Miles Davis' "Lost Quintet"

I'm going to start off by apologizing for not uploading a sample cut, but the shortest cut I could upload already surpasses the 15 MB Mog limit for mp3 uploads by 5 MB. I suppose I could tag one of these songs off of some album, but that would entirely defeat the point of this post.

The late 60's incarnation of the Miles Davis Quintet, featuring Chick Corea on keyboards, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass and Wayne Shorter on tenor, didn't spend any time in the studio. In terms of Davis' career, this period is microcosmically analogous to the recording ban of the early 40's in relationship to the development of Be Bop. This is that period when Davis was toying with the ideas that eventually led to the seminal album Bitches Brew, and we have precious few examples of the transition from the acoustic Miles Davis of the early-to-mid-60's to the amplified Miles Davis of the early 70's. For this reason, this incarnation of the Miles Davis Quintet is often referred to as the "Lost" Quintet.

However, from time to time, live recordings from this period bubble to the surface, the most notable one, until now, being a recording of a performance a at the Fillmore East. And, thanks to the BBC, one of them just did. If you have a high-speed connection, or the patience to download a large file, you can follow the links here and download the concert (the ZIP'ed file is some 160+ MB). It was recorded in Rotterdam on Nov 9, 1969.

This one is particularly special due to the quality of the recording, and, perhaps even despite the historical significance it serves, is just plain good music. It comes highly recommended.

By the way, if you aren't following some of the blogs on glidemagazine.com, you should. Lots of really good stuff for any music lover regardless of one's individual taste.