved in this genre. Peace herbie and peace world
I've listened a lot recently to "Miles of Smiles".All of the participants are exceptional but I've particularly enjoyed Tony Williams' drumming and cymbal work.Absolutely uplifting.And altogether a world beating ensemble.What a joy all these years on.
Wayne’s solo here from outer space. THIS is what playing “outside” is meant to be. Weaving a story, creating color, emotion, and melody outside the changes. Not just playing a Tritone sub for 3 bars and running the diminished arpeggios like these cats today.
magnificent. A totally different tune at this tempo. I have to play this tune at a concert this weekend and am checking out different versions for ideas. This version blows me away, even in 2021.
I was mesmerized by this performance once i heard it. It's now recorded forever, every musical note, phrase and feeling performed here in my mind. Burned into memory, forever!
I love that there is quality video footage of this incredible music from over 55 years ago, with excellent audio too. Thank goodness for the European penchant for both technological expertise and their love of American jazz, produced fresh by the greatest musicians in the genre. Art with a capital "A."
Wayne Shorter goes places I've never heard sax go....(and that includes Coltrane) Herbie plays the texture man until the Bartok like bit at around 6mins....drumming is amazing too...
Extraordinaria composición del Maestro y gran interpretación del segundo quínteto de Miles, donde Wayne Shorter compuso la mayoría de los temas de esta época mítica, para deleite de todos. Descansa en paz irrepetible creador de melodías mágicas e irrepetibles.
So many great comments. And frankly, I agree with most of these: This is indeed an unbelievable performance/experience - Geniuses at work. Modern jazz doesn't get any more modern or hipper than this. And, as much as I love Herbie, Tony, Miles and Wayne (my main man), I feel that Ron is being a bit overlooked. As a bass player, I'm totally blown away by his performance. Especially the way he hangs in there when Herbie decides to deconstruct things during his own solo, totally contributing to the mood and vibe that Herbie is going for... A perfect conversation. Effortless, beautiful, heavy, fearless...
Wow this is sensational jazz. I have always enjoyed some Miles since I was 21. But now I had to study Tony Williams drumming after It being brought to my attention being mindblowing. Well I'm sure Billy Burr Freckles has been here taking some notes drumsticks in hand tapping away.....😉😎🎶🤯🤔😘
Classical - Jazz - Whatever --no labels: this so clearly illustrates the soaring heights of communication and group responsiveness that great music can achieve. Individually they are stars but together they are the Universe.
Meeting Mr. Hancock by complete chance on a downtown street in Mobile, Alabama was one of my greatest musical genius meetings of my life and completely out of the blue, unexpected and kind of crazy that I even recognized him at the time as I wasn't really even listening to jazz much at the time and hadn't seen a photo or video of him in over a decade at the time. I turned around and there he was, shook his hand and told him he was an inspiration, he smiled and said thank you and we went about our business. Crazy.
It’s like they’re going into outer space,: This is like Miles rocket ship, Tony is the fire at the end of the rocket. Miles is guiding the ship from liftoff until they reach outer space, Wayne is taking the ship wherever he wants to go to another galaxy, while Herbie is at the mission control showing everyone on the screen the surroundings, and Ron is continually making sure they have enough fuel with Tony to carry on. Then they return home, what a journey.
Love this tune and album Mile Smiles. First album I bought when I moved to London in 1984. Circle is amazing too. So simple even I can play every note of it on trumpet. But the genius is in Miles' tone. That tone is impossible... and fecking amazing.
All the pent-up anger of slavery endured by their ancestors simply blazed forth into the spectacle and beauty of such spiritual expressionism as spewed out in this masterpiece of five geniuses. The world needs more of this elixir to completely eradicate the scourge of racism, so that more, if not all of humanity can succour the fruits of supreme spiritualism so tellingly displayed here.
You know - I've been listening to the recorded music of Miles and his various crews for probably 45 years. Kind of Blue was the first - it was the most accessible and the only Miles album my dad had at the time; great way to start. That said, it took me a long time to warm to and appreciate the explorations this group was doing in the 60s. I grasped the stuff from the late 40s and the 50s, then the 80s. In a Silent Way clicked. But I'd listen to the stuff from the early / mid 60s every few years and tell myself - nope - not resonating. Finally - when I was in my 30s - this music started to get in my head, and it's now one of my favorite periods. The artists in this recording all KEPT MOVING FORWARD even after these great performances happened. That's high art. Saw Herbie and his fantastic group in Fort Collins, CO in the Fall of 2021. Took my wife and 2 adult-ish kids. An amazing bucket-list experience. What a thrill!
I love Coltrane, Paul Chambers, winton Kelly, Philly joe Jones but .... this quartet (miles , Herbie, tony Williams, Ron Carter) is the finest group ever! Herbie has been totally out of the world in the tour, from Paris to Antwerpen
Unbelievable, not only to hear but to see this performance. Each musician has a thumbprint of style that shines perfectly through the tune. For those that don't know, Footprints is a minor "blues" in 3/4 time. At times it seems they leave the form, but one player can cue a point in reference to the form , so the ensemble seems to drift in time and space but , It's still inside the form. Some critics believe this quintet was the best line up Miles Davis ever had ... it seems that way on this take.
Artists sharing a one-paged canvas. As I listen to the "Dream Team" (that's how I refer to them), I am focused only on the music. My issues and events of the week, have melted away. These musicians have such distinct styles. Herbie Hancock, who began studying piano at the age of 7, was more than ready for his tours with Miles. Herbie had 5 solo albums under his belt, prior to the European Tour (1967). Fortunately, they all started in their youth. Miles was 10 when he received his first trumpet. Ironically, Miles always seemed to gravitate towards younger players, and this practice served him well, in later years. Like another trumpet player, who became an engineer, and later a producer, Miles knew how to put a band together. Much like Quincy Jones, Miles Davis had an exceptional sense of timing. Knowing what to record and when to release the project, is key.
Absolute peak of Miles pre-electric phase. Sadly, Coltrane had died a few months before this. Miles and Thelonious had to keep it going on a level way beyond anyone else.
Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter & Tony Williams... Miles really knew how to hire musicians from outer space. But did you know that all these guys are almost unknown in the country I live now (France) except by jazz fans ?
To each their own. As for me, I prefer Wayne's original old school version. The solos were more definitive for one thing. Miles was on his way to Bitches Brew with this one...and he never looked back.
Was Miles lashing the band members before and after concerts with his bullwhip? I have never seen anyone in this band putting even a brief smile on stage. Miles would often pierce them with his eye lasers. Saxophone sounds like a fly trapped behind the curtain or under the wine glass, neurotic. Trumpet is constipated. All of them look they would rather be somewhere else and do something else.
When I feel sick about politics, destroyed climate, racism and and.. I need this performance to come back to earth and renew my hope in humanity. A steady inspiration each time I listen to these musicians! Thank you for ever!
