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Miles Ahead session details

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May 19, 1961 (12 items; TT = 86:13)
Carnegie Hall, New York NY
Commercial for Columbia

Miles Davis (tpt); Hank Mobley (ts); Wynton Kelly (p); Paul Chambers (b); Jimmy Cobb (d); Ernie Royal (tpt); Bernie Glow (tpt); Johnny Coles (tpt); Louis Mucci (tpt); Jimmy Knepper (tb); Dick Hixon (tb); Frank Rehak (tb); Julius Watkins (frh); Paul Ingraham (frh); Bob Swisshelm (frh); Bill Barber (tuba); Romeo Penque (cl, fl); Jerome Richardson (cl, fl); Eddie Caine (cl, fl); Bob Tricarico (cl, fl); Danny Bank (cl, fl); Janet Putnam (harp); Elvin Jones (perc); Bob Rosengarden (perc); Gil Evans (arr, cond)

1 So What (M. Davis) 12:00

Add Evans Orchestra on introduction
2 Spring is Here (R. Rodgers-L. Hart) 4:02

Add Evans Orchestra
3 Teo (M. Davis) 9:10
4 Walkin' (R. Carpenter) 9:31
5 The Meaning of the Blues (L. Worth-B. Troup) 3:18

Add Evans Orchestra
6 Lament (J.J. Johnson) 1:16

Add Evans Orchestra
7 New Rhumba (A. Jamal) 4:05

Add Evans Orchestra; edited (3:10) on Columbia 42583
8 Someday My Prince Will Come (F.E. Churchill-L. Morey) 2:51
9 Oleo (inc) (S. Rollins) 7:19

Missing opening measures
10 No Blues (M. Davis) 10:38
11 I Thought About You (J. Mercer-J. Van Heusen) 5:00
12 Concierto de Aranjuez (J. Rodrigo) 17:03

Add Evans Orchestra


1 So What
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Columbia C5X 45000, Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, Columbia Legacy C4K 45000, Columbia Legacy C4K 86569, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, CBS/Sony 80DP 5430/3, Sony SICP 5037/40, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

2 Spring is Here
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

3 Teo
12" LP: Columbia CJ 40609, CBS/Sony 18AP 3369, CBS/Sony 28AP 3369
CD: Columbia CK 40609, Columbia C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 789, Sony SRCS 5702, Sony SRCS 9320, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3962, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

4 Walkin'
12" LP: Columbia CJ 40609, CBS/Sony 18AP 3369, CBS/Sony 28AP 3369
CD: Columbia CK 40609, Columbia C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 789, Sony SRCS 5702, Sony SRCS 9320, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3962, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

5 The Meaning of the Blues
45 rpm: Columbia 7-8612 [EP]
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

6 Lament
45 rpm: Columbia 7-8612 [EP]
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

7 New Rhumba
45 rpm: Columbia 4-42583; Columbia 7-8612 [EP]
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

8 Someday My Prince Will Come
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

9 Oleo (inc)
45 rpm: Columbia 7-8612 [EP]
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

10 No Blues
12" LP: Columbia CL 1812 (= CS 8612), Nippon Columbia YS-209, Nippon Columbia SL-1112, CBS/Sony SONP 50104, CBS/Sony SOPZ 24, CBS/Sony 18AP 2059, CBS/Sony 23AP 2559, CBS/Sony 25AP 651
CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 515, Sony SRCS 5701, Sony SRCS 9319, Sony SRCS 9745, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3961, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

11 I Thought About You
12" LP: Columbia CJ 40609, CBS/Sony 18AP 3369, CBS/Sony 28AP 3369
CD: Columbia CK 40609, Columbia C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 789, Sony SRCS 5702, Sony SRCS 9320, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3962, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)

12 Concierto de Aranjuez
12" LP: Columbia CJ 40609, CBS/Sony 18AP 3369, CBS/Sony 28AP 3369
CD: Columbia CK 40609, Columbia C2K 65027, CBS/Sony 32DP 789, Sony SRCS 5702, Sony SRCS 9320, Sony SRCS 8733/4, Sony SICP 3962, Sony SICJ 30056/7, Jazz Door JD 12107/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 16)


