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Miles Ahead session details

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March 3, 5, & 6, 1990 (9 items; TT = 30:32)
Crystal Sound Recording Studios, Los Angeles CA
Commercial for Warner Brothers

Miles Davis (tpt, synth); Chuck Findlay (tpt); Nolan Smith (tpt); Ray Brown (tpt); George Graham (tpt); Oscar Brashear (tpt); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); Dick Nash (tb); George Bohannon (tb); Thurman Green (tb); Lou McGreary (tb); Vincent De Rosa (frh); Marnie Johnson (frh); Richard Todd (frh); Buddy Collette (woodwinds); Jackie Kelso (woodwinds); Marty Krystall (woodwinds); Bill Green (woodwinds); Charles Owens (woodwinds); John Stephens (woodwinds); Kenny Garrett (as); Kei Akagi (keyb); Alan Oldfield (keyb); Joe "Foley" McCreary (g); Mark Rivett (g); Benny Rietveld (el-b); Abraham Laboriel (el-b); Ricky Wellman (d, perc); Alphonse Mouzon (d, perc); Harvey Mason (d, perc); John Bigham (perc); Unknown choir (voc); Michel Legrand (keyb, cond, arr)

1 The Arrival (M. Legrand) 2:06
2 Concert on the Runway (M. Legrand) 4:15
3 The Departure (M. Legrand) 2:05
4 Trumpet Cleaning (M. Legrand) 3:56
5 The Dream (M. Legrand) 3:49
6 Paris Walking II (M. Legrand) 3:18
7 The Music Room (M. Legrand) 2:50

Davis (synth) and Findley (tpt) only
8 The Jam Session (M. Legrand) 6:00

Davis, Findley, unknown (tpt) plus synth, el-b, d, perc
9 Going Home (M. Legrand) 2:13

A second Davis tpt part is overdubbed


1 The Arrival
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

2 Concert on the Runway
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

3 The Departure
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

4 Trumpet Cleaning
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

5 The Dream
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

6 Paris Walking II
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

7 The Music Room
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

8 The Jam Session
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012

9 Going Home
12" LP: Warner Brothers 1-026438
CD: Warner Brothers 1-026438 , Warner Jazz (UK) 8122 797195-2, R2 74360, Warner Music Group 0081227950101, Rhino (F) 5249878472
Video: GHReycat Home Video GC801, Spectrum Films SP3012


The music listed is from the soundtrack to Dingo. Only titles with Davis are included. Excerpts of film dialogue are heard on several titles.

The opening dialogue in "Concert on the Runway" was used in the issued version of "Paradise" recorded on November 16, 1985.

About this music George Cole writes

Miles plays "The Arrival," "Concert on the Runway," "The Departure," "Trumpet Cleaning," "The Dream," "Paris Walking II," "The Jam Session," and "Going Home." The tracks "Departure," "The Dream," and "Going Home" are essentially different arrangements of "Arrival." [...] The film finds Miles playing more like his style of the 1950s and early 1960s, which no doubt pleased many fans of his older music. (The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis, p. 424)

Davis was overdubbed after Legrand had recorded all the music. He and his group participated on March 3, 5, and 6; McCreary was present only on March 3. There may have been up to six days of recording, and additional overdubbing may have been done in New York late in the summer.

According to Gordon Meltzer (quoted by Cole), the music was recorded before filming started, and Davis spent two weeks filming in the Australian outback and two weeks in Paris.

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