Session details: CBS-TV Studio 61 (April 2, 1959)

Miles Ahead session details

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April 2, 1959 (9 items; TT = 25:55)

CBS-TV Studio 61, New York NY

CBS TV Broadcast (B)

Show chatter

Miles Davis (tpt, flh); John Coltrane (ts, as); Wynton Kelly (p); Paul Chambers (b); Jimmy Cobb (d); Ernie Royal (tpt); Clyde Reisinger (tpt); Louis Mucci (tpt); Johnny Coles (tpt); Emmett Berry (tpt); Frank Rehak (tb); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); Bill Elton (tb); Rod Levitt (valve tb); Julius Watkins (frh); Robert Northern (frh); Bill Barber (tuba); Romeo Penque (cl, fl); Eddie Caine (cl, fl); Danny Bank (bcl); Gil Evans (arr, cond); Robert Herridge (ann)

1	So What (M. Davis)	10:29
	Voiceover 0:36-1:28: "There are many ways of telling a story. What you are listening to now, the music of Miles Davis, is one of the ways. My name is Robert Herridge, and this is Studio 61 in New York City -- a theatre for a story. For the next half hour, our story will be in the music, the sound, of one man, Miles Davis. He will tell his story in his own way, and in his own language, the language of music. The telling of it will fall into two parts. Part one, the music written by Miles Davis he calls 'So What'..." Missing introduction and first two measures on Ozone, Beppo, Bandstand, Tokuma, Jazz Door, and Lone Hill
2	Introduction (Robert Herridge)	0:27
	"Very briefly, because music, we feel, should be listened to and not talked about, part two of The Sound of Miles Davis will consist of 'The Duke' by Dave Brubeck, 'Blues for Pablo' by Gil Evans, 'New Rhumba' by Ahmad Jamal. The arranger and conductor of these three is Gil Evans, and these, some of the finest musicians of our time, are the men of the orchestra..."
3	The Duke (D. Brubeck)	3:29
4	Blues for Pablo (G. Evans)	5:46
5	New Rhumba (A. Jamal)	4:27
6	Announcement (Robert Herridge)	0:17
	"There are many ways of telling a story. And what you have been listening to for the past half hour has been a story told in the language of music, the sound of Miles Davis..."
7	So What (reprise) (M. Davis)	0:34
8	So What (reprise) (M. Davis)	0:16
	An additional 0:20 of the earlier performance of "So What" is spliced onto the end on Toei Video and a So What CDR
9	Orchestral fragment	0:10


1 So What 12" LP: Ozone 18, Beppo BEP-502, Bandstand BDLP-1501 CD: Bandstand BDCD-1501, Tokuma TKCB-71062 (= TKCB-71892), Jazz Door JD 1242, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ-10206, United Archives NUA 10 Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Atlantic 50240, Idem IDVD 1057, Think Visual THV-145473
2 Introduction (Robert Herridge) Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552
3 The Duke 12" LP: Ozone 18, Beppo BEP-502 CD: United Archives NUA 10 Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Atlantic 50240, Idem IDVD 1057, Think Visual THV-145473
4 Blues for Pablo 12" LP: Ozone 18, Beppo BEP-502 CD: Recording Arts (Golden Age of Jazz) JZCD 314, Recording Arts Reference Edition RARE CD 08/10, United Archives NUA 10 Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Atlantic 50240, Idem IDVD 1057, Think Visual THV-145473
5 New Rhumba 12" LP: Ozone 18, Beppo BEP-502 CD: United Archives NUA 10 Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Atlantic 50240, Idem IDVD 1057, Think Visual THV-145473
6 Announcement (Robert Herridge) Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Idem IDVD 1057, Think Visual THV-145473
7 So What (reprise) Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Idem IDVD 1057, Think Visual THV-145473
8 So What (reprise) Video: Toei Video TE-M576, Columbia Legacy 88697 33552
9 Orchestral fragment Video: Columbia Legacy 88697 33552, Atlantic 50240

This performance was filmed for The Sound of Miles Davis, an installment of The Robert Herridge Theater. Cannonball Adderley missed this date because of a migraine headache, which may explain why Davis solos twice on "So What," both before and after Coltrane. The show was broadcast on July 21, 1960.

Kelly plays only in the quintet ("So What") -- he plays a small somewhat out-of-tune upright piano on the reprise of "So What" at the end of the set. Coltrane plays tenor saxophone in the quintet and alto in the ensemble. In the full version of "So What" Rehak, Cleveland, and Elton play obbligatos behind Davis' second solo and during the closing chorus. Closing credits roll during the concluding reprise of "So What."

The Sextet was busy throughout 1959: Birdland, New York (January 1-14); Sutherland Hotel Lounge, Chicago (January 21-February 1); Civic Opera House, Chicago (Saturday, February 14, 8:00 and 11:00 pm); Showboat, Philadelphia (February 23-28); Apollo Theater, New York (March 13-19); Loew's Valencia Theater, New York (Thursday, March 13, midnight show); WCBS-TV Studio 61, New York (Thursday, April 2); Birdland, New York (April 16-29); Sutherland Hotel Lounge, Chicago (May 6-17); Blackhawk Supper Club, San Francisco (May 29-June 21); Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles (Friday, June 26, 8:30pm); Jazz Seville, Los Angeles (July 1-19). Coltrane left the group in the middle of the Jazz Seville gig, although he would return about a month later. Davis hired Jimmy Heath as Coltrane's replacement.