Session details: Columbia 30th Street Studio (May 6, 1957)

Miles Ahead session details

May 6, 1957 (12 items; TT = 35:08)

Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York NY

Commercial for Columbia

Show chatter

Miles Davis (flh); Ernie Royal (tpt); Bernie Glow (tpt); Louis Mucci (tpt); Taft Jordan (tpt); Johnny Carisi (tpt); Frank Rehak (tb); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); Joe Bennett (tb); Tom Mitchell (tb); Willie Ruff (frh); Tony Miranda (frh); Bill Barber (tuba); Romeo Penque (fl, cl, bcl, oboe); Sid Cooper (fl, cl); Lee Konitz (as); Danny Bank (bcl); Paul Chambers (b); Arthur Taylor (d); Gil Evans (arr, cond)

1	The Maids of Cadiz (take 1) (L. Delibes)	4:01
2	The Maids of Cadiz (master (take 6/11)) (L. Delibes)	3:55
	Includes take 6 (0:00-0:04), take 11 (0:04-1:11), take 6 (1:11-1:44), and take 11 (1:44-3:55)
3	The Maids of Cadiz (rehearsal) (L. Delibes)	1:25
	They play (0:00-0:44). Evans: "It's very difficult to get that note... All right, let's play the ending, the last four bars... I'm sorry, yeah, it's very frustrating... The last six and I won't stop you playing. Three, four..." They play (1:05-1:19). "OK."
4	The Maids of Cadiz (take 9) (L. Delibes)	0:37
	Begins with Evans counting off. At the end he says, "All right, cut. It's too loud at the down beat. When you come in at letter A, that's supposed to be real soft. Is that as soft as you can possibly play? One, two, three four..."
5	The Maids of Cadiz (take 10) (L. Delibes)	4:10
6	The Maids of Cadiz (take 11) (L. Delibes)	4:12
7	The Maids of Cadiz (take 11 (insert)) (L. Delibes)	2:21
	At the end Evans says, "All right, one more insert. First three, ah, first four bars. New intro, we'll get a good start on that, huh -- 'cause I never did remember to keep conducting that..."
8	The Duke (take 1) (D. Brubeck)	3:37
9	The Duke (take 3 (fs)) (D. Brubeck)	0:10
	False start (0:04). Davis: "John..." Unkn: "Kick it off." Davis: "What, the last four bars?"
10	The Duke (master (take 3)) (D. Brubeck)	3:43
	Avakian: "Take two... three... Count it off, Miles..." Davis: "One, two, three..."
11	The Duke (take 8) (D. Brubeck)	3:28
12	The Duke (take 11) (D. Brubeck)	3:29


1 The Maids of Cadiz (take 1) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
2 The Maids of Cadiz (master (take 6/11)) 12" LP: Columbia CL 1041 (= CS 8633), Sony 88765 41386-1, Nippon Columbia YS-304, CBS/Sony SONP 50147, CBS/Sony SOPL 152, CBS/Sony 18AP 2053, CBS/Sony 23AP 2553, CBS/Sony 25AP 752, Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia CK 53225, Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Columbia Legacy 88883 75664, CBS/Sony 32DP 511, Sony SRCS 5697, Sony SRCS 9106, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62, Sony SRCS 9703, Sony SRGS 4543, Sony SICP 811, Sony SICP 1202, Sony SICP 20052, Sony SICP 30212, Sony SICJ 30039, Sony SICJ 12, Sony SICP 30521/9, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 4)
3 The Maids of Cadiz (rehearsal) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
4 The Maids of Cadiz (take 9) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
5 The Maids of Cadiz (take 10) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
6 The Maids of Cadiz (take 11) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
7 The Maids of Cadiz (take 11 (insert)) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
8 The Duke (take 1) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
9 The Duke (take 3 (fs)) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
10 The Duke (master (take 3)) 12" LP: Columbia CL 1041 (= CS 8633), Sony 88765 41386-1, Nippon Columbia YS-304, CBS/Sony SONP 50147, CBS/Sony SOPL 152, CBS/Sony 18AP 2053, CBS/Sony 23AP 2553, CBS/Sony 25AP 752, Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia CK 53225, Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Columbia Legacy 88883 75664, CBS/Sony 32DP 511, Sony SRCS 5697, Sony SRCS 9106, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62, Sony SRCS 9703, Sony SRGS 4543, Sony SICP 811, Sony SICP 1202, Sony SICP 20052, Sony SICP 30212, Sony SICJ 30039, Sony SICJ 12, Sony SICP 30521/9, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 4)
11 The Duke (take 8) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62
12 The Duke (take 11) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ11-164 CD: Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62

This is the first of four studio sessions scheduled for the recording of Miles Ahead.

The issued versions of all of these tunes involve some kind of post-production. Phil Schaap's discographical notes in the booklet for Mosaic MQ11-164 document hundreds of edits in the various issued versions. The reels that yielded Miles Ahead are more or less complete, but much of the music -- false starts, incomplete takes, and many complete takes -- remains unissued. Schaap notes that complete reels for the later sessions that produced Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain no longer exist.