The Miles Davis Bootleg Series is returning with a vengeance in 2018.  On March 23, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will journey back to one of the legendary musician's most cherished collaborations with the release of Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6.  This landmark set brings together five performances recorded during the Spring 1960 Jazz at the Philharmonic European Tour, Coltrane's final such outing as a sideman: two shows from Paris's L'Olympia Theater on Monday, March 21; two shows from the next night at Stockholm's Konserthuset; and one from Copenhagen's Tivolis Koncertsal three days later, on March 24.  The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 has been fully authorized by both the Miles Davis and John Coltrane Estates, and will arrive in 4-CD and digital formats as well as in unique vinyl configurations.

The Final Tour features the incendiary, boundary-breaking line-up of Davis (trumpet), Coltrane (tenor sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), all of whom had been performing together since the seminal Kind of Blue album.  The band tackled such classics as "Round Midnight," "Bye Bye Blackbird," "On Green Dolphin Street," "Walkin'," "All of You," and "Oleo," all of which had been in Davis' book for some time.  He also made more recent additions to the repertoire such as "So What" and "All Blues" from Kind of Blue.

These concerts were originally broadcast in March 1960 on European radio, and this release marks their first-ever authorized commercial release.  The set closes with an interview with Coltrane and Swedish DJ Carl-Erik Lindgren.  Liner notes have been provided by Grammy Award-winning historian Ashley Kahn.  He writes, in part, "Much happened on that 1960 tour onstage and off, including powerful, emotionally charged performances in which one can hear the swinging, divergent energy of a band, and the unfiltered reactions of the European audiences: the crowd responses are indeed an inherent part of these historic performances.  The common judgement on this music is that it represents a great jazz ensemble audibly straining to hold itself together...An equally convincing interpretation of the 1960 situation is that Miles and his quintet were redefining what a great band could sound like, and how much music it could contain--at one time, in one concert, even in one tune. It's not that the bandmembers were so much apart, but rather that each were more themselves within the same unit--that divergence could co-exist and make music together."

The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: The Final Tour has been produced by the Grammy-winning team of Steve Berkowitz, Michael Cuscuna, and Richard Seidel, and mastered by Mark Wilder at Sony's Battery Studios.  Two vinyl options will be offered in addition to the 4-CD and digital versions.  The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960 will arrive from Columbia/Legacy as a single 12-inch LP.  A 2-LP vinyl edition of The Final Tour: Paris, March 21, 1960 will be issued exclusively through Vinyl Me, Please as part of their new VMP Classics subscription series of 180-gram black vinyl albums with exclusive listening notes.  Visit Vinyl Me Please for more information.

Pre-order links for this lost slice of jazz history with Miles Davis and John Coltrane are available below!

4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Copenhagen LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)

Miles Davis and John Coltrane,The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 (Columbia/Legacy, 2018)

Disc 1: Olympia Theatre, Paris - 3/21/1960

1. All of You
2. So What
3. On Green Dolphin Street
4. Walkin'

Disc 2: Olympia Theatre, Paris - 3/21/1960 (1-4) and Tivoli Kosertsal, Copenhagen - 3/24/1960 (5-9)

1. Bye Bye Blackbird
2. 'Round Midnight
3. Oleo
4. The Theme
5. Introduction
6. So What
7. On Green Dolphin Street
8. All Blues
9. The Theme (incomplete)

Disc 3: Koncerthuset, Stockholm - 3/22/1960

1. Introduction by Norman Granz
2. So What
3. Fran Dance
4. Walkin'
5. The Theme

Disc 4: Koncerthuset, Stockholm - 3/22/1960

1. So What
2. On Green Dolphin Street
3. All Blues
4. The Theme
5. John Coltrane Interview