1 E.S.P.
12" LP: Columbia CL 2350 (= CS 9150), Nippon Columbia YS-525, CBS/Sony SONP 50176, CBS/Sony SOPL 164, CBS/Sony 18AP 2066, CBS/Sony 23AP 2566, CBS/Sony 25AP 764, CBS/Sony 28AP 2839, CBS/Sony 00AP 2076/81, Mosaic MQ10-177
CD: Columbia CK 46863, Columbia CK 65683, Columbia CK 65945, Columbia Legacy C6K 67398, Columbia Legacy C6K 90925, Columbia Legacy C2K 85475, Columbia Legacy CK 64616, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2170, CBS/Sony 35DP 69, CBS/Sony 32DP 722, CBS/Sony CSCS 5148, CBS/Sony 80DP 872/5, Sony SRCS 5691/4, Sony SRCS 9113, Sony SRCS 8575/80, Sony SICP 663/8, Sony SRCS 9709, Sony SRCS 2493/4, Sony SRGS 4561, Sony SRCS 2230, Sony SICP 826, Sony SICP 1215, Sony SICP 20057, Sony SICP 30222, Sony SICJ 30066, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 24)

2 R.J.
12" LP: Columbia CL 2350 (= CS 9150), Nippon Columbia YS-525, CBS/Sony SONP 50176, CBS/Sony SOPL 164, CBS/Sony 18AP 2066, CBS/Sony 23AP 2566, CBS/Sony 25AP 764, CBS/Sony 28AP 2839, Mosaic MQ10-177
CD: Columbia CK 46863, Columbia CK 65683, Columbia Legacy C6K 67398, Columbia Legacy C6K 90925, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2170, CBS/Sony 35DP 69, CBS/Sony 32DP 722, CBS/Sony CSCS 5148, Sony SRCS 9113, Sony SRCS 8575/80, Sony SICP 663/8, Sony SRCS 9709, Sony SRGS 4561, Sony SICP 826, Sony SICP 1215, Sony SICP 20057, Sony SICP 30222, Sony SICJ 30066, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 24)

"Agitation" (recorded January 22) is the only composition from the E.S.P. sessions that the Quintet regularly performed live. It entered the live book almost immediately and was performed regularly until late 1969. "R.J." was performed live at the Newport festival on July 4, 1966, but I know of no other live versions of tunes from the January 1965 sessions.

In the weeks before these sessions the Davis Quintet was booked at the Casa Loma Club in Montréal (November 4-7), Chicago's Plugged Nickel Club (November 11-22, 1964), Bohemian Caverns in Washington DC (December 4-17), and for three weeks at San Francisco's Basin Street West (December 30-January 19). After completing the sessions for E.S.P. in Hollywood, the Quintet returned to New York. For several months Davis had been having trouble with his arthritic hip; in the early spring of 1965 this forced him to cancel several engagements, e.g. at the University of Michigan (date unknown), Leo's Casino, Cleveland (February 11-14), and the Grand Bar, Detroit (February 25-28). The Quintet was also booked for a performance in UC-Berkeley's Greek Theatre (April 24) and at Basin Street West in San Francisco (April 28) -- presumably these gigs were canceled. In April Davis underwent hip replacement surgery; and in August he broke the same leg while playing with his sons, and soon thereafter he was back in the hospital to replace the hip ball a second time.

During his long recovery the Quintet was on hold, but the other members of the group were very busy. E.g., on the Blue Note label alone:

Bobby Hutcherson, Components (Hancock, Carter: June 10)
Sam Rivers, Contours (Hancock, Carter: June 21)
Wayne Shorter, Et Cetera (Shorter, Hancock: June 14)
Lee Morgan, The Gigolo (Shorter: June 25, July 1)
Anthony Williams, Spring (Shorter, Hancock, Williams: August 12)
Lee Morgan, Cornbread (Hancock: September 17-18).

Several live dates were scheduled for the summer and fall, but most were canceled. For instance, the Quintet was booked at the Plugged Nickel Club in Chicago in July, August, and October -- all canceled. The Quintet was also booked at the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival (June 18), the Newport Jazz Festival in July, and the Down Beat Jazz Festival later in the summer. They were also canceled. As far as I can tell, the Quintet's first live dates after Davis' recovery were: Showboat, Philadelphia (Monday-Sunday, November 8-14); Grand Bar, Detroit (Tuesday-Sunday, November 16-21); Village Vanguard, New York (Wednesday-Sunday, November 24-28); Bohemian Caverns, Washington (Monday-Saturday, November 29-December 4). According to a Down Beat review and Gary Peacock's recollections, Carter was replaced by Peacock in Philadelphia, and by Reggie Workman in Detroit, New York, and Washington. There seem to be no live dates between the Bohemian Caverns and the extended stay at Chicago's Plugged Nickel Club (December 21-January 2).

Kenny Dorham reviewed E.S.P. for Down Beat (December 30, 1965, p. 34) and although he give the album 4-1/2 stars, he didn't like it much. After insighful comments about the individual tunes, he reflected

I like to rate albums in the way that they move me emotionally as well as otherwise. Emotionally, as a whole, this one is lacking. It's mostly brain music. Miles is very crafty here, and because he is, so esthetic to the profession and perhaps enlightening to the avant-garde, I'm giving his a rating with reservations. This kind of music has that drone thing that I don't like, but because of the almost flawless presentation, I give five stars -- but only four stars for the writing and effort -- and no stars for the overall sound. E.S.P. music in general is monotonous -- one long drone. It's not for me.