Vinyl Reports

Miles Davis would have been 100 years old this year, and in celebration of that most momentous centennial milestone, Columbia/Legacy have returned one of the most requested, pivotal, and iconic live performances in the artist’s storied career to the marketplace: The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, a 10LP box set that was reissued on January 30, 2026.

Before we get into the nitty-gritties of this collection, some background is important to understand what puts this entire sequence of music into historical and musical perspective. In short, back in 1965, the trumpet legend Miles Davis had been healing from numerous injuries, and his band — now commonly referred to as his “second great quintet” — was feeling antsy, wanting to push their musical boundaries further as they got back into their performance groove later that year. Leading into a run of performances at The Plugged Nickel, a small Chicago club at that Columbia Records serendipitously happened to be recording, the group — which then consisted of pianist Herbie Hancock, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams — conspired to change up their performance approach on-the-fly without telling Davis himself!

Without providing spoilers to the rest of the story — which is outlined in much detail in the copious liner notes accompanying the new Plugged Nickel box set — ultimately, Davis no doubt noticed the group’s changes, and he went along with the experiments that proved wildly successful. This effectively laid the groundwork for not only how these musicians created music together moving forward, but also how they influenced the future of jazz improvisation.

Oddly, these recordings — originally produced by legendary producer Teo Macero — lay dormant in the archives for a decade, but were eventually drizzled out over the years beginning in 1976 with the Japan-only 1LP release Miles Davis at Plugged Nickel, Chicago. A 2LP set titled Miles: Live at The Plugged Nickel was later issued in the U.S. in 1982. Then another album, Cookin’ at The Plugged Nickel, was issued in 1987, featuring yet more from the sessions.

Eventually, in 1995, an acclaimed — and now highly collectible, and still in-demand — 10LP box set from the audiophile label Mosaic was issued, titled The Complete Plugged Nickel Sessions. This box set was reportedly created in an analog process from then-fresh mixes of the original three-channel master multitrack tapes. Over the years, this limited-edition collection has only grown in stature, not only for the performances it contained but also its sound quality, in turn becoming a pricey collector’s item on the secondary market. (Footnote 1)

So, it was long overdue for Columbia/Legacy to bring the entire Plugged Nickel performances back into consumers’ hands, perfectly timed in celebration of Davis’ 100th birthday. (For the record, his official birth date is May 26, 1926.)

From the official press release, we learn some of what to expect from this new edition: “Originally issued in 1995 as a limited-edition Mosaic Records LP box set and out of print for nearly three decades, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 is now available as a 10LP box set [. . .] cut from digital and presented in deluxe packaging. The 10LP edition recreates the Mosaic musical presentation while expanding the story for a new era [. . . its] newly designed slipcase houses ten individual LP jackets and a 40-page booklet featuring new liner notes by Syd Schwartz and classic contextual writing by Bob Blumenthal, alongside archival photography and production credits that underscore the set’s stature as a cornerstone in Davis’ recorded legacy.”

The collection sports a quite reasonable SRP of $214.99, and you can order it from Music Direct here, and/or via the MD link graphic that appears later in this review, just ahead of the tracklisting section. (For the digitally inclined and/or Miles Davis completists amongst us, a comparable new 8CD box set has an SRP of $89.99, and it too can be ordered via Music Direct here.)

Moving into the underlying DNA for this new edition of The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 box set, we had to do a fair amount of sleuthing, given that the original press materials and online sources for this release seem a bit vague — and, at times, conflicted. For example, depending on where you look, you’ll find different descriptions of the sources used. As quote a few paragraphs above, the official press release for the new 10LP set says it was “cut from digital,” while Music Direct describes it as “cut from the high-res Mosaic masters.” Yet, in the new edition’s booklet, the album credits cite an engineer in New York as being responsible for “mastering,” in turn implying that either the Mosaic masters were remastered, or a new mix was created from the three track sources that in turn required new mastering.

That said, and given that an SACD version of Plugged Nickel was seemingly issued in Japan not that long ago, it’s certainly possible that those high-res digital sources were used here. We have reached out to the Miles Davis PR team for further clarification, and if we get any confirmation on those production details, we will add an update to this part of the review.

While I was digging a bit deeper, I in turn had to reverse engineer (if you will) the DNA sleuthing process to figure out at least some of the details as to how and who made the discs in this new set. While nowhere in the new box set is there any information as to where the albums were pressed or who cut the new lacquers, looking at the deadwax on the discs revealed some clues. There, I noticed a distinctive stamp that indicates the vinyl albums were pressed at France’s MPO in Villaines la Juhel.

Two other etchings in the deadwax reveal the likely location for where the supposed digital files were cut to the new disc lacquers. The “SST” aligns with the German company Schallplatten Schneid Technik Brüggemann, and the little “K” etching matches to online information about mastering engineer Daniel Krieger (who, from online sources, reportedly bought the SST company after its founders retired in 2011).

