Session details: Columbia Studio C (May 27, 1970)

Miles Ahead session details

May 27, 1970 (24 items; TT = 64:18)

Columbia Studio C, New York NY

Commercial for Columbia

Show chatter

Miles Davis (tpt); Keith Jarrett (el-p); Herbie Hancock (org); John McLaughlin (g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Hermeto Pascoal (d, voc); Airto Moreira (perc)

1	Nem Um Talvez (take 1) (H. Pascoal)	2:59
	Macero: "1038891..." Short run-through (0:36). Davis and Pascoal discuss the words. Jarrett: "Uh, do you have another headset?" Two short attempts (1:08, 0:35), interrupted by Davis: "Stick with it... Teo, play it..."
2	Nem Um Talvez (take 2A) (H. Pascoal)	3:23
	Macero: "Two..." Short run-through (0:42), then Davis: "Play that." Macero: "OK..." Longer run-through (2:19). Macero: "You wanna hear that?"
3	Nem Um Talvez (take 2B) (H. Pascoal)	2:03
	Macero: "Take two..." Another run-through, no vocal (1:46)
4	Nem Um Talvez (take 3) (H. Pascoal)	0:53
	Macero: "Three..." Davis, while McLaughlin is tuning: "Can you put a little more bass on my mic?" Engineer: "Yeah." Davis plays a few notes, then "Teo!" Macero: "Yeah?" Davis: "I'll ask you again. Can you kinda soothe and round and mellow out this... amp, this..." Macero: "Well, I can -- we'll have to maybe use different kind of a... push buttons..."
5	Nem Um Talvez (take 4) (H. Pascoal)	1:47
	Macero: "Uh, take four..." Davis: "Wait a minute! Michael, I don't want that note attacked. It just should be like..." Henderson plays softly. False start (0:05), then Davis: "It has to be together..." Short run-through (0:45). Jarrett: "That was nice." Macero: "Yeah, it's very nice... Yeah, that's got a nice blend. All these things, I'm putting together the book..." Davis: "I was so mad that I didn't say what I wanted to say, you know?" Macero: "Well that's great. Why not? I -- that's just what I told Alton, I told him to go fuck himself... I says, 'And don't call me any more, I'm recording.' He says, 'You're recording?' I says, 'Yes, I'm recording Miles...' OK, here's... He says, he said, 'Just because you got a head writer can't talk to you now...' So I didn't make it, Miles made it..."
6	Nem Um Talvez (take 5) (H. Pascoal)	2:57
	Macero: "Here we go, five..." Complete take (2:45). Davis: "Play some of that, Teo..." Macero: "That's very good. You gonna play..." [cut off]
7	Nem Um Talvez (take 6) (H. Pascoal)	1:23
	Macero: "Six..." Davis: "I can't play a minute -- I can't get the sound..." Macero: "I wonder if we couldn't put, um... OK.. This'll be six..." Davis: "Play that during [undecipherable]" False start(0:07). Davis: "He and I play, just he and I..." Two false starts (0:05, 0:28) then Davis: "I can't play without...fuckin' up my [undecipherable]..." Macero: "How 'bout a -- how 'bout just a rag, you know, and I think..."
8	Nem Um Talvez (take 7) (H. Pascoal)	2:13
	Macero: "Seven..." False start (0:05). Davis: "It's too...low, John. It's supposed to have that waaaahhh, like that..." Another false start (0:10), then Davis: "I'm still playing with the high [undecipherable]... Short rehearsal (0:18); McLaughlin asks how to play and Davis tells him, "Just straight. No runnin' nothin'..." McLaughlin: "Hmm?" Davis: "No run -- no runs, without it just waaaaahhh..." Another false start (0:07). Davis: "That's fine, don't play that, John... (Davis plays a single swelling note) That's the sound." Short rehearsal (0:19), then Davis: "What's wrong with that mic? The mic is singin', it needs a lot of bass in it..." Macero: "OK... We're gonna roll off some of the top end out of that..."
9	Nem Um Talvez (take 8) (H. Pascoal)	5:26
	Macero: "Eight." Two false starts (0:02, 0:06). Davis interrupts: "Don't play that, Keith..." Complete take (2:27). Davis: "You got a [undecipherable]..." Another take (2:22). Macero: "We'll play it..."
10	Nem Um Talvez (take 9A) (H. Pascoal)	3:03
	Macero: "Nine." Henderson noodling (0:09), then a complete take (2:46).
11	Nem Um Talvez (take 9B) (H. Pascoal)	1:21
	Two false starts (0:10, 0:08), then brief rehearsal (0:32) followed by another false start (0:18)
12	Nem Um Talvez (take 9C) (H. Pascoal)	1:00
	Short run-through (0:56)
13	Nem Um Talvez (take 9D) (H. Pascoal)	1:53
	Another short run-through (1:47) followed by Pascoal's enthusiastic chatter
14	Nem Um Talvez (take 10) (H. Pascoal)	5:18
	Macero: "Ten..." False start (0:31) ends with a Davis clam. Another false start (0:03) interrupted by Davis: "Don't play... Uh-uh, wait till we come in to play..." Muffled exchange involving Davis, Hancock, Henderson. Davis: "Teo, I want that air in there, you know. Let's place some air to -- between [undecipherable]... No, just straight air..." Longer run-through, no vocal (2:43). Macero: "Yeah!"
15	Nem Um Talvez (take 11) (H. Pascoal)	1:18
	Macero: "All right, this'll be eleven..." Five false starts (0:07, 0:08, 0:09, 0:07, 0:06)
16	Nem Um Talvez (take 12) (H. Pascoal)	3:07
	Macero: "Twelve..." Three more false starts (0:02, 0:05, 0:04). Longer false start (0:22) interrupted by Davis, talking to Henderson: "Just start when you want to. Wait till the note gets clear, you know? How you ever gonna get the feel of it if you go ter-blb-blb-blb-blb? You gotta think straight, you gotta think of a note then with no beginning and no end... Just straight..." Another false start (0:29). Davis: "Remember that, Michael, that's just [undecipherable]..." Henderson: "Nobody's tryin' to deal with time, this is..." Davis: "Here you go..." Short run-through (0:48)
17	Nem Um Talvez (take 14) (H. Pascoal)	3:34
	Macero: "Fourteen." Three false starts (0:01, 0:03, 0:29) followed by a complete take (2:33). Afterward Davis: "Teo, I can't hear..." Macero: "Yeah..."
18	Nem Um Talvez (take 15) (H. Pascoal)	3:15
	Macero: "Fifteen." Two false starts (0:03, 0:07), the second interrupted by Davis: "Just bend the note..." Complete take (2:37), afterward Macero: "We'll play it back..."
19	Nem Um Talvez (take 16) (H. Pascoal)	0:48
	Macero: "Sixteen..." Henderson tuning, followed by a short run-through (0:34)
20	Nem Um Talvez (take 17) (H. Pascoal)	3:28
	Macero: "Seventeen..." Davis: "[undecipherable] play the melody..." Henderson tuning (0:11), then a complete take (2:47). Macero: "Good, I got two good parts..."
21	Nem Um Talvez (take 18A) (H. Pascoal)	0:36
	Macero: "This'll be eighteen..." Organ and bass rehearsing (0:17). Davis: John..." McLaughlin; "You mean the bottom [undecipherable]" More rehearsal (0:14)
22	Nem Um Talvez (take 18B) (H. Pascoal)	0:53
	Macero: "Eighteen..." McLaughlin tuning, then a short run-through (0:31), followed by a short rehearsal with trumpet, organ, and percussion (0:14)
23	Nem Um Talvez (take 19) (H. Pascoal)	3:09
	Macero: "Nineteen..." McLaughlin and Henderson tuning, then a false start (0:08), followed by a complete take (2:46). Macero: "OK, we'll play that one back..."
24	Nem Um Talvez (composite take) (H. Pascoal)	8:31


