My Funny Valentine (1964) @ 320

My Funny Valentine is a 1964 live album by Miles Davis. It was recorded at a concert at the Lincoln Center, New York, on February 12, 1964.

The concert was part of a series of benefits staged at the recently-built Philharmonic Hall (now known as the Avery Fisher Hall), co-sponsored by the NAACP, the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Davis's set that night was ostensibly in support of voter registration in Mississippi and Louisiana, but he also mentioned in a Melody Maker interview that one of the concerts was in memory of John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated the previous year. Kennedy's death had struck at the hopes of many in the Civil Rights movement, a cause dear to Miles, who had expressed his admiration for the President in 1962: "I like the Kennedy brothers; they're swinging people."

Two albums were assembled from the concert recording. The up-tempo pieces were issued as Four & More, while My Funny Valentine consists of the slow and medium-tempo numbers. Davis biographer Ian Carr notes that the former were "taken too fast and played scrappily," whilst the Funny Valentine pieces "were played with more depth and brilliance than Miles had achieved before." He goes on to laud the album as "one of the very greatest recordings of a live concert … The playing throughout the album is inspired, and Miles in particular reaches tremendous heights. Anyone who wanted to get a vivid idea of the trumpeter's development over the previous eight years or so should compare [earlier recordings of "My Funny Valentine" and "Stella by Starlight"] with the versions on this 1964 live recording."

Track listing

1. My Funny Valentine (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 15:03
2. All of You (Cole Porter) – 14:57
3. Stella by Starlight (Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 13:01
4. All Blues (Miles Davis) – 8:57
5. I Thought About You (Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 11:14

Personnel

Miles Davis — trumpet
Herbie Hancock — piano
Tony Williams — drums
Ron Carter — bass
George Coleman — tenor saxophone

Download:

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http://rapidshare.com/files/128649567/1964-md-mfv-320.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128666361/1964-md-mfv-320.part2.rar
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Enjoy!!