Miles Davis with Chick Corea- July 7, 1984 Jazz Summit, Weisen | REMASTERED and SPEED CORRECTED

Great FM broadcast with special guest Chick Corea

July 7, 1984
Jazz Summit,
Festivalgelände,
Schöllingstraße,
Wiesen
Austria

MILES DAVIS
Miles Davis- trumpet, synthesizer
Bob Berg- tenor and soprano saxophones
John Scofield- guitar
Robert Irving III- synthesizers
Darryl Jones- bass guitar
Al Foster- drums
Steve Thornton- percussion
with special guest
Chick Corea- synthesizer -1

New Blues [Star People] [incomplete] (Miles Davis) 0:00
What It Is (Miles Davis-John Scofield) 9:29
It Gets Better [incomplete] (Miles Davis) 20:07
Something's On Your Mind (Hubert Eaves III-James Williams) 32:07
Time After Time [incomplete] (Cyndi Lauper-Rob Hyman) 43:20
Lake Geneva (Miles Davis) -1 46:02
Speak [Street Scenes] (Miles Davis) -1 52:18
That's What Happened (Miles Davis-John Scofield) -1 56:56
closing titles 1:01:24

Early 1984 saw a break in Miles' demanding touring schedule. At the end of the previous year saxophonist Bill Evans left to join John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu band, while percussionist Mino Cinelu went to Weather Report. Recording sessions were held early in the year, with Miles recording a number of cover versions of pop tunes, including Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time. But Miles also contracted pneumonia, and was convalescing after a hip operation (photos from his return to the stage often see him using a cane). According to Miles, he was using this time to practice every day and build up his chops, and to go swimming to help his breathing and stamina.

In June he lead his band on a tour of the US and Europe with new recruits Steve Thornton, who had played percussion on the studio sessions, and saxophonist Bob Berg. Berg recalls that, to his surprise, Miles was playing strongly during this period. "The first gig we played... I was shocked. I mean, not shocked, but pleasantly surprised at how strong Miles was... Generally he was really _on_ the whole time. I mean amazingly. He could hit high notes that I had never heard him play before."

As part of the European tour the group played the Jazz Summit festival in Wiesen, Austria. The concert was partly broadcast by an unidentified Austrian radio station and featured a guest appearance by Miles's old keyboard player Chick Corea, who had not been recorded in concert with Davis since the Isle of Wight festival in 1970.

This very good FM radio broadcast did not include the customary set opener, Speak/ That's What Happened, as it was played again at the end of the concert, or performances of Hopscotch and Jean Pierre, and New Blues and It Gets Better both cut before the end, probably due to station announcements but they are probably missing only a few seconds each. A still tentative performance of Time After Time cuts off after only two and a half minutes, though. A more complete version of this show is apparently in circulation, although I have never found it.

The performance is a great one- Miles is in very good form here, playing strongly as Berg had noted. The audience seems curiously restless in places- there's a bizarre moment during Miles's muted opening solo on It Gets Better where a section of the crowd appear to be chanting something. Miles responds by taking out his mute and calming the disruption with a single phrase on open horn. Odd.

Of course, a big point of interest here is the appearance by Corea and, I'll be honest, I find it a little disappointing. He seems to lack inspiration with the simple vamp of Lake Geneva, noodling around with a series of weirdly dissonant chord stabs and peculiar pitch bends that don't really add up to much- it feels more disruptive than anything. He sounds much more at home on the closing Speak/ That's What Happened medley (it had yet to pick up its Right Off derived One Phone Call intro), and there is some brief but effective interplay with Scofield.

The recording is very good, with Miles mixed up front and the instruments well balanced. One curiousity of the mix is that the bass was panned to the right hand channel, a strange choice- for this remaster I have moved it closer to the centre to give a more natural sound stage. I have also done some extensive re-EQing to help restore the dynamics and reduce some FM hiss. The tapes were also running fast and this has been corrected.

Miles was busy crossing the Atlantic that year; the band returned for a short European visit in the autumn, then Davis returned again in December, visiting Copenhagen to accept the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, and playing music written by Palle Mikkelborg that would become the genesis of 1985's _Aura,_ before returning to New York to complete the sessions for _You're Under Arrest._

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