More free Miles Davis downloads at Nothing Is

The music sharing blog Nothing Is has some more St. Louis-related music available for free download. This time out, proprietor James Benjamin has a series of posts serving up three live Miles Davis recordings from the trumpeter's electric years.

Miles: The Lost Quintet was recorded November 3, 1969 from a radio broadcast of a gig at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. It features Davis on trumpet along with Dave Holland (bass), Wayne Shorter (tenor and soprano sax), Jack Dejohnette (drums), and Chick Corea (keyboards), performing most of the material from Miles' landmark album Bitches Brew and more. I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but I'll be interested to hear how the quintet lineup's interpretations of these compositions differs from the densely layered (and sometimes heavily edited) studio recordings.

Then there's Miles Davis: Live Chatelet March 5, 1982, described as "bootleg recordings of a live gig from Miles' post-retirement era" that are "more laid-back than anything one would get from the 1970s." And last but not least, there's Hooray For Miles Davis Volume 3, another bootleg from 1971 containing the tracks "Bwongo" and "Ananka (pts. 1 & 2)."

These files have been up since last week, so best to act quickly if you want to get copies. And while you're there, please consider taking a minute to leave a comment thanking Mr. Benjamin, too.

Like so many music sharing bloggers, he's posting stuff that's otherwise unavailable, not as part of an attempt to profit but purely for the love of the music. Copyright absolutists may argue that the Davis estate may somehow be deprived of revenue when unauthorized recordings are shared, but I tend to think that both the artist's long-term interests and the greater good of music appreciation are served by this kind of non-commerical sharing among fans.