Although the quintet had already issued the E.S.P. album, consisting of original compositions by members of the band, the repertoire at the club included none of those tunes, except Davis' "Agitation." Instead, the band relied upon standards or items that had been in Davis' live repertoire for several years. Research for a Wayne Shorterbiography revealed that drummer Tony Williams, during the plane ride to Chicago, challenged the rest of the band to play anti-jazz, in essence sabotaging the gig by playing whatever one wished rather than the standard versions. The band kept to the challenge, and the tunes were then radically altered for the Plugged Nickel performances. In contrast, Hancock mentions this "sabotage" in his autobiography, adding: "really, he was only trying to sabotage our comfort level, to break us open again. It was just another step in trying to push our boundaries as musicians and as a band." Also, Hancock describes the challenge as everyone playing the opposite of what they would usually play: soft notes when they'd usually play loud, drum cymbals instead of bass drum etc. Some tracks were available on Miles Davis compilations, but the full recordings were not released until the appearance of this box set. A 1982 double album was released as part of the Contemporary Masters Series on Columbia; this appeared also as Live at the Plugged Nickelin the box set . The ten tracks are the same that together made up the 1976 Japanese releases, At Plugged Nickel, Chicago, Vol. 1 and At Plugged Nickel, Chicago, Vol. 2, but some durations are longer.
Content
Each disc of the box set of eight discs presents one complete set, with the exception of the second set on the first night of December 22, which is split onto two discs, with the discs in a slimline case and internally numbered accordingly as 2a and 2b. The reasoning for this on the part of Sony is unclear, since the total timing of the music on discs 2a and 2b is under the 80-minute single disc limit. The box set has been awarded a rare crown by the Penguin Guide to Jazz, concluding that "these are genuinely historic recordings."
Track listing
At Plugged Nickel, Chicago, Vol. 1
At Plugged Nickel, Chicago, Vol. 2
The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
December 22, 1965 — first set December 22, 1965 — second set December 22, 1965 — second set December 22, 1965 — third set December 23, 1965 — first set December 23, 1965 — second set December 23, 1965 — third set December 23, 1965 — fourth set
