The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux 1973-1991
Warner Music Switzerland
www.warnermusic.ch

Miles the iconoclast, Miles the recluse, Miles the jazz statesman — the trumpeter's mercurial legend changed just as relentlessly during the span of his Montreux Jazz Festival gigs as he did during his most influential years in the '50s and '60s. The 20-disc Complete Miles Davis at Montreux 1973-1991 chronicles Davis's continual stylistic evolution through his many performances at the world-renowned Swiss festival, as he moved from the scary funk fusion of his Agartha days to a flirtation with '80s slickness (his cover of Cyndi Lauper's “Time After Time” borders on the surreal).

Yet even Miles's occasionally puzzling and disappointing '80s performances are redeemed by one constant: his spidery, muted tone — a skittering thing marked by the trumpeter's trademark stops and starts and muted squeals. Marred by cheesy '80s synths, the July 1986 show stands in stark contrast to the fierceness of his work from 1973, when Miles punctuated guitarists Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas's nasty funk underlayer with agonized bursts of notes. If music can be stripped down to its rawest elements, this blistering set serves as a sort of sonic paint thinner.

Fast-forward to 1990, not long before his death; that year Miles fronted a Quincy Jones — directed orchestra in a much-celebrated recreation of Davis's classic collaborations with arranger Gil Evans. Audiences accustomed to hearing the taciturn trumpeter constantly bob and weave like a veteran boxer will find these big band performances utterly surprising.

Miles completists should grab this box without a second thought, but fans looking to buy their first Davis box set might be better served by Live at the Plugged Nickel or the Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis and John Coltrane.