This all helps to answer at least one nagging question I have seen popping up in various online forums discussing this collection: “Were the original Mosaic stampers used to create this new set?” Frankly, I suspect not.

Despite those digital genetics, it is still a good thing that The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 has been reissued on vinyl from Columbia/Legacy in a presentation that pays tribute to the Mosaic originals, yet appears in a somewhat more colorful and appealing fashion that will no doubt appeal to younger audiences. At just over $200, it is, to be honest, a more affordable option compared to trying to buy one of those uber-pricey and rare Mosaic boxes on the secondary marketplace.

The ten discs contained within my copy of the new The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 box set were well-centered, dark, and quiet, even given their simple, standard-weight 140g vinyl pressings. Generally, the albums contained in this collection sound quite good, all things considered, especially as 1965 live club recordings go. Keep in mind that these are three-track recordings that were probably made with just as many microphones in a small club documenting the music of five lively and vibrant musicians, so the mega-multitrack options deployed for latter-era live recordings were not able to be in place here.

As I never owned the original Mosaic set (cover shown above for context), I don’t have that available for comparison. Still, I can hear a sort of flatness to the overall flavor of the music on the new edition that becomes more apparent as you turn up the volume. It’s not super-harsh nor terribly bad, mind you, but those harder digital edges are present, giving the music a somewhat cold feeling. I suspect the original analog Mosaic editions may sound somewhat warmer and more three-dimensional — but that may not be enough of a difference to lay down the extra multiple hundreds of dollars for it. Make no mistake: the sound on this new edition is really quite good, but it is not overtly great. There is a difference — but it does not detract from the overall excellence of the music itself.

As for the music Miles Davis and his bandmates made during these gigs, you can listen to The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 on different levels. If you are a student of jazz, and of Miles Davis specifically, you’ll no doubt be interested in hearing this group’s musical evolution unfold before your ears. But if you simply just like listening to Miles Davis’ mid-’60s-period music, you can simply kick back and enjoy this collection from that perspective.

Either way, it is pretty apparent when you go back to reconsider some recordings from before this session that something had changed. I listened to two live performances from 1964, and the differences were significant. Again, this is a refinement of ideas loosely inspired by the free jazz movement. While it wasn’t exactly like free jazz, with this new approach, the Plugged Nickel band could take the music in different directions than they might have normally taken. Almost literally, if one of them went left, the other went right. If one went up in volume or dynamics, the other might go down. This resulted in new vistas for the music, and all the bandmembers as soloists.

It is really hard to point out any “favorite” Plugged Nickel tracks for me at this stage. As I was listening to this music, I intentionally did not initially read the booklet nor study any of the information I was able to find online or the official press releases, until I was nearly finished. I wanted to just experience the music unfolding. The interactions of the musicians get more compelling and even more exciting across the many sets performed on these chronological performances, especially when they repeat certain tunes on different sets/different nights. That said, the liner notes are indeed excellent in highlighting specifics of what was changing in the music from track to track.

If I have any complaints about this new edition of The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, it has to do with the packaging. I think that, when it comes to any audiophile-leaning box set, all of the discs should come in plastic-lined inner sleeves. That is not the case here, and sadly, during shipping, every black paper sleeve in my copy of the box was torn on one edge, no doubt having been joggled around a bit in transit. Accordingly, loose white powder from the ripped paper was to be found on the edge of each of my discs (as you can see in the photo example below). This did not impact the playback, thankfully, as I cleaned all the discs before spinning them — but when you’re spending over $200 for a box set of this stature, you pretty much want it to be perfect. At least I do! (Footnote 2)

While the subdued but colorful graphics within the set are pleasing, I personally found the overall design for this collection feeling less than optimal. A 2LP edition of one of the performances was issued for Record Store Day last year, and that edition (seen in part below) at least had period-accurate red Columbia Records “2-eye” style label designs as found on Miles Davis releases of the mid-1960s. As a collector, I think it would have been cooler to have those labels throughout this new 10LP set, ones that I feel are also nicer than the quirky Mosaic branded labels of the mid-1990s.

It is also somewhat cumbersome getting the discs in and out of the tightly packed outer shell box. Personally, I would’ve liked to have seen more photography of the band in the liners. Even though I know the powers that be have said there were no photos from the shows available, they could’ve provided performance shots from other concerts around that timeframe — as well as photos of the original tape reels that other big-ticket box sets have made standard practice of late.

But those are just the quibbles of my collector/completist mindset. All that said, if you are a fan of Miles Davis’ music, getting The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 for your collection and listening enjoyment should be put under serious consideration. Consider this: at around $200, it’s not a bad deal at all, as it actually breaks down to about $20 per disc.

