Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4

Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
Live album by Miles Davis
Released	July 17, 2015
Recorded	July 17, 1955; July 3, 1958; July 4, 1966; July 2, 1967; July 5, 1969; October 22, 1971; November 1, 1973; July 1, 1975;
Venue	Newport Jazz Festival; Newport, Rhode Island; Dietikon, Switzerland (1971); Berlin, West Germany (1973); Avery Fisher Hall, New York City (1975)
Genre	Jazz; hard bop; post-bop; jazz fusion; funk;
Length	295:38
Label	Columbia/Legacy
Producer	George Wein
Miles Davis chronology
Miles Davis live chronology

Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 is a four-CD album compiling five of Miles Davis's performances at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island and two European concerts branded under the Festival moniker with one additional track recorded in New York City.^[1]

The first disc contains Davis's debut appearance at the 1955 festival and his headlining performance from 1958, the later of which was originally released in part as one side of the split-LP by Columbia in 1964 as Miles & Monk at Newport and given its first complete release as part of The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane box set in 1999 before being released individually as Miles Davis at Newport 1958 in 2001. The second disc contains previously unreleased performances from the 1966 and 1967 festivals. The third disc contains the Newport Festival concert from 1969 which was released as part of Bitches Brew Live in 2011, a complete previously unreleased concert from Berlin in 1973 and one performance from New York in 1975. The fourth CD contains a complete previously unreleased performance from Switzerland in 1971.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	92/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
PopMatters	^[4]
The Guardian	^[5]
The Observer	^[6]

Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 received positive reviews on release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 92, based on 14 reviews which is categorised as universal acclaim.^[2] Matt Collar's review on AllMusic stated "Miles Davis at Newport details the association between Davis and the festival, each performance serendipitously documenting his ever-morphing sound, from swinging cool jazz in the '50s to aggressive, free jazz-influenced modal bop in the '60s and finally to funky, acid-soaked fusion in the '70s."^[3] PopMatters's John Paul gave the album 10 out of 10 saying "Perhaps no other recording better illustrates how Miles Davis bridged the gap between jazz's old guard and its younger visionaries."^[4] The Observer's Dave Gelly said "Summer is traditionally the season for unearthing treasures from the jazz archives, and this is a real prize."^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Miles Davis except as noted

Disc one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Spoken Introductions by Duke Ellington and Gerry Mulligan"		July 17, 1955 (1955-07-17)	1:27
2.	"Hackensack"	Thelonious Monk	July 17, 1955 (1955-07-17)	8:02
3.	"'Round Midnight"	Monk	July 17, 1955 (1955-07-17)	6:11
4.	"Now's the Time"	Charlie Parker	July 17, 1955 (1955-07-17)	8:48
5.	"Introduction by Willis Connover"		July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	2:16
6.	"Ah-Leu-Cha"	Parker	July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	5:52
7.	"Straight, No Chaser"	Monk	July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	8:47
8.	"Fran-Dance"		July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	7:13
9.	"Two Bass Hit"	Dizzy Gillespie John Lewis	July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	4:10
10.	"Bye Bye Blackbird"	Ray Henderson Mort Dixon	July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	9:10
11.	"The Theme"		July 3, 1958 (1958-07-03)	2:49
Total length:				1:04:47

Disc two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Gingerbread Boy"	Jimmy Heath	July 4, 1966 (1966-07-04)	8:29
2.	"All Blues"		July 4, 1966 (1966-07-04)	10:27
3.	"Stella by Starlight"	Victor Young Ned Washington	July 4, 1966 (1966-07-04)	7:58
4.	"R.J."	Ron Carter	July 4, 1966 (1966-07-04)	6:20
5.	"Seven Steps to Heaven"	Miles Davis Victor Feldman	July 4, 1966 (1966-07-04)	4:45
6.	"The Theme/Closing Announcement by Leonard Feather"		July 4, 1966 (1966-07-04)	2:18
7.	"Spoken Introduction by Del Shields"		July 2, 1967 (1967-07-02)	0:38
8.	"Gingerbread Boy"	Heath	July 2, 1967 (1967-07-02)	8:42
9.	"Footprints"	Wayne Shorter	July 2, 1967 (1967-07-02)	7:53
10.	"'Round Midnight"	Monk	July 2, 1967 (1967-07-02)	6:41
11.	"So What"		July 2, 1967 (1967-07-02)	8:18
12.	"The Theme"/"Closing Announcement by Del Shields"		July 2, 1967 (1967-07-02)	0:19
Total length:				1:12:49

