Miles Davis
In Person At The Blackhawk, San Francisco - Friday Night

We could sit here and talk about Miles Davis for hours and hours. We could sit here for hours and hours talking about this live album, because there's a lot to dig into. Together with its twin "Saturday Night," it presents a (high-resolution) snapshot of the Prince of Darkness' repertoire in 1961. These are transitional years; the modal period is already over, and the second great quintet is still far away.

While waiting to make music history again, Miles has fun making great music. The lyrics "On Green Dolphin Street" and "Fran-Dance", the frenzy of "Oleo", the non-stop "No Blues", the classics "All Of You" and "Walkin'", the breaths of "Love, I Found You" and the gasps of "The Theme". Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Wynton Kelly: an extraordinary rhythm section in every atmosphere, the dream of every soloist. Good old Jimmy must have been fresh and rested that Friday night, or more likely, he was so behind on sleep that if he hadn't hit hard, he would have fallen asleep on the hi-hat. Anyway, he puts in a lot of energy, and how much! His style is always his own, simple and swingy, a perfect base, only his touch is more pronounced, ensuring that Paul and Wynton's playing also changes, adapting, becoming more decisive themselves.

On these particularly solid foundations enters Hank Mobley who, while not offering his best performance, certainly does not pale, even though Miles declared he did not love what Hank was playing during that period. Be that as it may, he isn’t Trane (for a broader discussion on Mobley and Coltrane) and during that period Davis still had Trane in mind (who could blame him?). He’s not George Coleman either, or Wayne Shorter. He plays his part, and he plays it well, he has something to say, something to give to those who listen, and he gives it.

But who stands out above the others in this record is the leader (it’s not so obvious; many times the big names Miles surrounded himself with shined with a brighter light than his, which was always very bright). When someone is having a good night, it's their night. And when Miles Davis is having a good night, he is in charge. And when the whole Miles Davis group is having a good night, then there really is nothing but to listen, and feel.