Live at the Plugged Nickel

AMG Review of Live at the Plugged Nickel

Stephen Cook
All Music Guide

Now available as a complete and hefty eight-disc set, Miles Davis' Live at the Plugged Nickel was originally released as a relatively digestible double-album package. With the hope of a more concise and smaller CD version on the way, one can still recommend this pre-digital LP for fans curious about Davis' '60s quartet in a live venue. All the players were at their peak as the band settled in for the 1965 Chicago club stand from which this recording was taken. Besides classic Davis fare such as "Walkin'" and "All Blues," the quintet makes fine, exploratory work of such favorite standards as "Stella by Starlight" and "Yesterdays." And though Davis shines throughout, it's Wayne Shorter who steals the spotlight with his intense and mercurial solos. And the rhythm section of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams is not bad either.