Some performances get talked about decades after they happened. It's all about "you had to be there" and if you would believe all the people who claimed to be present at such a show, the venue would have collapsed. Two of those shows are now released in full. Trumpet maestro Miles Davis performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on April 9 and October 15, 1960. John Coltrane was on sax in April and his replacement Sonny Stitt played in October. With Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Miles Davis was on fire both nights, while Coltrane's performance was sub par. A delayed flight from Switzerland and show at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen had taken their toll.
The shows were recorded professionally for Dutch radio and the tapes have been gathering dust in the vaults of the Dutch Jazz Archief. This organisation has gotten into serious financial trouble recently, losing its government grant. So What - The Complete 1960 Amsterdam Concerts is the seventh release in their Jazz at the Concertgebouw series. The fabled acoustics of the concert hall and the good ears of the recording engineers ensure the high standard of the CD's, with extensive liner notes. Dutch jazz enthousiast and journalist Bert Vuisje attended both Miles Davis shows and his notes offer a first hand eyewitness report.
