[light] [dark]

Miles Ahead session details

[Return to main page]

February 23, 1957 (13 items; TT = 47:10)
Peacock Alley Lounge, St. Louis MO
KSTL-AM radio broadcast (B)
Show chatter

Miles Davis (tpt); John Coltrane (ts); William "Red" Garland (p); Paul Chambers (b); Philly Joe Jones (d); Jesse "Spider" Burks (ann)

1 Introduction (Spider Burks) 0:04
2 Two Bass Hit (J. Lewis-D. Gillespie) 5:15
3 Introduction (Spider Burks) 0:06
4 Well, You Needn't (inc) (T. Monk) 8:09

Splice at 5:21 excises end of tenor solo and beginning of piano solo. Soulard and Jazz Factory include another splice (at 6:26) where about 20 seconds of bass solo is excised
5 Introduction (Spider Burks) 0:11
6 Billy Boy (Traditional) 8:46

Rhythm section only
7 Introduction (Spider Burks) 0:10
8 All of You (C. Porter) 11:11

Incomplete (4:07) on Soulard and Jazz Factory -- part of bass solo, all of drum solo, and part of closing theme excised
9 Introduction (Spider Burks) 0:05
10 Oleo (S. Rollins) 6:04
11 Introduction (Spider Burks) 0:14
12 Airegin (S. Rollins) 5:46
13 The Theme (inc) (M. Davis) 1:09

Faded at 1:09


1 Introduction (Spider Burks)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

2 Two Bass Hit
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

3 Introduction (Spider Burks)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

4 Well, You Needn't (inc)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

5 Introduction (Spider Burks)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

6 Billy Boy
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

7 Introduction (Spider Burks)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

8 All of You
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

9 Introduction (Spider Burks)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

10 Oleo
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

11 Introduction (Spider Burks)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

12 Airegin
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770

13 The Theme (inc)
CD: Soulard VGM-SOU 1997, Jazz Factory JFCD 22879, Rare Live Records RLR 88770


The Soulard CD lists the date for this performance as July 14, 1956, but this seems to be wrong. Spider Burks was fired by KXLW-AM on July 11, 1956, two days before the Davis Quintet opened a nine-day stop at Peacock Alley (July 13-21, Friday-Saturday). He was hired by KSTL-AM in August 1956 and quickly began live Saturday matinée broadcasts from Peacock Alley. The Davis Quintet returned to Peacock Alley in February 1957 for another nine-day engagement (Friday, February 15 through Saturday, February 23). In all likelihood, then, the Soulard material comes from broadcasts on February 16 and 23, and the correct station is KSTL-AM. Thanks to Chris DeVito for careful research here.

In the first few months of 1957 the Davis Quintet spent very little time in New York: Jazz City, Hollywood (January 4-17); Blackhawk Supper Club, San Francisco (January 22-February 10); Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh (Wednesday, February 13, two shows); Peacock Alley, St. Louis (February 15-23); Preview's Modern Jazz Room, Chicago (February 27-March 10); Comedy Club, Baltimore (March 26-31); Café Bohemia, New York (April 5-28, last 2+ wks canceled). The Quintet was disbanded during the Café Bohemia engagement -- Davis fired Coltrane and Philly Joe Jones for increasingly erratic behavior. Curtis Fuller may have participated in some of the performances at the Bohemia.

All original content on this website is licensed by Peter Losin under a Creative Commons License