Session details: Columbia Studio B (January 16, 1968)

Miles Ahead session details

January 16, 1968 (26 items; TT = 45:26)

Columbia Studio B, New York NY

Commercial for Columbia

Show chatter

Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ts); Herbie Hancock (p, el-p); George Benson (g); Ron Carter (b); Tony Williams (d)

1	Teo's Bag (rehearsal) (M. Davis)	1:03
2	Teo's Bag (take 1) (M. Davis)	0:57
	Macero: "All right, CO 98200, take one... You wanna hear it? OK..."
3	Teo's Bag (take 2) (M. Davis)	0:39
	Macero: "This'll be take two..." Hancock: "Hey Ron, you wanna play the third bar, pick up on the third bar?" (Sings.) "Just that part..." As the tune winds down Davis says, "You gotta get in that..." (Sings.)
4	Teo's Bag (take 3 fs) (M. Davis)	0:11
	"Three..."
5	Teo's Bag (take 4) (M. Davis)	1:07
	As the tune winds down Davis says, "Hey, play that back, Teo."
6	Teo's Bag (take 5 fs) (M. Davis)	0:23
	Macero: "OK. This'll be take five..." Hancock: "Just play that, play the chords for one more chorus..." Davis: "All it is is playin'..." Hancock: "...and then they come in with the melody."
7	Teo's Bag (take 6) (M. Davis)	0:40
	As the tune winds down Davis says "You gotta stay on top of it. Can you hear me? Hey, Teo, can I get over there?"
8	Teo's Bag (take 7) (M. Davis)	6:11
	Macero: "This is take seven..." Hancock: "Maybe cuz I'm tryin' to listen..." (Chatter not included on issued versions.)
9	Teo's Bag (take 8 fs) (M. Davis)	0:48
	Macero: "Take eight..." Noodling. Davis: "Tony, if you can hear me, I can hear you. If you don't play too loud, you can hear me." Williams: "Are you sayin' don't play at all?" Davis: "Just do the best you can."
10	Teo's Bag (take 9 fs) (M. Davis)	0:16
11	Teo's Bag (take 10) (M. Davis)	0:35
12	Teo's Bag (take 11) (M. Davis)	0:19
	Macero: "Eleven..." At the end Davis says, "You can play anything like that..."
13	Teo's Bag (take 12) (M. Davis)	0:48
	"OK, that's it. Take twelve..." As the tune winds down Hancock asks, "Want me to stay out of that more?" Davis: "Yessir." Hancock: "All right..."
14	Teo's Bag (new take 1) (M. Davis)	1:29
	Macero: "New take one..." Hancock: "Or d'you want me to hit that B-flat chord?" Davis: "Yeah..." At the breakdown Davis says, "Start right on the solo."
15	Teo's Bag (new take 2) (M. Davis)	1:56
	"Uh, take two..." At the breakdown Davis complains, "Teo, I'm soundin' like I'm playin' in a wall. Can I get any kind of feedback or somethin' -- you know what I mean?" Macero: "Yeah. Well, he can come over closer that'd be all right." Davis: "Well I sound like I'm playin'..."
16	Teo's Bag (new take 3 fs) (M. Davis)	0:08
	"Take three..."
17	Teo's Bag (new take 4) (M. Davis)	0:18
18	Teo's Bag (new take 5) (M. Davis)	1:27
	Macero: "Five." Davis: "Can I rehearse the earphones?" Macero (laughing): "Yeah, you want it a little louder?" Davis: "No, softer." Macero: "A little softer, OK, hold on. Five..." Rehearsal. Davis: "Hey Tony, B-flat for two bars." Shorter: "Hey Herbie, listen." Plays chords. "Play it again, then B-flat." Hancock: "Uh-huh."
19	Teo's Bag (new take 6) (M. Davis)	2:02
	"Six..."
20	Teo's Bag (new take 7) (M. Davis)	6:24
	The version issued on KC2 36278 uses a spliced-in insert ending (it begins at 5:38); the version on Mosaic and Columbia Legacy C6K 67398 (5:53, minus the chatter) is as played
	"One more time? All right, stand by, take seven..."
21	Paraphernalia (take 1A) (W. Shorter)	2:13
	"CO 98201, take one..." At the breakdown Benson says, "It's always like that." Davis: "You know if I start, the next chord I'm gonna play is A. Right? Try it." Unknown: "Start on B..."
22	Paraphernalia (take 1B) (W. Shorter)	1:40
23	Paraphernalia (take 2 fs) (W. Shorter)	0:10
	"Hold on. CO 98201, take two..."
24	Paraphernalia (take 3 fs) (W. Shorter)	0:45
25	Paraphernalia (take 4) (W. Shorter)	0:20
26	Paraphernalia (take 5) (W. Shorter)	12:37
	"Five..." As the tune winds down, Davis says "Let's hear some of that, Teo..."


