Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I | ||||
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Live album by The Miles Davis Sextet | ||||
Released | September 28, 1973[1] | |||
Recorded | September 9, 1958 | |||
Venue | Plaza Hotel New York City | |||
Genre |
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Length | 41:02 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Teo Macero | |||
The Miles Davis Sextet chronology | ||||
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Miles Davis live chronology | ||||
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Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I is a live album by The Miles Davis Sextet. It was recorded in 1958 and released in 1973 by Columbia Records. Duke Ellington was recorded at the same event and released as the second volume (Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II).
Background
The album features the famed sextet that recorded Kind of Blue six months later. The concert was recorded in 1958 but not released in full until 1973. The last three songs would reappear (in reverse order) in 1974, on 1958 Miles, but on Jazz at the Plaza, all the tracks are of much better sound quality. The musicians did not know they were being recorded at the time. The event was a party thrown by Columbia to celebrate the healthy state of their jazz division. Indeed, it was not meant to be a record session: "it was a party. We taped it because we wanted to remember it, in case it never happened again."[3] Pianist Bill Evans later stated the musicians who were still alive at the time of release were offered payment at the 1958 scale.[4]
"My Funny Valentine," which had become a staple of the band's playbook, is played in the group's new modal style.[5] Coltrane and Adderley sit out for this track, and Evans, "ruminating moodily," takes an extended solo, "conjuring magical colors out of the resident 'honky-tonk'" piano.[6] (This track is also available on the Evans compilation Piano Player.) On "Straight, No Chaser," Davis plays the theme faster than usual and alternates the groove between full and cut time, while Evans quotes "Blue Monk" in his own solo.[5]
The original LP misidentified the tune "Straight, No Chaser" as "Jazz at the Plaza," the drummer as Philly Joe Jones, and the location as the Edwardian Room. [7]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [8] |
AllMusic's Thom Jurek gave the album four out of five stars and felt that, despite Sony's remastering, it "succeeds mightily on the level" of a "remarkable" band's "fine performance." He recommended it strictly to jazz listeners as a "curiosity piece" because of its "dodgy" and "dubious sound quality."[5] In its four-star review of the album, DownBeat magazine found the music "engaging" and stated, "The intrigue from the redefined hard-bop here has everything to do with Davis' elliptical phrasings and seeming impatience with the latter-day offspring of bebop."[2]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "If I Were a Bell" | Frank Loesser | 8:31 |
2. | "Oleo" | Sonny Rollins | 10:39 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Funny Valentine" | Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart | 10:19 |
2. | "Straight, No Chaser" | Thelonious Monk | 10:56 |
Personnel
- Miles Davis – trumpet
- John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
- Julian "Cannonball" Adderley – alto saxophone
- Bill Evans – piano
- Paul Chambers – bass
- Jimmy Cobb – drums
References
- ^ Miles Davis.com
- ^ a b "Review: Jazz at the Plaza". Down Beat. Chicago: 59. September 2001.
- ^ Original liner notes by Irving Townsend
- ^ Pettinger, Peter (1998). Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings. Yale University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-300-07193-1.
- ^ a b c Jurek, Thom. "Jazz at the Plaza, Vol. 1 - Miles Davis". AllMusic. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
- ^ Pettinger, p. 60.
- ^ Belden, Bob (2002). Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 (Media notes). p. 102. Archived from the original on 2015-04-12.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
External links
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I at Discogs (list of releases)
- v
- t
- e
recordings
- Birdland 1951
- Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
- Miles & Coltrane
- Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
- Amsterdam Concert
- At Newport 1958
- Miles & Monk at Newport
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
- Miles Davis & John Coltrane The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
- In Person: At the Blackhawk, San Francisco
- Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall
- Miles Davis in Europe
- Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
- My Funny Valentine
- Four & More
- Miles in Tokyo
- Miles in Berlin
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1
- 1969 Miles – Festiva De Juan Pins
- Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
- Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time
- Bitches Brew Live
- Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West
- Miles Davis at Fillmore
- Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3
- The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
- Live-Evil
- In Concert
- Dark Magus
- Agharta
- Pangaea
- Miles! Miles! Miles!
- We Want Miles
- Live Around the World
- Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
- Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux
- Miles Davis and Horns
- Blue Haze
- Birth of the Cool
- Walkin'
- Miles Davis Volume 1
- Miles Davis Volume 2
- Miles Davis' Greatest Hits
- Basic Miles: The Classic Performances of Miles Davis
- Big Fun
- Get Up with It
- Water Babies
- Circle in the Round
- 1958 Miles
- Directions
- The Columbia Years 1955–1985
- Love Songs
- Super Hits
- The Essential Miles Davis
- Miles Davis Quintet: Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5
- That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7
- The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane
- Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
- Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964
- The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968
- The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions
- The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
- The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
- The Complete On the Corner Sessions
- In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete
- The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
- The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux
- The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
- Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection
- The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
- Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951–1956
- Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974
- Panthalassa: The Remixes
- Evolution of the Groove
- "All Blues"
- "Blue in Green"
- "Boplicity"
- "Dig"
- "Donna Lee"
- "Four"
- "Flamenco Sketches"
- "Freddie Freeloader"
- "Joshua"
- "Milestones"
- "Nardis"
- "Seven Steps to Heaven"
- "So What"
- Miles Dewey Davis Jr. (father)
- Miles Davis Quintet
- Miles: The Autobiography
- Miles! The Definitive Miles Davis at Montreux DVD Collection
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- A Different Kind of Blue (2004 documentary)
- Miles Ahead (2015 movie)
- Category