These were the first live recordings to feature the great Miles Davis Quintet with its historic lineup fully in place, though the material went unreleased for years. Just months after the band released its first studio effort, E.S.P., only “Agitation” from that record made it to the bandstand. At this point the group was transforming repertoire from earlier Davis lineups into long and abstract reveries that reached stratospheric heights of harmonic invention (via pianist Herbie Hancock), melodic subtlety (via Davis and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter), and explosive swing (via bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams). Standards, blues, and ballads never sounded like this, before or since.