Miles Davis – Live At Juan-Les Pins Festival 1963 – Past Daily Downbeat

The legendary Miles Davis this weekend. From a series of concerts at the 1963 Juan-Les Pins Festival in France, recorded by ORTF in Paris on July 26-28, 1963.

This concert has been available officially and unofficially in various forms over the years, and I don’t think a single performance or outtake has gone untouched over the years.

Davis made several line-up changes while recording Someday My Prince Will Come (1961), his 1961 Blackhawk concerts, and Seven Steps to Heaven (1963), another mainstream success that introduced bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and drummer Tony Williams. After adding saxophonist Wayne Shorter to his new quintet in 1964, Davis led them on a series of more abstract recordings often composed by the band members, helping pioneer the post-bop genre with albums such as E.S.P (1965) and Miles Smiles (1967), before transitioning into his electric period. During the 1970s, he experimented with rock, funk, African rhythms, emerging electronic music technology, and an ever-changing line-up of musicians, including keyboardist Joe Zawinul, drummer Al Foster, and guitarist John McLaughlin. This period, beginning with Davis’s 1969 studio album In a Silent Way and concluding with the 1975 concert recording Agharta, was the most controversial in his career, alienating and challenging many in jazz. His million-selling 1970 record Bitches Brew helped spark a resurgence in the genre’s commercial popularity with jazz fusion as the decade progressed.

Here’s what’s what for Antibes, 1963:
Miles Davis Quintet

Juan-Les Pins Festival

July 26-28, 1962

Miles Davis (tpt); George Coleman (ts);Herbie Hancock (pno); Ron Carter (b); Tony Williams (dr)

1. So What (July 26, 1963)

2  Stella By Starlight (July 26)

3. Seven Steps to Heaven (July 26)

4. If I were a Bell (July 28, 1963)

5. So What (July 28)

Goes perfect with Sunday.

Turn it up and relax.

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