This concert, a benefit for the African Research Foundation, was supposed to be recorded by Columbia, but at the last minute Davis apparently got cold feet. Teo Macero recorded it surreptitiously on a 3-3/4 ips monaural deck, and this is the master from which all Columbia LPs and CDs have been made. The performance was interrupted after the intermission by a demonstration by Max Roach, who believed that the Foundation was a front for just another colonialist organization. After angrily leaving the stage (following an abbreviated solo on "Someday My Prince Will Come") Davis was eventually persuaded to return, and he played the rest of the concert. He never worked with Roach again.

I'm not sure why "Oleo" is incomplete -- it's probably due to a reel change.

Bill Coss' Down Beat review of this concert (June 6, 1961) was wildly enthusiastic:

Davis has never played more brilliantly than on this May night... The concert was marked by excellent taste, an improved sound system (though it had its faults), gifts of red roses to the ladies, a cloth backdrop to enliven the bare stage, and artful lighting... But all the impressive features of the concert were insignificant in the face of Miles' performance. He soared away from his usual restraint and limited register, playing high-note passages with tremendous fire, building magnificent solos that blazed with drama... Few jazz performances have touched the heights of that evening. It was jazz at its finest.

The Davis Quintet traveled to the midwest after this show, playing several nights at Foster's House of Jazz in Detroit (May 25-28). Davis added J.J. Johnson to the group about this time, and the Sextet was booked for a week at Philadelphia's Show Boat Lounge (June 5-10) and for two weeks at the Village Vanguard (June 27-July 9). The group played at the Randall's Island Jazz Festival (August 26), and returned to the Village Vanguard for two weeks (September 12-24). Johnson performed with the group at The Birdhouse in Chicago (September 27-October 8), as evidenced by wonderful photographs taken by Laird Scott, and in Los Angeles at Club Renaissance (October 12-19). The year closed out with engagements at the Minor Key Club, Detroit (December 7-10) and the Jazz Gallery, New York (December 21, 1961-January 3, 1962). Saxophonist Rocky Boyd is sometimes said to have joined the group for some of these shows.

Touring continued in 1962: Howard Theatre, Washington (January 12-18 -- Philly Joe Jones on drums, and Johnson apparently did not make this gig); Regal Theatre, Chicago (February 23-March 1); and Sutherland Hotel Lounge, Chicago (March 7-18). A two-week engagement at Club Renaissance in Los Angeles (March 20-April 3) was canceled. On to Indiana University Auditorium (March 24 -- a benefit for the Indiana NAACP for which Davis did not show!). The group was booked for two stretches at the Village Vanguard (April 3-9 and April 17-29), between which they played a week at the Minor Key Club, Detroit (April 12-15). A two-week engagement at the Sutherland in Chicago (May 1-13) was canceled, but the group performed at Kansas City's Mardi Gras Club (May 18-28). Davis' father died during this engagement, and Davis attended the funeral in St. Louis. In June the group traveled west: Music Box Theatre, Los Angeles (June 1-10); Blackhawk Supper Club, San Francisco (June 12-July 1); Penthouse Theatre, Seattle (July 4-10); Minor Key, Detroit (August 16-19); La Comédie Canadienne, Montréal (August 24-25; Davis filled in for an ailing Sonny Rollins for the August 25 matinée); Showboat Club, Philadelphia (September 17-22); Village Vanguard, New York (November 13-19); Old Brown Theatre, Louisville KY (December 1). A four-night engagement at the Music Box Club, Cleveland (December 6-9) was canceled and rescheduled for December 27-30. The group was booked for a week at the Uptown Theatre, Philadelphia (December 25-January 1) -- Davis missed one of the shows on the 25th, played until the 30th, and walked out on the 31st, leaving his trumpet behind and missing the last two days of the gig. Mobley is still listed as the saxophonist at the end of 1962.

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