7 hours of the Miles Davis Quintet! Recorded live at the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, Illinois on December 22 & 23, 1965.
Samples: Miles Davis - The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965]Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Tony Williams (drums).
Reviews:Entertainment Weekly (7/21/95, p.65) - "...Raw, real, and penetrating, it makes you feel like you're in the club with Davis." - Rating: A
Q (6/95, p.135) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Davis is clearly the leader, his playing at its most self-expressive--yet even he struggles to keep up with the rhythmic genius of Tony Williams, or to tune in to Wayne Shorter's poised tenor lines. It's music on the cusp seldom easy to listen to, but engrossingly thrilling, tense and unsettling."
Down Beat (3/95, p.39) - "...As [Miles Davis' producer] Teo Macero sees it, `It was a very aggressive band, they had a lot of power. They were very young, and Miles liked to record live.'....The club is long gone. But the music--a delicious, reconstructed mix of standards and band staples--lives on..."
Down Beat (9/95, p.49) - 5 Stars - Excellent - "Scrimp and save where necessary--you're going to want this....Breathtaking, bountiful and a bit overwhelming....The leader is in prime form....Shorter is amazing throughout--urgent, fluent and unpredictable....COMPLETE PLUGGED NICKEL is still fresh and vital..."
JazzTimes (3/96, p.51) - Runner Up in the JazzTimes Readers Poll for `Best Reissue of 1995.'
JazzTimes (10/95, p.85) - "...this quintet's chemistry was nothing less than magic. The revelation of the complete Plugged Nickel sessions is just how potent it was set after set....As a player, Miles was one of the giants, as this set confirms; but, his true genius was as a bandleader..."
Musician (7/95, pp.106-108) - "...Davis remains unique...because, in his music, context always plays the crucial role. The players here didn't merely create awe-inspiring solos, but atmospheres in which serious improvisation could flourish...
Village Voice (10/03/95, p.66) - "...the whole enchilada...a trove unlike any other....an unexampled view of an artist in transition....He takes increasing risks as the evenings progress....[Wayne Shorter often] enters with one eye open, as if waking, but eight bars later the spinach has hit and Bluto better watch his ass..."
