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It's a real trove, and not just because this lineup is relatively obscure. In a very clear way, the Lost Quintet is the pivot point between the two main phases of Miles' 40-plus-year career: the acoustic jazz idiom he inhabited, and eventually revolutionized, from the mid-'40s through the late '60s, and the plugged-in ensembles he would lead until his death in 1991. In other words, if you've ever wondered exactly how the dapper jazzman of Kind of Blue morphed into a loudly attired icon in wraparound shades, this set offers some crucial clues. When we last left Miles, on The Bootleg Series, Volume 1, he was leading the world's most advanced and telepathic acoustic jazz group (the so-called Second Great Quintet); by the time of the gigs on Live in Europe 1969, Miles was straddling the fault line.
The material on disc three, portions of two sets from November 5 in Stockholm, contrasts nicely with the fierce, sprawling Antibes shows. Because of an electric-piano malfunction, Corea plays acoustic piano for most of the first set, a swap that has a major effect on the group dynamic.
The DVD, containing a complete Berlin concert from November 7, is essential; the clarity and intimacy of this pristine multicamera document should assure that no one ever again pegs this band as obscure. The in-progress shift in Miles' aesthetic, already apparent in the music, is right there to behold in the men's dress: Whereas the Second Great Quintet always turned up in black tie, the Lost Quintet looks like it's fresh from a Williamsburg vintage shop. (www.pitchfork.com)