Miles Ahead: Radio and TV Tributes

Rather than fold these projects into the Miles Ahead database, I've listed them separately. All contain interviews as well as musical examples.

Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis
(WNET/Obenhaus Films; PBS "Great Performances" series)

A documentary comprising pieces of a 1986 interview with Davis; comments by George Benson, Bill Cosby, Gil Evans, Robben Ford, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Tony Williams, and others; excerpts from several TV broadcasts of Davis performances. Details are as follows:

My Funny Valentine, Stockholm 10/31/67 (opening credits/voiceover; voiceover Dizzy Gillespie from 0:52) (1:01)
Directions, Antibes 7/25/69 (voiceover Herbie Hancock) (0:38)
Unidentified (1973) (voiceover George Benson) (0:42)
Miles Davis interview (0:14)
So What, New York 4/2/59 (voiceover Bill Cosby from 2:29) (3:11)
One Phone Call/Street Scenes, New Orleans 4/25/86 (2:19)
Miles Davis interview (2:02)
Unidentified (1945) (voiceover Dizzy Gillespie from 0:16)
Miles Davis interview (voiceover)
Bird Feathers (1947) (0:45)
Miles Davis interview (voiceover last 0:15 of previous) (1:43)
New Blues, New Orleans 4/25/86 (1:15)
Gil Evans interview (0:14)
Boplicity (voiceover Gil Evans, 0:07-0:20) (0:38)
Miles Davis interview (0:28)
New Rhumba, New York 4/2/59 (voiceover Gil Evans, 0:35-0:58 and 2:16-2:59) (2:53)
Blues for Pablo, New York 4/2/59 (voiceover Miles Davis, 0:21-0:35; Gil Evans, 0:58-1:16)
Time After Time, New Orleans 4/25/86 (1:16)
Robben Ford interview (0:46)
Introduction of the band, Stockholm 10/31/67 (0:14)
Tony Williams interview 0:48)
Miles Davis interview (0:36)
Drum solo from No Blues, Stockholm 10/31/67 (voiceover Miles Davis, 0:24-0:41) (0:41)
'Round Midnight, Stockholm 10/31/67 (voiceover Herbie Hancock, 0:08-0:30; Miles Davis, 1:01-1:44; Wayne Shorter, 1:45-2:20; Tony Williams, 2:29-2:57) (2:57)
Herbie Hancock interview (0:35)
Gingerbread Boy, Stockholm 10/31/67 (voiceover Herbie Hancock, 0:16-0:51, 1:13-1:46) (1:46)
Agitation, Stockholm 10/31/67 (voiceover Herbie Hancock) (0:21)
Footprints, Stockholm 10/31/67 (5:48)
'Round Midnight, Stockholm 10/31/67 (0:18)
Miles Davis interview (over The Theme + applause, Stockholm 10/31/67) (1:12)
Al Jarreau, New Orleans 4/25/86 (2:35)
Keith Jarrett interview (0:36)
Honky Tonk (1971) (voiceover Keith Jarrett) (1:45)
I Thought About You (voiceover Keith Jarrett) (1:22)
Turnaroundphrase, Berlin 11/1/73 (1:08)
Miles Davis in studio (1:20)
It Gets Better (studio 1981) (0:20)
Bill Cosby interview (0:59)
Gil Evans interview (0:19)
Human Nature, New Orleans 4/25/86 (band member credits) (3:12)

Produced by WNET/Thirteen, New York
Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Duracell, Inc.

