-
"My first choice to replace George was Wayne Shorter, but Art Blakey had made him musical director of the Jazz Messengers and he couldn't leave then. So we hired Sam Rivers." --Miles Davis
- 64.00.00 - "According to Gary Giddins [in the liner notes of Miles Davis-Heard 'Round The World Columbia, C238506]
Miles approached Sonny Stitt, Jimmy Heath and Eric Dolphy before hiring George Coleman. Big George left suddenly before the Japan tour and Miles hired Sam Rivers almost purely on Tony's recommendation." [Gordon Blewis posting to Miles-list 95.08.15]
- "I believe that [Rivers] was music director for T-Bone Walker when Miles called him." [Peter Kaz posting to Miles-list 95.07.28]
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Sam Rivers with the Miles Davis Quintet - 64.04.03 to 64.07.15 |
- "George Coleman left the Davis Quintet in March or April 1964, leaving Davis once again without a saxophone player. Williams recommended Rivers, a fellow Bostonian, to Davis, and Rivers joined the Quintet in April. There were some American dates before the Quintet left for a short Japanese tour":
- 64.04.03 - Miles Davis Quintet / Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles
- 64.05.07
64.05.08
64.05.09
64.05.10
64.05.11
64.05.12 - Miles Davis Quintet / Village Vanguard, New York
[Dan Plosin's Miles Ahead Sessions on the Web.]
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On The Japan Tour dates :::
There have been unsubstantiated claims of additional sessions with Rivers during the Japan tour, but no research to back these claims :::
"This Japanese tour included six concerts with Sam Rivers at four cities.
July 10, Nagoya / July 11, Osaka / July 12, Tokyo / July 13, Osaka / July 14, Tokyo / July 15, Kyoto.
Three of these (July 13, 14 and 15) were recorded for radio broadcast. ...This information was acquired from the jazz magazine Swing Journal."
[Tosiyuki Nomoto 02.05.00; 02.06.02]
"Of course I have heard Miles Group 1964. (Nagoya)
I have concert tour book and flyer of 'World Jazz Festival in Japan'." (See below.)
[Kuniharu Itoh 02.06.10]
(A- group) Modern Jazz
Miles Davis Quintet: Davis, Sam Rivers, Herbie Hancock, Ron Cartar, Anthony
Williams
J.J.Johnson All Stars: Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb
Carmen McRae: McRae, Norman Simmons, Victor Sproles, Curtis Boyd
from Japan: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Charlie Mariano, Hidehiko Matsumoto & others
(B-group)
Gene Krupa All Stars, Red Nichols & his 5 Pennies, Dukes of Dixieland, Edmond
Hall, Dakota Staton
(C-group)
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra w/ Frank Sinatra Jr., Pied Pipers, Jeanne Thomas, Louis Bellson
A-group only:
June, 1964
10 : Nagoya (Nagoya shi Koukaido)
11 : Osaka (Osaka Festival Hall)
12 : Tokyo (Hibiya -Yagai-Ongakudou)
13 : Osaka (Osaka Festival Hall)
14 : Tokyo (Tokyo Shinjuku Kousenenkin Hall)
15 : Kyoto ( Kyoto Maruyama Ongakudo)
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"I'm sorry but Miles only played three days-- July 12, 14 and 15! have from Japanese friends the information that Miles only played at the... 3 concerts. Miles Davis seems to have arrived in Tokyo on July 9th, so why he shouldn't have played any of the others days mentioned I don't know..."
[Jan Lohman, posting to Miles-list]
"Although several Japanese concerts were booked, the Quintet apparently performed only three: Hibaya Yagai Ongaku-do Hall, Tokyo (July 12), Shinjuku Kohseinenkin Hall, Tokyo (July 14), and Maruyama Ongaku-do Hall, Kyoto (July 15)." [Dan Plosin's Miles Ahead Sessions on the Web.]
"I asked Yasuki Nakayama (a noted music critic and once the chief editor of the 'Swing Journal') on this issue, and he says although the Miles group basically travelled and appeared together with 'A-group', not all bands were supposed to play every time anyway. Therefore, it's not a mystery that Miles didn't have to play on some venues. As far as I know, there are no rumors about Miles' cancelling his concerts in Japan, 1964. Also I guess Miles didn't go to Osaka (and possibly Nagoya) at all. Nagoya is something like Chicago - a big, but somewhat provincial city and is halfway between Kyoto/Osaka and Tokyo. And Osaka is pretty close to Kyoto but a hundred miles away from Tokyo, so Nagoya -> Osaka -> Tokyo -> Osaka -> Tokyo -> Kyoto sequence doesn't make much sense. I think the tour started in Nagoya, then some bands went to Osaka while others went to Tokyo and did two concerts each, and finally met in Kyoto. Miles might just have stayed in Tokyo and then went to Kyoto directly."
[Masayuki Hatta 03.12.22]
"I do remember performing in Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto..."
[Sam Rivers 02.06.09] This would seem to tentatively place a small worm into the stew for either July 11 or July 13, but most probably NOT... I'm still working on it, not because I believe it, but, forgive me, because I wish there were more music to hear. —RL
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- There is no evidence for these two concert dates (64.07.10; 64.07.11) having occurred at all. I list them nonetheless simply to acknowledge the claims.
- 64.07.10 - Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet), Sam Rivers (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums) / Nagoya shi Koukaido, Nagoya, Japan
"My acquaintance [Mr. Kuniharu Ito] is introduced. he is actually hearing the concert of Nagoya on July 10th." [Tosiyuki Nomoto 02.05.00]
- 64.07.11 - Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet), Sam Rivers (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums) / Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan [correspondence Tosiyuki Nomoto 02.05.00]
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64.07.12 • Miles Davis Quintet [Soundboard Recording]
- Miles Davis Quintet: Starlight In Black Live
Mega Disc (no issue #) MD Lengendary Collection Series (CD) JAP
This is an officially released factory pressed CD and NOT a CD-R.