8 Teo's Bag (take 7) 12" LP: Mosaic MQ10-177 CD: Columbia Legacy C6K 67398, Columbia Legacy C6K 90925, Sony SRCS 8575/80, Sony SICP 663/8
20 Teo's Bag (new take 7) 12" LP: Columbia KC2 36278, CBS/Sony 36AP 1409/10, Mosaic MQ10-177 CD: Columbia Legacy C2K 46862, Columbia Legacy C6K 67398, Columbia Legacy C6K 90925, CBS/Sony CSCS 5340/1, Sony SRCS 9308/9, Sony SRCS 9759/60, Sony SICJ 30111/2, Sony SRCS 8575/80, Sony SICP 663/8, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 3)
26 Paraphernalia (take 5) 12" LP: Columbia CS 9628, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory MFSL 2-45437, CBS/Sony SONP 50023, CBS/Sony SONZ 54014, CBS/Sony SOPL 168, CBS/Sony 18AP 2073, CBS/Sony 23AP 2573, Mosaic MQ10-177 CD: Columbia CK 48954, Columbia CK 65684, Columbia Legacy C6K 67398, Columbia Legacy C6K 90925, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2147, CBS/Sony 32DP 728, Sony SRCS 5711, Sony SRCS 9305, Sony SRCS 8575/80, Sony SICP 663/8, Sony SRCS 9711, Sony SICP 830, Sony SICJ 30073, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 30)

George Benson plays on all takes of "Paraphernalia" -- which is listed as "Paraphenalia" on the track sheet -- but not on "Teo's Bag." The latter, composed by Herbie Hancock, is also known as "The Collector." It was recorded in 1966 by Shorter and Hancock on the former's Adam's Apple (Blue Note BST 84232, released 1970). "Paraphernalia" was quickly added to the live book, and Davis continued to perform it off and on until mid-1970.

Benson recalls that recording sessions were scheduled on the two days prior to the January 16 session, but that Davis left before the group played anything. (Benson's recollection is that the aborted sessions occurred on two days immediately preceding the session on Tuesday, January 16th; but it seems unlikely that a session would be slated on a Sunday, so perhaps Benson has omitted a few days of waiting.) According to Benson, when confronted by Teo Macero about the reason for his behavior, Davis angrily replied, "Man, when I asked you for a guitar player, why'd you send Joe Beck? You know they can't swing..." Benson was embarrassed for Macero and John Hammond; Macero, obviously accustomed to Davis' opinions, replied, "We know what we're doing, Miles. Trust us. Let's just play some music." See Benson: The Autobiography (New York: Da Capo, 2014), pp. 123-27. I am grateful to Carl Woideck and Masaya Yamaguchi for the Benson material.

In his book Milestones (volume 2, pp. 121-22), Jack Chambers, citing Martin Williams' "Recording Miles Davis," collected in his Jazz Heritage, claims that an additional untitled Hancock original was recorded (in sixteen takes!) at the beginning of this session, but there is no mention of this mysterious tune on the track sheets or in any studio notes I am aware of. They are probably thinking of "Teo's Bag" which did require nineteen takes (plus an insert).

It was in talking about "Paraphernalia" to Art Taylor that Davis explained his use of guitarists like Benson during this period:

If you can hear a bass line, then any note in the sound that you play can be heard, because you have the bottom. We change the bass line quite a bit on all the songs we play. It varies. So I figured that if I wrote a bass line, we could vary it so that it would have a sound a little larger than a five-piece group. By using the electric piano and having Herbie play the bass line and the chords with the guitar, and Ron also playing with him in the same register, I thought it would sound good. It came out all right. It was a nice sound." (Notes and Tones (1977), interview with Davis).

In the fist six weeks of 1968 Davis spent a lot of time in the studio with the Quintet and several guests. He was interviewed on January 22 by Art Taylor for his book Notes and Tones (quoted above). The frenetic studio activity continued until mid-February, at which point the Quintet resumed an active touring schedule.