Maybe do like I did and buy a copy of the first Dutch copy, which uses the original American 2A/2A cut. In general, European vinyl from that era is in much better shape. My copy sounds very clean and I paid around 15 for it. It's this copy: Miles Davis - Water Babies
I think that is why the material didn't come out at the time. Wayne Shorter recorded nearly unrecognizable versions of his three pieces from side one of Water Babies for the album Super Nova in 1969.
On Losin's site he has Miles's studio recording from November 1968 followed by an audience recording from Boston in December. Of course, very few of Miles's live shows from 1968 and early 1969 were recorded. Cannonball Adderley's band with Joe Zawinul also performed "Directions," but I don't know if they did so before Miles.
Thanks for the info about the original mixing. Maybe they just copied that info, but Sony has been pretty accurate about the mastering info if they include it, and this makes me feel that it is the original mix as does happen on a number of Sony Miles releases from this time period. I don't remember the digital reverb on this one and I do prefer its sound. I'll revisit soon and compare this and the Wilder version. I agree that Bootleg Series Vol. 5 sounds superb.
Was just re-listening to this release, prompted by this thread. And I find it amazing how, in the middle of the session reel for “Nefertiti” they stop and Miles says “Hey man, why don't we make a tune just playin' the melody, not play the solos.” and then everyone laughs and agrees. So great that this very moment of inception was caught on tape.
You have a good point, it’s possible that the reverb is physical and not digital. I should clarify that that the process by which reverb was applied, whether by Teo or Wilder or Payne/Weiss is different. It’s hard to explain but I’ll give it a shot. On the original mixes the reverb seems to have been placed individually on each instrument. On the Wilder remix (I’m saying Wilder since he remixed all the 2nd great quintet stuff for the box set) it’s as if the individual instruments are drier, but then reverb is applied to the overall mix. The result is the remix sounds more echoey to me. That’s why I dislike it, and why I had assumed, possibly incorrectly, that it was a digital effect.
The two mixes do sound different on my system. The original has a more "forward" sound altogether, and the remix pushes the instruments back further into the soundstage. I compared the standalone US Wilder remix with Sony SRCS 9736 from 2001 and I believe that the Sony does present the original mix. It is decidedly a different mix from the Wilder.
I listened to Circle in the around all the way through yesterday for the first time...probably ever (!) and then listened to the title track again this morning, so I felt like putting a little mini review here. The title track, like everyone else said is a magnificent standout. The arrangement is great, with the guitar trading off between comping and playing variations on the hypnotic melody. Tony’s drumming, especially when he’s dropping bombs ~7 minutes from the end is sensational, and really everyone’s solos are top notch, especially Miles. And really this song has one of the standout melody lines in Miles’s discography. Other than that, the rest of disc one mostly feel like curios to me, but Blues No 2 is a particularly good performance. Disc 2 definitely holds more sustained interest. Teo’s Bag and the Side Cars could have been really solid album tracks. Splash especially is a wonderful track. I don’t like this version of Sanctuary as much as some of you guys who’ve named it your favorite, but it definitely provides an interesting look at the tune far removed from its live performances in the following years (and the BB version obviously). I feel like I should enjoy Guinnevere more than I did, given how much I’ve been loving Big Fun lately, but it felt flat to me. I’m sure the mastering/mix didn’t help with that though, it was unengaging sonically even more than musically.
I agree with all of that. I also listened to disc 1 of Circle in the Round this morning, and had the same feelings. Dare I say, “Love for Sale” is also a great performance. Interesting that both it and “Blues No. 2” are in mono with added stereo ambiance on this album, although both were recorded in stereo and appeared that way in later years.
Agreed! Miles’s harmon tone here is really pure and gorgeous That’s funny, since they’re both such a step up in mastering/recording quality from Two Bass Hit, I didn’t even notice yesterday that these were both in mono as well!
Running times: Agharta SRCS 9720-1 CD1 - 45:42, CD2 - 60:56 Pangaea SRCS 9752-3 CD1 - 41:49, CD2 - 46:51 FWIW SRCS 9752-3 has the CBS eye logo on it, and has CD Text. SRCS 9720-1 has the Sony Music Entertainment "SME" logo, and no CD Text.
Has anyone reviewed or listened to "The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6", I'm wondering about the sound quality?
It was just released today, and as there was a killer price from European Amazons many of us have not received copies. There are a few early sound reports on the thread for this release.
Thanks, I'll look out for the thread. I couldn't find any online reviews of preview copies that mentioned sound quality.
Previously released versions of these concerts sound pretty darned good as they were all I believe engineered for radio broadcast. . . so in general this set is going to sound good for '60 live recordings, and I am willing to bet that Wilder's transfers and mastering will be a slight improvement upon previous releases. This is sort of a no-brainer for a Miles fan who doesn't have the material in earlier releases. . . . Let us know if you decide to buy.
Here is that thread, and as Lonson said, there is only one sound quality report since many of us ordered abroad to save money (16 GBP shipped for me!) Miles Davis - The Definitive Bootleg Series Thread
The three reviews I've seen popping up today have all said the sound is very good & an improvement over previous releases of these concerts. My copy is sitting in my pocket & will be going on as soon as I get home.
Assessing sound quality is very easy once an album has been released already. In this day and age, one only has to go on Spotify, or listen to online samples from the iTunes Store. In this case, what I can say is that this is a definite improvement over the previous sets I had. In the case of the Olympia, Paris concert, the new set has much better EQ than the Sony/Trema release. Everything has more presence and at the same time sounds more natural, plus from what I can hear, some of the occasional static has been repaired. There is still a little bit of stereo ambiance like on the Trema release, barely noticeable on headphones. I don't have comparisons for the rest of the concerts, but they are all in excellent mono sound. Here you can judge for yourself: The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 by Miles Davis & John Coltrane on Apple Music
I would be very surprised if the Stockholm material sounds better here than on the Dragon release, which was taken from the Swedish radio master tapes. As the Trema discs are rather hard to find I will pick this up though. But I'm a bit miffed that they concentrate on alteady available, familiar material. The Freedom Jazz Dance set was fantastic. I wonder if the Sony vault really is empty when it comes to Miles live recordings.
I'm sure there are other things they can release. I'm surprised they waited this long to release the 1960 concerts with Coltrane though. A goldmine.
Like Experience Hendrix may be doing with "Black Gold" there's a lot they can be holding in reserve to keep us going. . . . I'm happy to buy any release they deliver, the sound has been worth it when I have the material already.
