"U 'n' I" is listed in the Columbia files as "Miles Rap." The original issued version was recorded on August 29 or 30.
"Star People" is listed in the files simply as "Blues."
"Untitled blues" is included on a cassette reference copy from this session.
The issued version of "Star People" includes a short synth and guitar introduction (0:00-0:33) and interlude (12:39-13:20).
These two inserts were recorded at the January 5, 1983 session along with "It Gets Better."
The first g solo is edited in the beginning to 1:46, and the el-b solo after the guitar solo is omitted.
The tpt solo following the g solo until 12:39 is taken from the last 8:47 min of take 6 (edit).
The passage from 13:20-18:47 is the complete take 6 (insert). The ts solo is edited to 0:45.
Davis played "Star People" in nearly every live performance from late August 1982 until his death in 1991.
The tune evolved during this long period but it is recognizable as the same basic tune. The title of the tune
changed to "New Blues" around the time Davis left Columbia for Warner Brothers; that tune was credited to
Erin Davis. I will refer to the tune as "Star People [New Blues]" during the Columbia years and as
"New Blues [Star People]" afterward.
I am grateful to Enrico Merlin for discussions on this matter. He wrote me several years ago:
As I pointed out in my discography for Paul Tingen's book
[Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991, p. 337],
I think "New Blues" is an evolution of "Star People." Miles began performing "Star
People" on August 28, 1982, and the tune became a staple of his live performances... The performance of the tune
gradually developed over the years, although the basic chord scheme remained the same. The title "New Blues"
appeared for the first time on Miles in Paris VHS video (Warner Brothers 38186-3), then [was] repeated
on Miles Around the World (Warner Brothers 9 46032-2). What's curious is that the composition of the
tune is credited to Erin Davis. This was done for contractual... reasons. Miles didn't want to publish
any new composition on Warner Brothers under his name.
The song is basically a 24-bar blues with chord substitutions. The main form is:
/ Bb7 / D7/#9 / Eb7 / Ab7 A7 / Bb7 / D7#9 / Eb7 / F7 /
/ Eb7 / Eb7 / E7° / E7° / Bb7 / A7 / Ab7 / G7 /
/ C7 / C7 / F7 / F7 / Ab7 / G7 / Gb7 / F7 /
Usually there are two stops, one on first downbeat of bar 1 and a second one on the first upbeat of bar 16.
As I said, the song evolved gradually through the years. Sometimes it was played in 3/4 time, but only for a
brief period. Sometimes the changes were slightly different -- mainly for extemporary arrangements of the
keyboard players. We can say that the last version (Hollywood 1991) is different in terms of arrangement,
time, and approach from the early version, but during the almost-10-years-performances there wasn't any
precise moment in which this blues switched from "Star People" to "New Blues." It was a continuous and
constant metamorphosis.
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