– Sergei Medvedev
TRACKLIST
Side A
1. Solar (Miles Davis) 7:24
2. Four (Miles Davis) 6:27
3. What’s New? (Haggart-Burke) 3:26
Side B
1. No Moe (Sonny Rollins) 8:11
2. Lady Bird (Tadd Dameron) 7:25
3. Tune Up (Miles Davis) 4:44
Side C
1. I’ll Remember April (De Paul-Raye-Johnson) 6:29
2. Bag’s Groove (Milt Jackson) 7:29
3. ‘Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk) 5:11
Side D
1. Now’s The Time (Charlie Parker) 6:28
2. Walkin’ (Richard Carpenter) 7:18
3. The Theme (Miles Davis) 2:21
Personnel:
Miles Davis, trumpet (out on #5, 7, 10); Barney Wilen, tenor sax; René Urtreger, piano; Pierre Michelot, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.
Recorded live at the Olympia, Paris, November 30, 1957
Restored & mastered by Marc Doutrepont
Photos by Jean-Pierre Leloir (front, back cover and inside left)
Liner notes by Jordi Pujol
Original recordings produced by Marcel Romano
Source of the original tapes: Laurent Guenoun
Produced for release by Jordi Pujol
© 2023 by Fresh Sound Records
Hi Fi · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas, S.L.
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PRESS REVIEWS
“Another spectacular historical release of previously unisssued material that’s first rate on every level. Kudos to Jordi and Fresh Sound.”
— Marc Myers (September 19, 2023)
https://www.jazzwax.com/
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“Journalist and trombone player Mike Zwerin went to the concert. He knew Miles having worked with him briefly on the nonet recordings in 1949. He wrote: ‘Miles was the big man…The Olympia Theatre was sold out that night…. Finally the curtain went up… They started playing Walkin and sounded fine… Barney took a tenor solo, and as he was finishing, backing away from the microphone, Miles appeared from the wings and arrived at the mike without breaking his stride, just in time to start to playing – strong. It was an entrance worthy of Nijinsky. If his choreography was good, his playing was perfect that night.’
Miles was a dramatist. He compels attention to his playing on ‘What’s New’. The majesty and purity of the tone was a summons: an aspect that he would develop in the next few years. Here is an early example. The pretty tune is made beautiful, given depth. He not only varies the main line of the piece but his tone moves from almost a whisper to searing, searching high notes, always playing within himself.
Some of this material has been available on bootlegs. The recording of the concert is presented in its entirety for the first time. The remastered original tapes have been used to produce this album ensuring excellent sound quality.”
—Jack Kenny (September 21, 2023)
https://jazzviews.net/
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“No complete recording of the Olympia concert was known to exist until, after Romano’s death, his nephew and heir found a set of reel-to-reel tapes among his possessions. He sold them to Jordi Pujol, the Barcelona-based specialist in historical reissues, who commissioned the audio engineer Marc Doutrepont to restore and master them. Doutrepont has achieved a sound as good as the best live recordings of the time: true, clear, warm and perfectly balanced.
Davis and Clarke were old friends and colleagues, and the trumpeter had played with Urtreger and Michelot during his second trip to Europe with the Birdland All Stars, 12 months earlier. Wilen was new to him, but the whole band sounds at ease from the start of their first appearance as a unit. They play a dozen pieces: “Solar”, “Four”, “What’s New”, “No Moe”, “Lady Bird”, “Tune Up”, “I’ll Remember April”, “Bags’ Groove”, “‘Round Midnight”, “Now’s the Time”, “Walkin’” and “The Theme”.
Miles’s tone and attack were at their most exquisite at this time, between the sessions for Miles Ahead and Milestones, the alertness of his mind ensuring that the poignancy of his sound never became self-indulgent. His solo on “Four” is the sort of thing, like his improvisations on the studio versions of “Milestones” and “So What”, that could be transcribed and studied for the details of its nuanced perfection. He takes “What’s New” as a solo ballad feature, producing elegant variations that can be listened to over and over again.
Wilen, precociously poised and inventive, gets Tadd Dameron’s “Lady Bird”, “I’ll Remember April” and a bouncy “Now’s the Time” to himself with the rhythm section. They are respectively the fifth, seventh and tenth tracks on the album, making me wonder if this is the same order as the actual set list. Would Miles have left the stage and returned so often? Given that he had only stepped off a transatlantic flight a few hours earlier, perhaps so.
Other joys include the trumpeter’s intense blues playing on “Bags’ Groove” and his relaxed exchanges with the immaculate Clarke on Sonny Rollins’s “No Moe”. A couple of fluffed phrases at the start of “Walkin’” are rare blemishes on a a release whose artistic value is the equal of its historical interest. If you love Miles, don’t miss this.”
—Richard Williams (September 28, 2023)
https://thebluemoment.com/
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“Most jazz fans know that during his early peak years, Miles Davis went to Paris to record a soundtrack for the French film noir ‘Acenseur Pour L’echafaud’ with the local team of Pierre Michelot/b, Rene Urtreger/p, Barney Wilen/ts and ex-pat Kenny Clarke/dr. But, did you know that Miles and company also did a concert before going into the studio? Interested yet?
Recorded in surprisingly good sound in November 30, 1957 at the Olympia in Paris, this twelve song concert is a wonderful missing link to Miles Davis career. He’s in wonderful sound on the horn, and tenor saxist Wilen, who sounds like a mix between Hank Mobley and Sonny Rollins, is up to the task of being Davis’ foil. The tunes are Davis’ comfort food at the time, with the team dreamily hip on “Solar” as Clarke assuages the brushes, and bouncing with clarity on ”Four”. Most interesting is rare read of Sonny Rollins’ “No Moe” which has Wilen blowing smoke rings, and a take of “Bag’s Groove” that has Clarke digging in under Davis like he’s creating a gullet of groove. Miles is in a soulful mood on ”Walkin’” and delivers an aria for “’Round Midnight” and “What’s New” that would make Pavarotti envious. Davis reaches back in the past for a sublime “Lady Bird” and a bouncy bluesfest for “Now’s The Time”. If this is not the find of the year, I don’t know what you’re waiting for Miles’ Rosetta Stone has been discovered.”
George W. Harris (October 2, 2023)
/www.jazzweekly.com/
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