I walked home in a slight drizzle last night and found this waiting in the vestibule.  I have not had time to listen to the whole thing or watch the dvd.  After I have fully digested its contents I will write a full review.  This might well be the last cd I buy.  From now on I will join the modern world and get my music online.  Doing so makes me a little sad because I have always regarded the album and the compact disc, which is basically an album stored digitally in a more, uh, compact format, as the musical unit of currency.  With today’s individual downloading, kids are losing the experience previous generations enjoyed of sharing and listening to a Sgt. Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, or Never Mind the Bollocks.

Miles Davis’s estate has issued a great deal of product since he died twenty years ago this month.  (Please, no more remasters of Kind of Blue.)  Based on my listening to cd 1 last night, though, Live in Europe is special.  I never liked the Second Great Quintet as much as first because I found their music too academic.  These recordings from 1967 have changed my mind and I am glad they have reached the light of day.  The subtitle of the package is The Bootleg Series, Volume 1.  We can only hope.

Portrait of the artist as a young man

(Image/Tom Palumbo)