This is the first of two studio sessions devoted to recording Evans' program music.
The surviving recordings from the second session are less extensive. The orchestral
parts were rehearsed and recorded on October 9; the following day was devoted to the
Quintet parts.
According to the notes to MQ11-164, "This score was recorded in a string of cues
to be used on tape to accompany live performances of Peter Barnes' play
The Time of the Barracudas. The cues are edited together in numerical (i.e. stage
performance) order, which works best musically. It includes the compositions 'Hotel
Me' and 'Barracudas' (aka 'General Assembly') which have since been recorded
and performed as separate compositions."
The unissued alternate version was presumably assembled by Teo Macero using the
same raw materials used to create the issued version.
The Time of the Barracudas opened at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco
on October 21. Ralph J. Gleason's review in the San Francisco Chronicle
(October 24) was not a rave: "Miles Davis' music is used in 'Time of the Barracudas'
all right and it's a good thing it is, since the play at the Curran has little
else to recommend it." The play closed on November 23 at the Huntington Hartford
in Los Angeles.
The Davis Quintet was booked for three weeks at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco
(September 3-22), but the show was closed down on the 18th because Davis did not fulfill
the terms of his contract. As reported in Down Beat in 1964,
[Jazz Workshop owner Art] Auerbach said that Davis dis not play a full schedule on
several nights nights of his stay and additionally failed to appear on three
other nights -- once without advance notice... Auerbach said Davis notified him
that he could not play Wednesday night of the second week, and as a result the
owner kept the club closed. On [the following] Sunday night... Davis failed to
appear and gave no warning of his absence. As a result, the owner said, he had
to close the club and refund the door charge to customers who were inside
waiting.
"No other musician has ever closed my club in the seven years I've been operating
it," Auerbach declared. "I feel it was inexcusable."
Auerbach's troubles were compounded by the presence of the underage Tony Williams.
He suspended the club's liquor license so that Williams might appear with the
group, thus sacrificing income from drinking patrons. "I did this because Miles
is an excellent musician, has an excellent group, and I wanted them to be heard
in San Francisco," he said.
Other activity: Royce Hall, UCLA (September 28); It Club, Los Angeles (October 3-13);
Adams-West Theatre (October 11-12 -- these were "after-hours jam sessions" scheduled for 2-6 am);
Minor Key Club, Detroit (October 22-27, canceled);
La Grand Salle, Place
des Arts, Montréal (October 26); Showboat, Philadelphia (November 4-10);
Village Vanguard, New York (November 12-December 1); Town Casino, Buffalo NY
(December 31-January 6; opening night was canceled on account of snow).
I am grateful to Eric Jooris for providing the review of the Montréal concert.
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