The late shows on Sundays at Paul's Mall [Boston] were always a hoot. By then, the band had settled into a groove; Miles was usually happy with the work done and the new territory charted, and so everyone just relaxed and had a good time.

[…]

We added a new band member about this time, a young guitarist from Paris named Dominique Gaumont. Gaumont looked a little bit like Hendrix, and played a lot like him. [...] He had the Hendrix tone and sound down cold, but he lacked Jimi's risky leaps of emotion, and his chops weren't as good. It was another case of Miles looking for Jimi again, and having to settle for Jimi Lite. [...]

Dave Liebman also left around this time, and Miles added Sonny Fortune to replace him on saxophone. This was an unusual choice for Miles. Normally, he'd take on a new guy who was young, in his twenties, who came more from a rock than a jazz tradition. Sonny was definitely a bit more old school than the usual additions to the band. He [...] came from a more classic jazz background, and he seemed to add a bit of grounding to the band. Usually the anchor of a band is the rhythm section--the bass and drums--but Sonny managed to add an emotional quietude that seemed to hold the band down to earth when it threatened to fly off into chaos.

Like a good cook, Miles knew how to sprinkle his spices into the dish to give it the flavor he was looking for. Every one of his live performances was unique, as Miles tried to pull different emotions out of the players with hand gestures, sometimes finding colors in them that they never knew were there. When he had the stew all set and bubbling, he'd often take precipitous turns in rhythm and tempo--sometimes silencing the entire band with a chop of his right hand, waiting a moment, and then unleashing the audio onslaught again with an upward sweep of his arm.