Miles Davis with John Coltrane — Olympia, Paris, 1960

A historic live recording of the concert given by the Miles Davis Quintet on March 21, 1960 at the Olympia in Paris, broadcast at the time by Europe 1. This filmed live concert documents one of John Coltrane’s last tours alongside Miles Davis, weeks before the saxophonist formed his own group. Around the trumpeter and Coltrane on tenor saxophone, the rhythm section features Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums — the rhythmic core of the album Kind of Blue. The program moves through standards and originals: “All of You,” “So What,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Walkin’,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “‘Round Midnight,” “Oleo” and “The Theme.” The tension between Davis’s spare lyricism and Coltrane’s incandescent, near-free solos makes this evening a landmark document of modern jazz. An essential live recording for fans of jazz, bebop and the history of the trumpet, and a rare window onto a band on the brink of transformation.