As for our ratings, I will limit my Sound rating to a still solid 7.5, given the early club recording scenario, along with taking into account the digital elements as well as uncertainties about master vs. remastering. Meanwhile, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 ranks a solid 10 for the Music, of course, as it presents some of the greatest musicians of all-time reinventing jazz, live without a net, right before our very ears. For that alone, this formidable Miles Davis collection is quite remarkable indeed, and totally worth the price of admission.

Author bio: Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for eCoustics, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.

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Footnote 1: AP editor Mike Mettler adds: As of this posting, over on Discogs, the lone Mosaic Plugged Nickel set that’s listed as being for sale there is going for a whopping $800 U.S., with the median price for previously sold editions listed as $500.

Footnote 2: Mettler again. I have the Plugged Nickel 8CD box set Columbia/Legacy released in 1995 (CXK 66955), so I’ve very much been looking forward to dropping the needle on all 20 sides of the new vinyl box set. I do have to concur with Mark that I too am quite disappointed with each LP being housed in “meh” black paper inner sleeves rather than audiophile-grade inners (and yes, I replaced them all myself). Luckily, none of my replaced black paper sleeves were ripped or torn like Mark’s were, though I did have to clean off a few remnants of particle dust from some, though not all, of the sides. The only physical ding in my box set is a slight seam that runs down the middle of the spine of LP2, the length of which is akin to the circumference of, well, a nickel. As for the 10 discs themselves, each of them were flat, well-centered, and nice ’n’ black. No playback issue to report here.

As for my ratings, I concur with Mark in that the Plugged Nickel Music gets an unabashed 10 — Miles, Hancock, Shorter, Carter, and Williams are all in that certain “push the boundaries” kind of top form — and the Sound gets a 7.5, mostly to be in line with the limitations of how each set was recorded some 60-plus years ago. Mind you, the quality of the music here supersedes that SQ rating in the sense that this is all absolutely essential Miles Davis listening, hands down, and the recording quality won’t impede your enjoyment of it. If anything, the music that lives on these 10LPs conveys the time/space tone for what it all would have sounded like at the Plugged Nickel at the time it was made.

MILES DAVIS
THE COMPLETE LIVE AT THE PLUGGED NICKEL 1965
10LP (Columbia/Legacy)
MUSIC: 10
SOUND: 7.5

Original Credits
Original sessions produced by Teo Macero
Recording engineers: Frank Bruno, Buddy Graham
Mixing/mastering engineer: Deborah Parkinson
Produced for release by Michael Cuscuna for Mosaic Records, 1995
Project direction: Steve Berkowitz, Kevin Gore

2025 Edition
Executive producers: Erin Davis, Cheryl Davis, Vince Wilburn, Jr., Darryl Porter
Mastered by Sean Brennan at Battery Studios, NYC

LP1, Side A / December 22, 1965 – 1st Set
1. If I Were A Bell

LP1, Side B / December 22, 1965 – 1st Set (cont.)
1. Stella By Starlight
2. Walkin’

LP2, Side C / December 22, 1965 – 1st Set (cont.)
1. I Fall In Love Too Easily
2. The Theme

LP2, Side D / December 22, 1965 – 2nd Set
1. My Funny Valentine

LP3, Side E / December 22, 1965 – 2nd Set (cont.)
1. Four
2. When I Fall In Love

LP3, Side F / December 22, 1965 – 2nd Set (cont.)
1. Agitation
2.’Round Midnight

LP4, Side G / December 22, 1965 – 2nd Set (cont.)
1. Milestones
2. The Theme

December 22, 1965 – 3rd Set 3
3. I Fall In Love Too Easily

LP4, Side H / December 22, 1965 – 3rd Set (cont.)
1. All of You
2. Oleo

LP5, Side I / December 22, 1965 – 3rd Set (cont.)
1. No Blues

LP5, Side J / December 22, 1965 – 3rd Set (cont.)
1. I Thought About You
2. The Theme

LP6, Side K / December 23, 1965 – 1st Set
1. If I Were A Bell
2. Stella By Starlight

LP6, Side L / December 23, 1965 – 1st Set (cont.)
1. Walkin’
2. I Fall In Love Too Easily
3. The Theme

LP7, Side M / December 23, 1965 – 2nd Set
1. All of You
2. Agitation

LP7, Side N / December 23, 1965 – 2nd Set (cont.)
1. My Funny Valentine
2. On Green Dolphin Street

LP8, Side O / December 23, 1965 – 2nd Set (cont.)
1. So What
2. The Theme

LP8, Side P / December 23, 1965 – 3rd Set
1. When I Fall In Love
2. Milestones

LP9, Side Q / December 23, 1965 – 3rd Set (cont.)
1. Autumn Leaves
2. I Fall In Love Too Easily

LP9, Side R / December 23, 1965 – 3rd Set (cont.)
1. No Blues
2. The Theme

LP10, Side S / December 23, 1965 – 4th Set
1. Stella By Starlight
2. All Blues

LP10, Side T December 23, 1965 – 4th Set (cont.)
1. Yesterdays
2. The Theme