To get the easy bit out of the way first, Quintet & Sextet is a compilation of tracks recorded for Columbia, originally on albums such as Milestones, ’58 Sessions and Live at the Blackhawk – all of which have appeared and reappeared in various re-issues including Columbia/Legacy’s comprehensive box-sets such as The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis & John Coltrane. The music, of course, is excellent, but most fans will be familiar with it, but for those unfamiliar with Davis’ oeuvre here is an excellent place to begin. What is interesting is the Amsterdam Concert, one of the least known recordings of Davis’ entire discography, comprising the complete 8 December, 1957 appearance at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the group that just four days before, on 4/5 December 1957, had recorded Ascenseur pour l’échafaud in Paris. The group, with the precocious 21-year old tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen, was the house band at Paris’ Club St. Germain, where Davis was guest soloist while preparing to record the soundtrack for Louis Malle’s film. The Amsterdam Concert comprises 10 numbers from Davis’ then hard bop repertoire, staples such as ‘Four’, ‘A Night in Tunisia’, ‘Woody’n You’, ‘Round About Midnight’ and ‘Walkin’’. The sound is a bit so-so, but does not diminish Davis’ contribution; here was a night when he was on form, relaxed (he was enjoying an affaire de coeur at the time with Juliet Greco) and the stars were in the right conjunction. A significant addition to the Davis discography.