In Person at the Blackhawk, San Francisco, Vols. 1 & 2

'In Person at the Blackhawk, San Francisco, Vols. 1 & 2 are a pair of separate but related live albums by Miles Davis recorded at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco on April 21 & 22, 1961, respectively, and released by Columbia September that same year, as In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk, San Francisco, Volume 1 and In Person Saturday Night at the Blackhawk, San Francisco, Volume 2'.

Background
These sets, performed with recording in mind, forged new ground for jazz musician Miles Davis, who had never previously been recorded live in a club with his combo. Although the pair were re-released several times, the complete sets were not commercially available until they were released in 2003 as In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete.

Critical reception
AllMusic's Thom Jurek writes of the "underappreciated" quintet: "What is most remarkable is the way Kelly fits into this particular blend of the Miles band. Kelly's interplay with Chambers is especially brilliant, because his sense of blues phrasing inside counterpoint harmony is edgy and large, with left-hand chords in the middle register rather than sharp right-hand runs to accentuate choruses. Davis himself has never played with more intensity and muscularity on record than he does here. He is absolutely fierce, both on the Friday night and Saturday night sets.... It is difficult to recommend this set over Saturday Night or vice versa; Miles fans will need both to fully appreciate how special this engagement with this particular band was."

The Miles Davis Quintet

 * Miles Davis – trumpet
 * Hank Mobley – tenor saxophone
 * Wynton Kelly – piano
 * Paul Chambers – bass
 * Jimmy Cobb – drums