Session details: Ballroom, Hotel Diplomat (January 19, 1951)

Miles Ahead session details

January 19, 1951 (7 items; TT = 16:44)

Ballroom, Hotel Diplomat, New York NY

Audience recording (C)

Show chatter

Miles Davis (tpt); Charlie Parker (as); Al Haig (p); Tommy Potter (b); Roy Haynes (d)

1	Billie's Bounce (incomplete) (C. Parker)	2:40
	Parker solo, part of the fours, then closing theme
2	Cool Blues (incomplete) (C. Parker)	2:56
	Listed as "Drifting on a Reed" on Bird Box. Parker solo, part of the fours, then closing theme
3	April in Paris (incomplete) (V. Duke-E.Y. Harburg)	1:54
	Parker solo, then a nice Davis solo (1:06-1:56), faded out
4	Ornithology (incomplete) (C. Parker-B. Harris)	2:05
	Opening theme, Parker solo, sudden transition to "52nd Street Theme."
5	52nd Street Theme (fragment) (T. Monk)	0:06
	Parker announcement from stage (undecipherable)
6	Caravan (incomplete) (D. Ellington-J. Tizol-I. Mills)	2:20
	Stops abruptly as Parker's solo begins (0:50). Starts again, Parker plays more thematic embellishments, drumming gets more insistent, faded out at 1:58, picks up again with tpt/as closing theme
7	Big Foot [Drifting on a Reed] (C. Parker)	4:43


1 Billie's Bounce (incomplete) 12" LP: Bird Box 01-22 (LP 4) CD: New Sound Planet JUTB 3001/18, Sound Hills SSCD 8014/34, Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260
2 Cool Blues (incomplete) 12" LP: Bird Box 01-22 (LP 4) CD: New Sound Planet JUTB 3001/18, Sound Hills SSCD 8014/34, Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260
3 April in Paris (incomplete) CD: Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260
4 Ornithology (incomplete) CD: Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260
5 52nd Street Theme (fragment) CD: Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260
6 Caravan (incomplete) 12" LP: Bird Box 01-22 (LP 4) CD: New Sound Planet JUTB 3001/18, Sound Hills SSCD 8014/34, Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260
7 Big Foot CD: Philology Volume 12 (W 842), Stash ST-260

These tunes are usually dated (as on Philology) sometime in 1950, but according to Norman Saks the correct date is January 19, 1951. The trumpet player is definitely Davis -- he quotes a melody in his solo during "Big Foot" (3:16) which he also quotes during his solo on "Out of the Blue" (4:58-5:08) in October 1951 -- and to which he returns again in spring 1952 at the Barrel Club in St. Louis (e.g. the first version of "Wee Dot" (1:21-1:33) and the second version of "Wee Dot" (4:17-4:28). (The melody stayed with Davis for years: he quotes it during "The Leap" (3:58-4:04) recorded for Blue Note in March 1954, and also in his solo during "Green Haze" (2:11-2:21) recorded for Prestige in June 1955.)

Davis and Parker were reunited for a studio session on January 17 (the "Au Privave" session for Mercury).