- Miles Davis Quintet: Moment / 1964 Japan Tour Definitive Edition
Heavy Blow Records HB-001/002 (2CD) JAP (64.07.12 on HB-001; 64.07.15 on HB-002.)
July 12, 1964 / Hibiya Yagai Ongaku-do Hall, Tokyo, Japan
band warming up [0:06]
- Autumn Leaves (J. Prevert, J. Mercer, J. Kosma) [10:44]
- So What (Davis) [8:23]
- Stella by Starlight (N. Washington, V. Young) [10:29]
- Walkin' (R. Carpenter) [8:52]
- The Theme [0:19]
closing announcement (Teruo Isono) [0:08]
The closing announcement does not appear on the Mega Disc release.
Miles Davis (trumpet)
Sam Rivers (tenor sax)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Ron Carter (bass)
Tony Williams (drums)
 |
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Sam Rivers with Miles, Tokyo 64.07.12
Photo from Swing Journal
edition of December, 1991 p57.
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{Primary Source: CD-R; info via Jan Strom and Tosiyuki Nomoto; http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead}
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64.07.13 • Miles Davis Quintet [Unissued, Nonexistent / Broadcast Recording]
July 13, 1964 / Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan
"The tape on the 13th has still slept in the warehouse of a broadcasting station.
There is not a person whom heard." --Tosiyuki Nomoto/
Again: There is no evidence for this concert (64.07.13) having occurred at all. —RL
{Primary Source: Tosiyuki Nomoto 02.06.05} Not in anyone's collection.
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64.07.14 • Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in Tokyo {1}
CBS Sony SOPL 162 (LP) 1964; SONX 60064-R (LP) JPN 1969; CBS Sony 25AP 762 (LP) 1977 JPN; CSCS 5146 (CD) JPN; Tristar 80873 (CD) 1994;
Sony Mastersound SRCS 9112 (CD) 1996 JPN; Sony 65335 (CD) 1997
 |
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Sony Mastersound SRCS 9112
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- Miles Davis Quintet: Heard 'Round the World {2}
CBS/Sony SONX 60064 [= 23AP 2564] 1969; Columbia Records C2 38506 (2LP) 1983; CBS/Sony 32DP 529; Sony Mastersound SRCS 9112 (SBM CD); Sony Mastersound SRCS 9746 (DSD CD)
[The 1983 2LP issue includes The Miles Davis Quintet (w/ Wayne Shorter replacing Rivers) "Miles in Berlin" from 64.09.25]
- Miles Davis Quintet: Title? {3}
CBS/Sony SONE 70064-R (EP)
- Miles Davis: Milestones: New York / Berlin / Tokyo
Jazz Door Records JD 12113/4 (2CD) 1999 GER
* This Jazz Door bootleg has the most absurdly wrong liner notes-- as if they had cut them into strips, tossed them into a hat, pulled them out and pasted them back together while blind-folded. As formatted, they have only an incidental and wholly inaccurate relation to the music at hand. If you know the people responsible, slap them.
- Miles Davis: The Complete 63-64 Columbia Recordings
Mosaic Records MQ10-226 Limited Edition 3,000 copies (10 Q-LPs) 2004
- Miles Davis: Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1963-1964
Sony B0002YCVSI (7CD Box-Set) 2004; Sony B0002TB7QK (7CD Box-Set) JAP 2004
- The Best of Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1963-1964 {4}
Sony B0007OP2B6 (CD) 2005
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Best of Seven Steps
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July 14, 1964 / Shinjuku Kohseinenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan
A few notes on the Miles Davis sessions in Japan.
Introduction, Teruo Isono [1:11] {1}
- Stella by Starlight [UNISSUED]
- If I Were a Bell (F. Loesser) [10:21] {1,2,4}
- My Funny Valentine (L. Hart/R. Rodgers) [12:57] {1,2}
- So What (Davis) [8:09] {1,2,3}
- Walkin' (R. Carpenter) [9:21] {1,2,3}
- All of You (C. Porter) / Go-Go (theme) [12:42] {1,2}
Miles Davis (trumpet)
Sam Rivers (tenor sax)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Ron Carter (bass)
Tony Williams (drums)
{Primary Source: CSCS 5146; JD 12113/4}
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64.07.15 • Miles Davis Quintet [Audience Recording]
July 15, 1964 / Maruyama Ongaku do, Kyoto, Japan
- Miles Davis Quintet: Moment / 1964 Japan Tour Definitive Edition
Heavy Blow Records HB-001/002 (2CD) JAP (64.07.15 on HB-002; 64.07.12 on HB-001.)
 |
Cover and Back of Heavy Blow release, HB-001/002
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- If I Were a Bell (F. Loesser) [10:35]
- Oleo (S. Rollins) [5:25]
- Stella by Starlight (N. Washington / V. Young) [9:00]
- Walkin' (R. Carpenter) [7:20]
- All of You (C. Porter) [9:40]
- Seven Steps to Heaven (V. Feldman / M. Davis) [2:30] (incomplete, cuts out at end)
[49:41]
Miles Davis (trumpet)
Sam Rivers (tenor sax)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Ron Carter (bass)
Tony Williams (drums)
{Primary Source: CD-R; http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead}
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- "Rivers left the Quintet as soon as the group returned to the United States. Wayne Shorter was hired as his replacement, and joined the Quintet at the Hollywood Bowl in early September"
[Dan Plosin's Miles Ahead Sessions on the Web.] |
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