Miles Ahead Session Details

March 11-17, 1969 (9 items; TT = 85:19)
Duffy's Backstage, Rochester NY
Audience recording
Miles Davis Quintet

Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ss, ts); Chick Corea (el-p); Dave Holland (b); Jack De Johnette (d)

First concert
1 On Green Dolphin Street (incomplete) (N. Washington-B. Kaper) 12:17

Missing opening note.
2 So What (M. Davis) 9:01
3 Nefertiti (incomplete) (W. Shorter) 8:37

Splice at 3:12. The last 3:28 sounds like "Agitation" although the theme is never played straight.
4 No Blues (M. Davis) 14:58
5 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 0:11

Second concert
6 Gingerbread Boy (incomplete) (J. Heath) 6:30

Begins during Davis solo; splice at 4:24.
7 Paraphernalia (W. Shorter) 14:37

Splice at 4:25.
8 No Blues (M. Davis) 18:59
9 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 0:09


Since full versions of "No Blues" appear in both medleys, this music is probably from different concerts, maybe even different dates. Some tapes of the first medley are 3-4% slow, and the times listed here are from a speed-corrected copy.

I've received a lot of help with the details of this session, though I still don't know the exact date for this music. Mel Wilcox, who was a bartender at Duffy's during this period, supplied the dates: Tuesday, March 11 through Sunday, March 17. Thomas Marcello supplied the correct name of the venue. Tom Hampson also helped with the range of possible dates.

The Quintet resumed its busy schedule of live dates in the spring: Club Baron, New York (January 25-February 16); Cellar Door, Washington (March 5-10); Duffy's Backstage, Rochester (March 11-17); Village Gate, New York (April 25-26, May 23-24, and July 29-August 10); Plugged Nickel Club, Chicago (June 4-14); Blue Coronet Club, Brooklyn (June 21-29); Morgan State Jazz Festival, Baltimore (June 22); Newport Festival (July 4); Central Park, New York (July 7); Juan-les-Pins Festival, Antibes (July 25-26); Rutgers University Stadium, New Brunswick (July 27); Sheraton Park Hotel, French Lick (French Lick Jazz Festival) (July 31); The Spectrum, Philadelphia (August 15); Grant Park Theater, Chicago (August 22); Crosley Field, Cincinnati (Ohio Jazz Festival) (August 23).


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