The Miles Davis Radio Project
(American Public Radio)

Episode 1 (60 min) - Miles Davis: The Early Years, 1926-1946
Episode 2 (60 min) - Miles Davis: New York to Paris and Back, 1946-1956
Episode 3 (60 min) - Miles Davis: Midnight Idol, 1956-1960
Episode 4 (60 min) - Miles Davis: The Sixties are Electric, 1959-1969
Episode 5 (60 min) - Miles Davis: The Seventies and Eighties, Retirement and Rebirth
Episode 6 (60 min) - Behind the Scenes with Miles Davis
Episode 7 (120 min) - Unissued Live Recordings

Downbeat magazine (November 1990) described the project as follows:

The Miles Davis Radio Project, hosted by actor Danny Glover, is a landmark, seven-part series that is being distributed this October to all public radio stations in the United States. Six one-hour documentary programs and a two-hour music special featuring live recordings made on tour with Miles in 1988 and 1989, these recordings are the first official release of any live Miles in eight years. The series also features musical demonstrations by Jon Faddis, Lester Bowie, Tony Williams, Roy Porter, Andrew White, Jason Miles, Marcus Miller, George Duke, Olu Dara, and Lenny White. In addition, there are exclusive glimpses into outtakes from legendary CBS recording sessions, including 'Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain, and Circle in the Round. Research for the project has been extensive. Writer Quincy Troupe spent over 100 hours over a period of three years interviewing Miles for Miles: The Autobiography. Executive Producer Steve Rowland and Troupe recorded interviews and demonstrations with over 100 musicians, artists, and writers, including Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, Art Farmer, Carlos Santana, Roberta Flack, Marcus Miller, Joni Mitchell, Hamiett Bluiett, Gerry Mulligan, Ira Gitler, Tony Williams, Joe Zawinul, and Wayne Shorter.

How You Like Me Know? Productions, Inc. has issued The Miles Davis Radio Project on nine CD-Rs. From the label's description of the discs' contents it appears that these CD-Rs are made from cassette recordings of the original broadcasts, in some cases sonically inferior, off-speed, or edited:

Disc 1 (59:52) background noise, B/B+
Disc 2 (54:47) background noise, 5 min. edit, B-/B
Disc 3 (60:38) A+
Disc 4 (60:46) A+
Disc 5 (59:55) some noise, 55 sec. edit, B+/A-
Disc 6 (60:31) A+
Disc 7-8 (on two discs, disc 1 60:09, disc 2 63:09) A+/A+
Disc 9 is a CD-ROM containing the MDRP Discography (23 pages)! Each episode contains a "script" or a step-by-step guide of who's speaking, the topic, what music is playing, the record label, date, etc.

The Man with the Horn
(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Man with the Horn was produced by CBC Winnipeg, and aired on five Sundays in April 1995 (April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30). I'm grateful to Margaret Ingram, producer of The Man with the Horn, for providing me with this information. The broadcast is now available on five CDs.

Among those interviewed were George Avakian, Bob Belden, George Butler, Ron Carter, Jack Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Chick Corea, Michael Elam, Ira Gitler, Lorraine Gordon, Sonny Greenwich, Jimmy Heath, Keith Jarrett, Lee Konitz, Bruce Lundvall, Teo Macero, Gordon Meltzer, James Rose, Marcus Miller, Max Roach, Wallace Roney, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Marvin Stamm, Clark Terry, Quincy Troupe, and Joe Zawinul. Additional interviews from other sources included Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans.

The following music was included in the broadcasts.

First show (55:00)
"Miles Ahead" (1:30) from Miles Ahead
"Congo Blues" (3:00), "20th Century Blues" (2:50), "The Street Beat" (2:20), "Ko-Ko" (2:50), "Thriving on a Riff" (2:50), "Billie's Bounce" (3:00), and "Sippin' at Bell's" (2:20), and "Night in Tunisia" (2:55) from The Complete Charlie Parker
"Donna Lee" (2:00) from The Memorable Claude Thornhill
"Jeru" (3:10), "Israel" (2:15), "Venus de Milo" (2:00), and "Boplicity" (2:00) from Birth of the Cool
"Pointless Mama Blues" (2:48) from First Miles

