Blackhawk
beboppin’
"In Person: Friday Night at the Blackhawk" and "Saturday Night at the Blackhawk"Miles Davis
Columbia/LegacyIt wasn't fancy, but the Blackhawk was one of San Francisco's premier nightspots of the 1950s and '60s, frequented by everyone from celebrities to impoverished students. Local jazz artists Dave Brubeck and Cal Tjader played there often, and it hosted touring bands as well. Plus, miracle of miracles, it had a good piano and kept it in tune.
In April 1961, Columbia Records taped the famous trumpeter Miles Davis' quintet there over the course of a weekend. This pair of two-CD sets not only reissues the classic music originally heard from the engagement, but gives us twice as much as has been available.
And what music! This is Miles at his most accessible and enjoyable, swinging away on standards, blues and a few ingeniously simple originals.
At the time, Davis was 34 and one of the hottest draws in jazz. It had been a year since the supremely inventive John Coltrane left the band. Bop master Sonny Stitt had taken over the saxophone slot awhile, but the creative fireworks were missing. Aboard now was Hank Mobley, a musical generation younger but already with about 15 albums as a leader. He was not an innovator -- it would be another few years before a front-line partner gave Davis the challenge he craved -- but his gauzy tone and supple phrasing complemented the trumpeter nicely.
The rhythm section had been together for two years. Bassist Paul Chambers had joined Davis' first working combo in '55. Steady as a rock and a terrific soloist whether plucking or bowing, he was one of the best there has ever been. Drummer Jimmy Cobb, the quintet's only member still alive, stoked the fire but never overplayed.
It was the pianist, though, who made this band so much fun to hear. Wynton Kelly had spent the '50s becoming one of the great accompanists in jazz history. His rhythm was faultless, his chords colorful and clear. His sense of interplay was incisive, nearly clairvoyant. His solo lines sparkled, too, yet he made it all sound so easy. Decades after they had parted company, Davis still spoke with wonder at Kelly's touch, which was crisp and light.
To hear the trumpeter and his pianist exchanging bluesy phrases here on "If I Were a Bell" and "Walkin'" is one of jazz's great pleasures. But Kelly knew when to lay out, too, leaving Davis or Mobley plenty of elbow room and then chiming back in dramatically.
AS FOR Miles, he was at his most assured here. He hit practically every note he aimed for -- and longtime listeners know how dicey a proposition that could be. Without a foil as strong as Coltrane (who was?), it was almost entirely up to him to set the pace and define the band's personality, and his energy and imagination were unflagging. He rarely showed such consistent virtuosity -- such a contrast to the soft-toned tyro first heard with Charlie Parker 16 years before, or the "cool" stylist who inspired the so-called West Coast sound.
Highlights from the "Friday Night" set include a blazing version of Sonny Rollins' "Oleo," Davis' last recording of his charming "Fran Dance," Mobley's dancing turn during "On Green Dolphin Street," the Spanish-tinged "Neo" and a 17-minute rendition of "No Blues."
The Saturday performance contains fine versions of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" and "Well You Needn't," the blues "Walkin'," the waltz "Someday My Prince Will Come" and Davis' "So What," much faster than the 1959 original on the essential "Kind of Blue" album. The rhythm section -- which would perform for several years as the Wynton Kelly Trio after leaving Davis' employ two years later -- has "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" to itself.
On both nights one can sense the Blackhawk's atmosphere, with people chatting and the phone and cash register ringing -- not loudly, but just enough for that smoky vibe. With today's laws, that smokiness has been relegated to history, so enjoy -- with no risk to your health, though you could sprain an ankle tapping your foot to the sometimes torrid tempos.
Both sets are well worth having, but if you must choose between them, go with the more inspired Friday night performance.
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