Photo via Shore Fire Media/Getty Images

Earlier this season, Columbia Records, in partnership with Legacy Recordings, outlined the impending release of Miles in France—Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8, due out on Nov. 8, 2024, on six CD and eight LP sets, representing four hours of previously unreleased instrumental charisma. The first offering to feature Davis’ full-formed Second Great Quintet has been released today as an exclusive preview of the impending collectors series. “Autumn Leaves” is an entrancing 12-plus-minute live exploration performed on October 1, 1964, at Salle Pleyel at the Paris Jazz Festival. 

Miles In France is a meticulously curated collection of live performances by Davis at the 1963 Festival Mondial Du Jazz in Antibes (July 26-28) and the 1964 Paris Jazz Festival (October 1). The package will include a 2LP break-out set of just the 1964 recordings, while material culled from ‘63 includes Davis, backed by George Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carte, and Tony Williams, before Wayne Shorter’s 1964 arrival on tenor saxophone, which solidified the Second Great Quintet lineup. 

Notably, during the 1964 Paris Jazz Festival, Shorter was on the move, having left Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to accompany Davis on his first fully-fledged European tour for the Second Great Quintet. During their excursion in the City of Lights, the ensemble delivered two consecutive concerts on Oct. 1, totaling 99 minutes of music–no repeats or redundancy, instead evoking pure instrumental comatose steeped in an unspoken understanding in each other’s musical prowess. 

After his time in France, Davis returned to The States, taking with him a newly forged sense of musical purpose stimulated by time spent in new places and the inspired pick up of players that would inform his next sonic venture, 1965’s E.S.P. album.

Scroll down to listen to today’s box set preview, a 12-minute live rendition of “Autumn Leaves.” 
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MILES IN FRANCE SET LISTS

MILES DAVIS QUINTET

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8

Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins, July 26, 1963

1. Introduction by André Francis (:46)

2. So What (9:46)

3. All Blues (11:59)

4. Stella By Starlight (14:13)

5. Seven Steps To Heaven (11:01)

6. Walkin’ (10:43)

7. My Funny Valentine (9:55)

8. Joshua (11:02)

9. The Theme (2:59)

10. Closing announcement by André Francis (0:37)

Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins July 27, 1963

1. Introduction by André Francis (:52)

2. Autumn Leaves (13:55)

3. Milestones (9:23)

4. I Thought About You (11:47)

5. Joshua (11:31)

6. All Of You (16:44)

7. Walkin’ (16:16)

8. Bye Bye Blackbird (16:49)

9. The Theme (6:06)

Festival Mondial Du Jazz, Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins July 28, 1963

1. Introduction by André Francis (1:21)

2. If I Were A Bell (12:46)

3. So What (12:41)

4. Stella By Starlight (15:47)

5. Walkin’ (18:19)

6. The Theme (:28)

Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, October 1, 1964 (1st concert)

1. Autumn Leaves (12:49)

2. So What (9:39)

3. Stella By Starlight (11:05)

4. Walkin’ (9:07)

5. The Theme (0:38)

Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, October 1, 1964 (2nd concert)

1. All Of You (16:05)

2. Joshua (12:35)

3. My Funny Valentine (12:18)

4. No Blues (13:13)

5. The Theme (1:05)