Did Anyone On Here Ever Get To See Miles Davis Play Live?

I did - 20-25 years ago? - at the Lille Music Festival (Northern France). A big venue, the music was good, but it was not the Miles Davis that I liked. I also remember that I never saw the man's face... he had his back to the audience all the time. I can probably find out more about the event.

yes I saw him play at the Royal Festival Hall in about 81/82? I went because it was Miles rather than because I was a huge fan of his later work. I liked it but prefered, as I do now, the In a Silent Way period. However I did like Star Poeple that had just come out. He was astonishing, He got into these amazing grooves and just flew. Quite Magical. In fact I will go and dig out Star People and have a wallow! I was with a friend who was a professional photographer who had just taken his camers along as usual. He went down to the front of the stage and was taking pictures and Miles came right over and serenaded him and his camera during Time After Time. As a result no one came over and told him to stop taking photos.He got some great pictures!

Not sure of date. Probably july 1991. Front row. Hammersmith Odeon. His health was detereorating  fast and he never muttered a word and introduced band members with a placard with their names. I was just mesmerized by his presence  and, in spite  of his illness,  loads of energy on stage. Never seen anyone,anywhere near his performance. Absolutely omnipresent! Aura, karma, stage presence, call it whatever you want...The man was a genius and the rest is, well....

KR

Tony

Saw him in about 1988, in London. He was a bit disappointing. Didn't know much about him then, and I didn't learn much from that gig either. He hardly played, his clothes and hair were ridiculous. I was expecting something far out and got a load of horrible 80s slap bass and synths, plus a really boring drum solo, some Prince, MJ and Cyndi Lauper covers and some really hideous mullets.

On my 28th birthday in 1990, someone bought me the "Kind of Blue" LP and I started on a long and fruitful voyage of discovery which continues to this day.

I would loved to have seen him earlier, especially in the '70 -'75 period when he was doing som really far out stuff.

I was there too, it was the best time I saw him. Although he was not at his best, he was playing with energy, but the slimmed down band (6 piece I think) was really good, played a cracking version of Hannibal.

This was the fourth time I saw him, all between 1987 and 1991, what he was writing wasn't his best, and a lot was Marcus Miller tracks and covers, but there were good tracks in those sets.

Human Nature - Michael Jackson cover, which Kenny Garrett made his mark on with his sax solo, it was usually between ten and fifteen minutes long with this band.

Wrinkle - a real powerhouse track written by Miles.

The Senate/Me and You - a Prince written power funk track, then a drop in tempo for the bass solo.

Hannibal - one of the better Marcus Miller tracks.

I don't like this period of his music as much as others, and it took a long time for his 70's music to grow on me, but live the force of playing, the charisma of the man, and the quality of the musicians around him made them great gigs. Kenny Garrett was probably the star of the band for me.

The Montreux Box Set covers this band better than anything else I have heard by Miles from the 80's, but hard to get hold of now.

The only other musician I have ever seen who seemed as one with their instrument was Robert Fripp, neither he or Miles held their instrument, it was just part of them, and they could do whatever they wanted with it.

It was also nice to see Adam Holzman (keyboards) from Miles's 80's band again last year with Steven Wilson, and good to see that band is staying together.

The other jazz great I saw four times in the 80's was Art Blakey, a very different choice in musical progress to Miles, but a great hero of mine as a drummer.

Hammersmith Odeon in 1990. http://www.thelastmiles.com/mi...rsmith-june-1990.php

One of the top moments of my life, despite the presence of my (then) wife and the weasel she went off with 7 years later.

Still have the T shirt, mind.

steve

Hi Stu

I saw him play at the London Festival Hall in 1989. A pal took me along and at that time I barely knew his stuff. I remember him having enormous presence but didn't much understand the music. 

Pity because I have since immersed myself in Miles' huge canon of work, and love his 70s and 80s output, maybe more than the golden 50s period even. I have lots of Miles music now.

And I kept the newspaper reviews of the gig from the time, and keep them in my 10 DVD box set of  Miles at Montreux which includes a show from a few weeks before I saw him. So a nice reminder of the set. As Jamie said, Adam Holzman played keys and he was great at the Steve Wilson show too. 

Miles had two keyboard players, two bassists, and two drummers at the 1989 show. 

Stu - did you ever see the wily old fox play live?

Cheers

David

Summer 1988 in Munich. I wished I could visit his concerts in the early 70's or late 60's but at that time I was not even born. The concert was very good. The band was great, I think he had Foley on bass, Holzmann on keyboards, Garrett on sax and I think (I am not sure) Wellman on drums. The Band was great. Miles was OK but IMHO not on the level I could hear on his records from the 60's and 70's.