Miles in France is the eighth installment in the celebrated Miles Davis Bootleg Series and this edition focuses on the birth of the Second Great Quintet in 1963 and 1964. The music heard here represents the sound of an end and a beginning coming through at once.
The set contains 5 separate performances of the Miles Davis Quintet spread over 8 LPs and the energy and depth of feeling in the transcendent playing hint at the special relationship Miles and the group had with the French nation that embraced them in a way their homeland would not. It contains over 4 hours of revelatory, unreleased live music featuring Miles backed by George Coleman (on the 1963 recordings), Wayne Shorter (on the 1964recordings), Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
This set expands on the 1964 live album Miles in Europe which documented the Miles Davis Quintets performance at the Festival Mondial du Jazz in Antibes in July 1963. While that album included a single edited set across 2LPs, this will include all three very distinct performances from Antibes along with two never-before-released concerts from October 1964 in Paris, by which time Wayne Shorter had joined the band, so you could hear the Second Great Quintet come together before your ears. The audio has been lovingly mixed and mastered in the highest quality possible and the 8 LPs are packaged in 4 gatefold jackets housed in a luxe slipcase box with a die-cut O-card and a 20 page book that includes dozens of unseen photos, ephemera and extensive liner notes by noted journalist Marcus J. Moore.
Tracklist:
1. Introduction by André Francis
2. So What
3. All Blues
4. Stella By Starlight
5. Seven Steps To Heaven
6. Walkin’
7. My Funny Valentine
8. Joshua
9. The Theme
10. Closing announcement by André Francis
11. Introduction by André Francis
12. Autumn Leaves
13. Milestones
14. I Thought About You
15. Joshua
16. All Of You
17. Walkin’
18. Bye Bye Blackbird
19. The Theme
20. Introduction by André Francis
21. If I Were A Bell
22. So What
23. Stella By Starlight
24. Walkin’
25. The Theme
26. Autumn Leaves
27. So What
28. Stella By Starlight
29. Walkin’
30. The Theme
31. All Of You
32. Joshua
33. My Funny Valentine
34. No Blues
35. The Theme