After
George Coleman left the
Miles Davis Quintet, tenor saxophonist
Sam Rivers took his place for a short period including a tour of Japan.
Davis did not care for
Rivers' avant-garde style (they failed to develop any chemistry) and soon replaced him, but this live LP (originally only issued in Japan) survived to document this brief association. The music (five lengthy versions of standards) is actually of high quality, with both
Davis and
Rivers in fine form and the young rhythm section (pianist
Herbie Hancock, bassist
Ron Carter, and drummer
Tony Williams) pushing the trumpeter/leader to open up his style. In 2005 the set was remastered and reissued by Sony's Legacy imprint. Other than sound, and a deluxe package that offers many new photographs and essays by jazz critics who attended the concert, is the inclusion of "Go-Go (Theme and Announcement)" at the end of the set for historical purposes. ~ Scott Yanow and Thom Jurek