Miles In Antibes (1962)

"This 1963 date is from the period when Miles Davis was still assembling his great mid-'60s quintet. For this intense, high-energy recording, four-fifths of that group are already in place. George Coleman is the saxophonist and he is in blistering form. A fiery, linear player, with impeccable, advanced hard bop instincts, Coleman helps push these performances from the standard Davis repertoire to an unprecedented level of deconstructed abstraction that would become even more pronounced in the coming years. It is the trumpeter, though -- all impertinent blats, rubbery smears of sound, and unexpected shifts in dynamics -- who leads the push here toward the cool, impressionistic, wholly original, cerebral funk that would emerge once Shorter was in the group. Ron Carter (b) and Tony Williams (d) at this point have already set the new rhythm section standard they would maintain with Davis. Herbie Hancock (p) is still in a bop/hard bop frame of mind, but his playing is excellent. A wonderful 60 minutes." (Bertus)