20 Nem Um Talvez (take 17) CD: Columbia Legacy C5K 86359, Columbia Legacy C5K 90926, Sony SICP 431/5
23 Nem Um Talvez (take 19) CD: Columbia Legacy C5K 86359, Columbia Legacy C5K 90926, Sony SICP 431/5

This tune -- the title means "Not Even a Maybe" -- is different from the one recorded on June 3 and issued on Columbia C 30954 as "Nem Um Talvez." The two versions issued in The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions are taken from the items listed above:

Issued version	Source
Nem Um Talvez take 17	Take 17, 0:28-3:16
New Um Talvez take 19	Take 19, 0:17-3:04

The unissued composite take listed above was constructed as follows:

Composite version	Source
0:00-2:42	Nem Um Talvez take 15
2:42-5:40	Nem Um Talvez take 17
5:40-8:31	New Um Talvez take 19

Davis had various groups in the studio throughout the first half of 1970 -- fourteen dates in the first half of the year! Some of the music recorded in the studio during this period -- e.g. "Willie Nelson," "Honky Tonk," "The Mask" -- was immediately added to the live book.

The Davis Septet (with Corea and Jarrett on keyboards) was busy in the summer: Fillmore East, New York (June 17-20); Hampton Roads Coliseum (July 3); Central Park, New York (July 6); Hollywood Bowl (July 10); Randall's Island, New York (July 18); Madison Square Garden, New York (July 25); Shea Stadium, New York (August 6); SUNY Stony Brook (August 16); Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood (August 18). At the end of the summer the Septet played at the Isle of Wight Festival (August 29).

I am grateful to Len Pogost for help with this session.