For five decades now, illicit recordings of Miles’s two sojourns in Europe during July and November of 1969 have been coveted by jazz collectors with a thirst for recordings from the trumpeter’s nascent electric period. Now spruced up and officially released as a four-disc set (3 CDs plus a DVD boasting superb colour footage), Live In Europe 1969 documents a wildly exciting but short-lived line-up circa Bitches Brew that never recorded as a studio entity. Comprising saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland along with drummer Jack DeJohnette, who delivers some dynamic sticks work, the forgotten quintet of ’69 demonstrate on four arresting performances (two from Antibes and one each from Stockholm and Berlin) what an exhilarating and potent synergy they could create in tandem with their mercurial mentor. The set’s also available on vinyl.
(CW) 4/5
