Jazz & Blues Lounge

In 1964, Miles Davis was already well on his way to being a jazz legend. He was also an icon within the African-American community and an activist. He made the big bucks from his record labels and to play concerts. So, when a group of people trying to register black voters in Louisiana and Mississippi came to him to ask him if he would play a benefit concert for them at the Lincoln Center, he said yes.

Then he calmly waived his performance fee and then the performance fee for the rest of his band.

In true Miles fashion, he did not bother to ask them how they felt about that. He had people like Tony Williams on drums and he was only 19-years-old at the time. Herbie Hancock was playing piano for him, himself a young man. George Coleman was on tenor sax and Ron Carter was his bass player.

Each of those names would end up as legends in the world of jazz, but in 1964, they were still trying to make a living playing music. They were not making the kind of money Miles was. Back stage, now informed just moments before going on, that they were playing for free, a huge argument broke out. Again, Miles, in his usual way, refused to change his mind. As such, Miles and a group of very ticked off performers went out on that stage and played.

As Miles would put it, in the way only he could, “We just blew the top off that place that night. It was a motherf***er the way everybody played.”

The concert was recorded. Originally it was released on vinyl as two albums. The first was “My Funny Valentine” and the second was “Four & More.” Both were hits, but “My Funny Valentine” was the bigger seller. The two albums grouped the love songs together and then the other tunes together. For a long time that was the only way to hear one of the greatest jazz concerts you are ever likely to hear.

Then, in the 1990s, they combined them, at last, in a double-CD set entitled “The Complete 1964 Concert.” Of course, they did not restore the original order of the tunes. For that, I guess, you would have needed to be there.

You can tell by listening to this recording how pissed off these artists were. Tony Williams’ drumming is like listening to a man possessed. All of the performers are playing with an intensity that has to be heard to be believed. To hear it on a recording that is as old as this one, you know they had to have been playing on some other level that night.

This is one of the best bands Miles ever put together. They played a lot of standards. Miles was just on the brink of drifting into his electric period where he would introduce a jazz/rock fusion that would lead to recordings like “Bitches Brew.” He was at the height of his abilities during this concert with performers who were just starting to tap into their nearly limitless potential.

So, may I make another recommendation for your jazz collection? Find the “Complete Concert of 1964: My Funny Valentine and Four & More.” It is on the Sony label.

It is worth it. Every penny and every minute. You are listening to musical history.

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