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Miles Ahead session details

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December 8, 1957 (12 items; TT = 54:52)
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Omroepvereniging VARA radio broadcast (B)

Miles Davis (tpt); Barney Wilen (ts); René Urtreger (p); Pierre Michelot (b); Kenny Clarke (d)
First set?
1 Woody 'n' You (D. Gillespie) 4:51

Incomplete (faded-in) on issued versions
2 Bags' Groove (M. Jackson) 6:44
3 What's New? (J. Burke-B. Haggart) 3:29

Wilen out
4 But Not for Me (G. Gershwin-I. Gershwin) 6:30
5 A Night in Tunisia (D. Gillespie-F. Paparelli) 6:54
6 Four (E. Vinson) 4:03
7 The Theme (M. Davis) 0:17

Second set?
8 Walkin' (R. Carpenter) 6:16
9 Well, You Needn't (T. Monk) 5:10
10 'Round Midnight (B. Hanighen-C. Williams-T. Monk) 5:22
11 Lady Bird (T. Dameron) 4:56
12 The Theme (M. Davis) 0:20

1 Woody 'n' You
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

2 Bags' Groove
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

3 What's New?
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

4 But Not for Me
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

5 A Night in Tunisia
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

6 Four
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

7 The Theme
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

8 Walkin'
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

9 Well, You Needn't
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

10 'Round Midnight
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

11 Lady Bird
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

12 The Theme
12" LP: Jazz O.P. OMS-7003, Celluloid CEL 6745/46
CD: Celluloid 668232, Lone Hill Jazz LHJ 10141

This recording was made by VARA Radio in Amsterdam, and the concert was first broadcast on February 1, 1958 on VARA Hilversum 1. The track list does not include either version of "The Theme," and the tune is not listed on the Jazz O.P. or Celluloid releases. I am guessing that the Davis group performed two sets, each closed by "The Theme." This may be wrong -- the sets would be quite short, 33 and 23 minutes -- but how else to account for "The Theme" being played twice?

Davis and the René Urtreger Quartet traveled to Amsterdam during their three-week stay at Club St. Germain in Paris. According to Jeanne de Mirbeck, René Urtreger's sister and Davis' companion during his 1956 European tour, the group also played at Brussels' Théâtre Patria during this period (see Jazz Magazine, December 2007, pp. 20-21).

All of the issued versions of this concert are almost a semitone flat. I am grateful to Eric Flick for providing me with a copy of a 2007 re-broadcast of the original recording. Thanks also to Patrick Wilen for help with this session.

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