Disc three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down"		July 5, 1969 (1969-07-05)	10:27
2.	"Sanctuary"	Shorter	July 5, 1969 (1969-07-05)	3:52
3.	"It's About That Time/The Theme"		July 5, 1969 (1969-07-05)	9:48
4.	"Band Warming Up/Voice Over Introduction"		November 1, 1973 (1973-11-01)	0:36
5.	"Turnaroundphrase"		November 1, 1973 (1973-11-01)	10:57
6.	"Tune in 5"		November 1, 1973 (1973-11-01)	4:12
7.	"Ife"		November 1, 1973 (1973-11-01)	13:54
8.	"Untitled Original"		November 1, 1973 (1973-11-01)	11:31
9.	"Tune in 5 (Reprise)"		November 1, 1973 (1973-11-01)	6:07
10.	"Mtume"		July 1, 1975 (1975-07-01)	6:57
Total length:				1:18:21

Disc four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Directions"		October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	13:05
2.	"What I Say"		October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	10:43
3.	"Sanctuary"		October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	3:42
4.	"It's About That Time"		October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	13:21
5.	"Bitches Brew"		October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	11:55
6.	"Funky Tonk"		October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	25:43
7.	"Sanctuary (Reprise)"	Shorter	October 22, 1971 (1971-10-22)	1:15
Total length:				1:19:45

Personnel

July 15, 1955 — Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI

All-Star Jam Session:

July 3, 1958 — Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI

Miles Davis – trumpet
Cannonball Adderley – alto saxophone
John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
Bill Evans – piano
Paul Chambers – bass
Jimmy Cobb – drums

July 4, 1966 & July 2, 1967 — Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI

Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock – piano
Ron Carter – bass
Tony Williams – drums

July 5, 1969 — Newport Jazz Festival, Festival Field, Newport, RI

Miles Davis – trumpet
Chick Corea – electric piano
Dave Holland – bass
Jack DeJohnette – drums

October 22, 1971 — Newport Jazz Festival in Europe, Neue Stadthalle, Dietikon, Switzerland

Miles Davis – electric trumpet with wah-wah
Gary Bartz – soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
Keith Jarrett – electric piano, organ
Michael Henderson – electric bass
Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums
Don Alias – percussion
James Mtume Foreman – percussion

November 1, 1973 — Newport Jazz Festival in Europe, Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany

Miles Davis – electric trumpet with wah-wah, organ
Dave Liebman – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
Pete Cosey – electric guitar, percussion
Reggie Lucas – electric guitar
Michael Henderson – electric bass
Al Foster – drums
James Mtume Foreman – percussion

July 1, 1975 — Newport Jazz Festival – New York, Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY

Miles Davis – electric trumpet with wah-wah, organ
Sam Morrison – tenor saxophone
Pete Cosey – electric guitar, percussion
Reggie Lucas – electric guitar
Michael Henderson – electric bass
Al Foster – drums
James Mtume Foreman – percussion

References

^ Miles Davis website album entry, accessed October 6, 2015
^ ^a ^b "Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Collar, Matt. Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Paul, John (July 24, 2015). "Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4". PopMatters. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
^ Fordham, John (July 16, 2015). "Miles Davis: Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975 review – coolly swinging". The Guardian. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Gelly, Dave (August 16, 2015). "Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975 review – catches the master at his best". The Observer. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[1] Miles Davis website album entry, accessed October 6, 2015

[Meta-2] "Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[Allmusic-3] Collar, Matt. Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[Popmatters-4] Paul, John (July 24, 2015). "Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4". PopMatters. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[Guardian-5] Fordham, John (July 16, 2015). "Miles Davis: Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975 review – coolly swinging". The Guardian. Retrieved July 13, 2021.

[Observer-6] Gelly, Dave (August 16, 2015). "Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975 review – catches the master at his best". The Observer. Retrieved October 6, 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]