Album Review: Miles Davis & John Coltrane — The Final Tour
Miles Davis’ 1960 tour with John Coltrane ranks among the most historically significant series of concerts by either of those artists. And that’s saying something, in light of each musician’s landmark importance. The Davis estate has, in recent years, been releasing sets of recordings under the banner of “The Bootleg Series,” because many of these tapes have circulated among collectors for some time. Many, in fact, have received grey-market release in Europe, giving them the air of legitimacy.
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: The Final Tour is a 4CD set drawing from concerts in Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm in March 1960. As it happens, I reviewed a grey-market release surveying the same material just over three years ago: All of You: The Last Tour 1960 features most of the material on this official Columbia Legacy set, plus parts of two concerts recorded in April 1960.
Soem songs are repeated on the set (“On Green Dolphin Street” appears no less than three times) but the nature of jazz – especially from these titans – means that there is no such thing as too many different recordings. The lineup for the shows – trumpeter Davis, Coltrane on tenor sax, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb on drums – is the stuff of legends, and these recordings capture the quintet in all its improvisational glory.
It doesn’t seem that Legacy has done anything with the tapes that hadn’t been done before, but since sound quality was quite good on the grey-market release, there didn’t seem much point in fiddling. The Copenhagen set – from radio transcription tapes – is here in absolutely superb fidelity. Ethics of bootlegging aside, the new collection’s liner notes by Ashley Kahn and the set’s official status make The Final Tour the only choice, and an essential one for jazz fans at that.
About the Author
Bill Kopp
With a background in marketing and advertising, Bill Kopp got his professional start writing for Trouser Press. After a stint as Editor-in-chief for a national music magazine, Bill launched Musoscribe in 2009, and has published new content every business day since then (and every single day since 2018). The 4000-plus interviews, essays, and reviews on Musoscribe reflect Bill's keen interest in American musical forms, most notably rock, jazz, and soul. His work features a special emphasis on reissues and vinyl. Bill's work also appears in many other outlets both online and in print. He regularly hosts lecture/discussions on artists and albums of historical importance (including monthly events Music to Your Ears and Music Movie Mondays), and is a frequent guest on music-focused radio programs and podcasts. In Spring 2023 he is co-teaching a history of Rock 'n' Roll at UNC Asheville's College for Seniors. He also researches and authors liner notes for album reissues -- more than 30 to date -- and co-produced a reissue of jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's final album. His first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018, and in paperback in 2019. His second book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave, was published in 2021 by HoZac Books. His third book, What's the Big Idea: 40 Great Concept Albums will be published in 2024. Read even more about him here.