On Thursday, October 4 in the Concert Hall jazz pianist Herbie Hancock will lead a quintet of some of today's outstanding musicians in a loving tribute to two of jazz' greatest champions: Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Also featured and apropos to the bill are two jazz heavyweights Michael Brecker, saxophone and Roy Hargrove, trumpet. Hancock was part of the Davis' second great quintet in the 60's and will lend his distinct historical, as well as, contemporary voice to the project.

From 1955 to 1961, before Davis explored free-bop and fusion and long before Coltrane became the crown prince of the saxophone, the two worked together in Miles Davis' classic quintet and sextet. During this time, Columbia released classic albums such as Round About Midnight, Jazz Track, Milestones and Kind of Blue. Through these albums Coltrane and Davis, as well as the remaining band members, started a revolution in jazz music. Through albums such as Kind of a Blue, Davis and Coltrane focused on lengthy solos layered on top of simple music scales or modes. This type of jazz was soon to become known as "modal" and set the stage for the jazz sounds during the 1960s and 1970s.

More than his compositions, what made Davis truly stand out at this time was his unique playing style. In comparison to other great trumpeters such as Dizzy Gillepsie, Davis mastered the lower register of the trumpet's sounds and preferred to play at a much slower tempo, which made moodier, more contemplative pieces of music. The key ingredient to creating these mood pieces was Davis' use of the Harmon mute and his economical use of notes: using notes sparingly and incorporating silence into his compositions. In contrast, John Coltrane preferred a faster tempo, bombarding the listener with notes. As Miles Davis was economical, Coltrane played his notes lavishly.

Davis' first great quintet consisted of Davis, Coltrane, Red Garland (Piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums). Looking back, it's easy to assume the albums Davis made with Coltrane and the rest of his fabled first quintet during those years were seen as something special right out of the gate, that the sessions were treated with a reverence that foreshadowed their tremendous impact.

While Davis went on a sabbatical from 1961-3 and Coltrane was taking his "Giant Steps" as a leader, a pianist by the name of Herbie Hancock entered the New York jazz scene. Throughout his early albums with Blue Note, Hancock established himself as an adept soloist and incredible composer. It was these attributes that brought Hancock and Davis together in 1963. By the close of 1964, Davis had also recruited Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. This was to be the lineup known as Davis' second great quintet.

Over the next four years, the quintet recorded E.S.P., Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles Smiles and Miles In The Sky. These recordings were all very similar in musical approach as the quintet developed a style somewhere between the bebop/modal sounds of Davis' late 1950s albums and the avant-garde of Ornette Coleman. This new sound was familiarly referred to as freebop. Another interesting aspect of these recordings was the decentralization of Davis. The emphasis was placed on the band as an ensemble creating a unified sound while Shorter and Hancock wrote the majority of the tunes.

At the same time, Coltrane was still pursuing his own musical vision recording albums such as Crescent, Sun Ship, Infinity and A Love Supreme. The latter was Coltrane's landmark recording and possessed all the elements that characterized Coltrane: beautiful solos, solid yet innovative accompaniment, and a touch of religious spiritualism and experimentation with the music of the Far East.

The Miles Davis Quintet's Nefertiti (1967) symbolized the last time that the quintet would record together acoustically. It was also another Davis album in which he contributed no songs. By the time Herbie Hancock left the Miles Davis Quintet, his fame had reached new limits. As Hancock entered the 1970s, his work blended from the fusion of Mwandishi into the funk of the Headhunters.

Each of these musicians created huge impacts on the jazz world. From their earliest recordings up to their last or latest, Coltrane, Davis and Hancock were always pushing the musical envelope.

Directions in Music: Tribute to Davis and Coltrane featuring Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, and Roy Hargrove, Thursday, October 4 at 7:30pm, Fine Arts Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $40, $30, and $15; 17 and under $10; Five College Students $10, $7, & $5. Call 545-2511 for tickets. Sponsored by Fleet Bank, WEIB-106.3FM and WFCR 88.5FM.