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Miles Ahead session details

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April 12, 1973 (12 items; TT = 73:09)
Aycock Auditorium, UNC-Greensboro, Greensboro NC
Audience recording (C+)

Miles Davis (tpt); Dave Liebman (ss, ts, fl); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Reggie Lucas (g); Khalil Balakrishna (sitar); Lonnie Liston Smith (keyb); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Badal Roy (tabla); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)

First set
1 Band warming up 0:07
2 Turnaroundphrase (M. Davis) 11:21
3 Tune in 5 (M. Davis) 5:46
4 Black Satin (M. Davis) 5:30
5 Tune in 5 (M. Davis) 1:17
6 Black Satin (inc) (M. Davis) 7:25

Cut off at 7:25

Second set
7 Right Off (M. Davis) 9:15
8 Ife (M. Davis) 11:15
9 Agharta Prelude (M. Davis) 4:42
10 Tune in 5 (M. Davis) 1:20
11 Zimbabwe (M. Davis) 8:47
12 Tune in 5 (with applause) (M. Davis) 6:24

Rhythm machine/rhythm box/cga solos from 3:30


This is the first appearance of "Tune in 5" and "Turnaroundphrase" in the Davis live book (though they may have been performed earlier in the tour).

It isn't clear where the name "Turnaroundphrase" came from, but it is by now well-entrenched enough that I retain it. Enrico Merlin prefers "Moja" (and "Nne," since there are two themes) on the grounds that these are the titles under which they are listed on Dark Magus, the first "official" record on which the tune appears. But "Moja" and "Nne" are just the Swahili names of the numbers one and four; the other two sides of Dark Magus are called, not surprisingly, "Wili" (two) and "Tatu" (three).

"Tune in 5" is played here four times. It was frequently played more than once in a concert, sometimes briefly as an interlude or transition between tunes. In later concerts, other tunes were superimposed on the rhythmic base of "Tune in 5."

Davis replaced Cedric Lawson with Lonnie Liston Smith sometime in February or March, before leaving New York for a tour of Canada and several U.S. cities: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Vancouver (March 30); Paramount Theatre, Portland (April 4), Paramount Theatre, Seattle (April 5); Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles (April 6); Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke University (April 12); Crampton Auditorium, Washington (April 13); Greek Theatre, Berkeley (April 26); Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica (May 1); Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles (May 2); Bailey Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca (May 4); Pine Knob Musical Theatre, Detroit (June 9).

At the end of the tour, Smith, Balakrishna, and Roy left the group, and Davis took over the keyboard duties himself. At this point the next great Davis working group was in place.

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