Second show (55:00)
"Boplicity" (2:57) from Birth of the Cool
"Tasty Pudding" (3:19), "The Serpent's Tooth" (1:30), and "Solar" (4:40) from Chronicle
"Yardbird Suite" (0:38) from The Complete Charlie Parker
"Ahmad's Blues" (1:00), by Ahmad Jamal
"'Round Midnight" (5:51) from 'Round About Midnight
"Miles Ahead" (3:58) from Miles Ahead
"Summertime" (3:17) from Porgy and Bess
"Freddie Freeloader" (2:00), "Blue in Green" (5:26), and "All Blues" (3:00) from Kind of Blue

Third show (55:00)
"So What" (2:30) from Kind of Blue
"Concierto de Aranjuez" (14:30) from Sketches of Spain
"Someday My Prince Will Come" (1:45) from Someday My Prince Will Come
"Song #2" (1:36) from Quiet Nights
"Iris" (8:30) from E.S.P.
"Walkin'" (5:30) from Cookin' at the Plugged Nickel
"Shhh/Peaceful" (1:36), "In a Silent Way" (1:29), and "It's About That Time" (5:50) from In a Silent Way

Fourth show (55:00)
"In a Silent Way/It's About That Time" (2:40) from In a Silent Way
"Pharaoh's Dance" (2:00), "Bitches Brew" (2:00), and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" (2:30) from Bitches Brew
"Right Off" (2:30) from Tribute to Jack Johnson
"Directions" (1:30) from Black Beauty
"On the Corner" (2:00) from On the Corner
"He Loved Him Madly" (2:00) from Get Up With It
"Water Babies" (5:04) from Water Babies
"Aida" (3:00) and "Ursula" (3:30) from The Man with the Horn

Fifth show (55:00)
"Fat Time" (2:00) from The Man with the Horn
"My Man's Gone Now" (1:40) and "Back Seat Betty" (1:30) from We Want Miles
"It Gets Better" (3:00) from Star People
"Decoy" (2:30) from Decoy
"One Phone Call" (1:30) and "Time After Time" (1:20) from You're Under Arrest
"Tutu" (5:02) from Tutu
"Springsville" (3:00) and "Solea" (3:00) from Live in Montreux
"The Doo-Bop Song" (1:15) from Doo-Bop
"I Fall in Love Too Easily" (3:30) from Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel
"Freddie Freeloader" (7:00) from Kind of Blue

Miles in Montreux
(PBS broadcast)

A one-hour documentary devoted to the Quincy Jones' revisiting of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaborations of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

'Round Midnight (opening credits/backstage)
Stage introduction
Boplicity (M. Davis-G. Evans) [voiceover Randy Brecker; Bill Evans; Quincy Jones; George Duke; Miles Davis]
Herbie Hancock interview
Quincy Jones interview
The Duke (D. Brubeck) [voiceover Quincy Jones]
Blues for Pablo (G. Evans)
Gil Goldstein interview
Quincy Jones interview
Solea (G. Evans) [voiceover Quincy Jones]
Quincy Jones interview
Tutu (M. Miller) [crossfade: concert night/backstage warmup]
Quincy Jones interview
Stage introducion (Claude Nobs)
Introduction of Miles Davis (Quincy Jones)
Boplicity (M. Davis-G. Evans)
Herbie Hancock interview
Maids of Cadiz (L. Delibes)
The Duke (D. Brubeck)
Claude Nobs interview
My Ship (K. Weill-I. Gershwin)
Miles Ahead (M. Davis-G. Evans)
Howard Johnson interview
Gone, Gone, Gone (G. Evans)
Summertime (D. Heyward-G. Gershwin)
Diane Reeves interview
Here Come de Honey Man (D. Heyward-G. Gershwin-I. Gershwin)
Applause
The Pan Piper (G. Evans) [incomplete]
Herbie Hancock interview
Solea (G. Evans)
Quincy Jones interview
Closing stage announcement
Quincy Jones interview
Closing credits

Recorded July 8, 1991; Casino, Montreux
Montreux Jazz Festival Productions in cooperation with Swiss TV and Duke Productions
Producer: Quincy Jones and Claude Nobs