Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams - The Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68: The Complete Columbia Studio

Awesome, must-have box set

This awesome box simply puts together all of the studio recordings with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. The songs are sequenced in the order they were recorded. The notes are thorough, and give the exact lineup (Buster Williams plays bass on one song; Joe Beck, George Benson, and Bucky Pizzarelli play guitar on seven different songs). This is a 5-star box set not because every song is perfect, but because the music is classic and the package is excellent.

The box set puts together the entirety of "E. S. P.", "Miles Smiles", "Nefertiti", and "Miles In The Sky". "Sorcerer" is missing only a vocal song recorded before the quintet came together, so you pretty much get "Sorcerer". Three of the five "Filles De Kilimanjero" songs, half of "Circle In The Round", half of "Water Babies", two from "Directions", three unreleased songs, and eleven alternate takes make up the 56 songs on the set. I consider "E. S. P.", "Miles Smiles", "Sorcerer", and "Nefertiti" to be very strong 4-star CD's. "Miles In The Sky" and "Filles De Kilimanjero" are 3-star CD's. It's best to read the reviews of those CD's to get a sense of how they play out. The miscellaneous other songs as a group could be considered two 4-star CD's, and I will only talk about them in this review:

"Circle In The Round" starts with Joe Beck's single note guitar plunks and Tony Williams' restless drumming. Wayne Shorter then introduces Miles' witchy melody. Herbie Hancock plays an electric piano. It's very long, but you don't lose interest, which is remarkable. "Teo's Bag" is okay, but almost certainly a let-down. "Side Car" has a jumping melody. "Side Car II" adds George Benson's guitar. "Sanctuary" isn't quite as good as the later version on "Bitches Brew".

"Water Babies" has a poking melody, but is a little too inconsequential. "Capricorn" comes out off the gate louder, and has good soloing. "Sweet Pea" is more contemplative, but has great group improvisation. "Thisness" is a ballad with a lot of Miles' trumpet-playing. "Water On The Pond" starts hesitantly, and only gets slightly better. "Fun" seems like it needed more development. The rehearsal versions of "I Have A Dream" and "Speak Like A Child" are pretty good, but for whatever reason Miles didn't want to record a finished version.

With the music on this box, Miles Davis essentially recorded the template for much of the mainstream, non-fusion jazz that has come since. People have certainly taken their jazz quintets and quartets in different and original places, but Miles laid a lot of foundations for the jazz to come with this group. The music is good, essential, and everyone should buy it in one form or the other. If you have the albums seperately, you don't need the whole box set for three unreleased songs. July 11, 2008

Miles & 4 others,yes,but NOT the Miles Davis Quintet

"The " Miles Davis Quintet was formed in the early 50"s,and consisted of Miles,John Coltrane,Red Garland,Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers.I believe the mislead is deliberate,and I don't believe the Herbie Hancock crew were ever officially entitled this way professionally,not to mention,the genre of music of the 2 collections is vastly different. "Nuff said,enjoy the sounds. July 8, 2008

The 2nd of 8 boxes

This is the second released Columbia box , covering Miles tenure there. Originally released in 1998 , this material would be the 4th chronologically. As with the first released box , good luck finding it in the metal-encased box. The man is Miles , the music is Miles. That's all that matters. Listen and marvel....put it in your cart , now. December 18, 2007

Must have.

Some call it transitional music. Everything Miles did was transitional.
What a great band. Everyone soars, great Wayne, Herbie's touch, Ron's the center, Tony's the key, Miles... just funks up my bag. April 5, 2007

ARGUABLY THE MOST INTERESTING PERIOD OF MILES' CAREER

This remarkable box set focuses on a period of Miles Davis' career that many jazz neophytes tend to overlook. A great deal of attention is spent on Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain and Bitches Brew - all deservedly so - but each of them represent only a portion of Davis' musical scope. Of all the stylistic changes that Miles Davis undertook, few had been as adventurous and rewarding as the work he created with his second `classic' quintet lineup, featuring Wayne Shorter on saxophone, Herbie Hancock on keyboard, Ron Carter on bass and the explosive Tony Williams on drums.
Unlike the most popular works of Miles Davis, this is not easy listening music, not by any means. The music created by this quintet is challenging and demanding, which is precisely why it is so extraordinary. Repeated listening continues to pay dividends, in spades. Difficult, angular arrangements constantly veer off into ingenious, mind-boggling directions. Following the supple movements of this rhythm section is about as difficult as chasing a kitten, but soloists Davis and Shorter (and Hancock, too, who is a major component of the rhythm section and a startling soloist as well) never seem to lose their footing. It is jazz music as an intricate game of prodding and suggestion, able to go in virtually any direction, with all five members listening to each other with an intensity that most musicians could only aspire to. March 17, 2006

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