SPOTLIGHT Miles Davis - Live / Evil 4.0

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Just go through one session with just about all of it. I love Miles, I have pretty much everything available and most of the grey area stuff up to the 80s where I jump off. 70s Miles is where I began and I love everything from that era especially. And I *adore* McLaughlin. Even so, this album never quite hit me as much as many of the others from that era. For some reason, the band Miles had at the time didn’t quite get off the ground. At least it seems like that was Miles’ own estimation too, since this lineup (Jarrett, Bartz, DeJohnette, Henderson and Moreira) never recorded in the studio. McLaughlin was only a guest on occasion. It seems that after Miles failed to convince McLaughlin to join his band on a permanent basis (it’s well documented that he tried to persuade him on several occasions), and after the recording of A Tribute to Jack Johnson in April and the release of Bitches Brew in January(?) 1970, he was searching for a direction through most of 1970 and 1971. It wasn’t until the funk exercises of 1972 that he hit upon something entirely new again after that perfect «trilogy» of In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. So for me, Live/Evil has always been a bit of a transitional album, and not one I reach for all that often.

With that out of the way, I am happy to say that this must be the definitive edition of this album. The packaging is stellar as always. The sound and mastering faultless. And the quadraphonic mix is superlative, easily as good as Bitches Brew. Intimate yet spacious, just like we want it. I would rate it a 10 for sound and a 10 for the mix, and a 7 for the content. Disc 2 especially goes a bit too far into skronk territory (I like me some skronk, but it was never something Miles did particularly well...and try as I might, I never quite «got» Keith Jarrett).

Overall an 8, since content is always the most important, but it’s a must-own for the mix and fidelity alone. Plus, it’s Miles bleedin’ Davis in surround!!

Now, bring on the Santana quads...
 
Just go through one session with just about all of it. I love Miles, I have pretty much everything available and most of the grey area stuff up to the 80s where I jump off. 70s Miles is where I began and I love everything from that era especially. And I *adore* McLaughlin. Even so, this album never quite hit me as much as many of the others from that era. For some reason, the band Miles had at the time didn’t quite get off the ground. At least it seems like that was Miles’ own estimation too, since this lineup (Jarrett, Bartz, DeJohnette, Henderson and Moreira) never recorded in the studio. McLaughlin was only a guest on occasion. It seems that after Miles failed to convince McLaughlin to join his band on a permanent basis (it’s well documented that he tried to persuade him on several occasions), and after the recording of A Tribute to Jack Johnson in April and the release of Bitches Brew in January(?) 1970, he was searching for a direction through most of 1970 and 1971. It wasn’t until the funk exercises of 1972 that he hit upon something entirely new again after that perfect «trilogy» of In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. So for me, Live/Evil has always been a bit of a transitional album, and not one I reach for all that often.

With that out of the way, I am happy to say that this must be the definitive edition of this album. The packaging is stellar as always. The sound and mastering faultless. And the quadraphonic mix is superlative, easily as good as Bitches Brew. Intimate yet spacious, just like we want it. I would rate it a 10 for sound and a 10 for the mix, and a 7 for the content. Disc 2 especially goes a bit too far into skronk territory (I like me some skronk, but it was never something Miles did particularly well...and try as I might, I never quite «got» Keith Jarrett).

Overall an 8, since content is always the most important, but it’s a must-own for the mix and fidelity alone. Plus, it’s Miles bleedin’ Davis in surround!!

Now, bring on the Santana quads...

What really turned me on to Keith Jarrett was his extraordinary improvisational solo piano recording the Köln Concert which Tower Records in Japan finally released on Stereo SACD [IMO, the BEST way to hear it in a digital medium].

See the source image
 
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Hendrix would have further explored jazz. He had expressed a desire to do so. He and Miles were friendly. Likely, they would have recorded together.

There was a Hendrix/Miles session scheduled, and shortly before the session all the Miles players (I think Tony Williams was among them) started asking for more money to participate in the session. As I recall it was Alan Douglas that was organizing it, but that might be wrong. In any case, the session never occurred because people got greedy.
 
I feel like an idiot about this little issue on the packaging; but oh well, here goes anyway.
On these 7” titles they have the thin plastic sleeve, rounded at the bottom & flat at the opening, that holds the discs; well I have trouble sticking them back inside the cover. Seems they always get scrunched up a little and bulge the paper case. Now I like to slide them in sideways (which is how they’re packed initially.) I figure it’s more secure if the disc is not positioned to the opening, and possibly fall out accidentally. I don’t have fat fingers, and I’m not clumsy, but seriously is there some trick to getting these things in without scrunching up those sleeves?
Anyone else dealt with this little issue?
 
