Miles Davis North Sea Jazz Festival

Miles Davis North Sea Jazz Festival captures a live set recorded on July 13, 1985 at the Tuinpaviljoen, Congresgebouw in The Hague. Instead of a tidy recital, the film throws you into a raw, electric performance led by Miles on trumpet and synthesizers, with Bob Berg on tenor and soprano sax, John Scofield on guitar, Robert Irving III on keyboards, and Darryl Jones on bass guitar. The footage follows the ebb and flow of extended pieces, where tight grooves and amplified textures make space for solo statements, ensemble hits, and moments of quiet restraint. You hear extended solos, call-and-response lines, and shifts from sparse passages to driving grooves that keep the focus on collective musical conversation, with the crowd reacting.

Recorded live on July 13, 1985 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag and released in 1985, the film documents this concert; director and production credits are not widely listed, and it is presented as archival live document.

The film had a limited release and is mainly circulated through festival screenings, television airings, and home video; detailed box office or distribution earnings are not publicly reported, and it did not receive a wide theatrical run, to niche audiences.

As a document of Davis's 1980s electric period, this performance has been referenced by jazz fusion listeners, guitarists, and scholars. It shows how an established jazz figure experimented with synthesizers and rock-leaning rhythms, and it remains a sought-after recording for collectors and students tracing the evolution of modern jazz today.

Critical reaction to Davis's electric work was varied, and this film reflects that split. It highlights reinvention, groove-oriented improvisation, the tension between acoustic trumpet and electronic textures, and dynamic interplay among seasoned soloists. For viewers studying performance practice, the film often shows a band trading ideas onstage and daring improvisation.