Miles In France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 set for November release

The live debut of the Miles Davis Quintet with George Coleman in 1963, which led to the ‘Second Great Quintet’ in 1964 with Wayne Shorter is set to be released as the latest instalment in the long-running and hugely acclaimed Bootleg Series with a worldwide release date of 8 November 2024 via Columbia/Legacy Recordings

Issued as Miles In France 1963-1964 – The Bootleg Series, Vol.8, the 6CD set and 8LP set contains more than four hours of previously unreleased music and consists of all the music made at Antibes 26, 27, 28 July 1963 with George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, and the show at Salle Pleyel in Paris on 1 October 1964 which featured Wayne Shorter, Hancock, Carter and Williams in their second ever concert, with the latter released as a 2LP break-out set featuring all recordings from Paris 1964 with The Second Great Quintet.

Outside of the US, France was Miles’ best market. He had a special affinity for the country and played there more times than any other country, and recorded there frequently, going back as far as 1949 when, at the age of 22, he first appeared at the Festival International 1949 De Jazz at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, and as late as 16 July 1991 in Nice, just two months before he died on 28 September 1991. He also organised and presented a major reunion concert in Paris on 10 July 91 featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Dave Holland and others.  

This latest addition to the Miles Davis Bootleg Series fills in a significant period in Davis’s output with the series so far including music from as early as 1955, and as late as 1985, but, until now, nothing from 1963 or 64, two pivotal years in Miles’s discography that mark the auspicious beginnings of the Second Great Quintet. The set was produced by Steve Berkowitz, Michael Cuscuna (the last Miles box set he worked on), and Richard Seidel. It was mastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in NYC. See the December/January issue of Jazzwise for a major feature on this exciting newly released material.

Preview Miles In France today with a never-heard version of ‘So What’ Live at the Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins here milesdavis.lnk.to/sowhat

And preorders are now open on this link milesdavis.lnk.to/France