I feel like an idiot about this little issue on the packaging; but oh well, here goes anyway.
On these 7” titles they have the thin plastic sleeve, rounded at the bottom & flat at the opening, that holds the discs; well I have trouble sticking them back inside the cover. Seems they always get scrunched up a little and bulge the paper case. Now I like to slide them in sideways (which is how they’re packed initially.) I figure it’s more secure if the disc is not positioned to the opening, and possibly fall out accidentally. I don’t have fat fingers, and I’m not clumsy, but seriously is there some trick to getting these things in without scrunching up those sleeves?
Anyone else dealt with this little issue?
Mine scrunch a bit...
 
I feel like an idiot about this little issue on the packaging; but oh well, here goes anyway.
On these 7” titles they have the thin plastic sleeve, rounded at the bottom & flat at the opening, that holds the discs; well I have trouble sticking them back inside the cover. Seems they always get scrunched up a little and bulge the paper case. Now I like to slide them in sideways (which is how they’re packed initially.) I figure it’s more secure if the disc is not positioned to the opening, and possibly fall out accidentally. I don’t have fat fingers, and I’m not clumsy, but seriously is there some trick to getting these things in without scrunching up those sleeves?
Anyone else dealt with this little issue?

Whenever I get a box set or one of these beautiful Japanese sets I take out the discs and use plain CD jewel cases. Then I keep all the packaging filed away so it stays in near mint condition.
I learned my lesson after ruining the packaging on my Jeff Beck Wired !
 
I feel like an idiot about this little issue on the packaging; but oh well, here goes anyway.
On these 7” titles they have the thin plastic sleeve, rounded at the bottom & flat at the opening, that holds the discs; well I have trouble sticking them back inside the cover ... is there some trick to getting these things in without scrunching up those sleeves?
Anyone else dealt with this little issue?

I avoid it completely by just putting the discs in a normal double-CD jewel case. There's no need to go through the whole process of trying to get the discs out of the packaging when all you want is to play the discs (I've done this with "Bitches Brew", "Lotus", and "Yessongs" with the packages on display on my shelves for the artwork).
 
I avoid it completely by just putting the discs in a normal double-CD jewel case. There's no need to go through the whole process of trying to get the discs out of the packaging when all you want is to play the discs (I've done this with "Bitches Brew", "Lotus", and "Yessongs" with the packages on display on my shelves for the artwork).
Hi Petr - welcome to QQ!
 
So I've been waiting and waiting. Finally checked the tracking provided by the eBay seller, and the most recent entry is USPS processing in LA on February 1. Expected delivery: February 6 at the latest--that's yesterday. Yesterday late morning there's a report of a delivery plane that has aborted its landing at the local airstrip in sudden fog. Crashed into the bay in shallow water and flipped; pilot is okay--not a scratch. How selfish is it of me to hope that my copy of Live-Evil was not among these packages...?

e847603f841d4376d390698f062d7c4b.jpg

eeec77bafbffad98564658862511790f.jpg
 
So I've been waiting and waiting. Finally checked the tracking provided by the eBay seller, and the most recent entry is USPS processing in LA on February 1. Expected delivery: February 6 at the latest--that's yesterday. Yesterday late morning there's a report of a delivery plane that has aborted its landing at the local airstrip in sudden fog. Crashed into the bay in shallow water and flipped; pilot is okay--not a scratch. How selfish is it of me to hope that my copy of Live-Evil was not among these packages...?

View attachment 45956
View attachment 45957

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT ................Humprof!

Mine just arrived TODAY ..........beautifully packaged and the 7" album cover IS GORGEOUS!
 
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So I've been waiting and waiting. Finally checked the tracking provided by the eBay seller, and the most recent entry is USPS processing in LA on February 1. Expected delivery: February 6 at the latest--that's yesterday. Yesterday late morning there's a report of a delivery plane that has aborted its landing at the local airstrip in sudden fog. Crashed into the bay in shallow water and flipped; pilot is okay--not a scratch. How selfish is it of me to hope that my copy of Live-Evil was not among these packages...?

View attachment 45956
View attachment 45957
:cry::cry::cry:
 
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