1 Once upon a Summertime (take 2/4)
12" LP: Columbia CL 2106 (= CS 8906), Analogue Productions APJ 8851-45, Nippon Columbia YS-420, CBS/Sony SONP 50163, CBS/Sony SOPU 84, CBS/Sony 20AP 1407, Mosaic MQ11-164
CD: Columbia CK 65293, Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, CBS/Sony 32DP 516, Sony SRCS 5703, Sony SRCS 9318, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62, Sony SRCS 9734, Sony SIGP 2, Sony SICP 819, Sony SICP 4018, Sony SICJ 30058, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 17)

2 Song No. 2 (take 4/8)
12" LP: Columbia CL 2106 (= CS 8906), Analogue Productions APJ 8851-45, Nippon Columbia YS-420, CBS/Sony SONP 50163, CBS/Sony SOPU 84, CBS/Sony 20AP 1407, Mosaic MQ11-164
CD: Columbia CK 65293, Columbia Legacy CXK 67397, Columbia Legacy CXK 90923, CBS/Sony 32DP 516, Sony SRCS 5703, Sony SRCS 9318, Sony SRCS 7945/50, Sony SICP 657/62, Sony SRCS 9734, Sony SIGP 2, Sony SICP 819, Sony SICP 4018, Sony SICJ 30058, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 17)

This is the last of three sessions with the Gil Evans Orchestra looking for the successor to Sketches of Spain. These much-maligned 1962 studio sessions were prompted by the "bossa nova" craze started by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd's Jazz Samba album. The album (and many others like it) were popular among swingers in the early 1960s. Earlier sessions (July 27 and August 13) yielded only four short tunes; after this the project was put on hold until this session -- and things did not improve when it resumed. Leonard Feather spoke for many when he complained in a Down Beat essay on Gil Evans that Columbia was "scrap[ing] the bottom of its corporate barrel" with this project. (Feather's four-star review in the March 12, 1964 issue of Down Beat began, "This is a curious and not entirely satisfying album...") Davis was furious when the record came out, shunning Teo Macero and Columbia's New York studios for more than three years. When Gregg Hall asked Davis in 1974, "What was the reason why you didn't speak to Teo [Macero] for two and a half years one time?", Davis answered, "'Cause he fucked up Quiet Nights..." (Down Beat, July 18, 1974, p. 18).

After the flurry of Columbia studio activity and live recording in the spring of 1961, Davis was relatively inactive during 1961-1962. He was evidently unhappy with Hank Mobley, though he did not replace him until sometime the following year. Davis added J.J. Johnson to the group in May-June 1961, and the Sextet was booked for a week at Philadelphia's Show Boat Lounge (June 5-10) and for two weeks at the Village Vanguard (June 27-July 9). They played at the Randall's Island Jazz Festival (August 26), and returned to the Village Vanguard for two weeks (September 12-24). Johnson performed with the group at The Birdhouse in Chicago (September 27-October 8), as evidenced by wonderful photographs taken by Laird Scott, and in Los Angeles at Club Renaissance (October 12-19). The year closed out with engagements at the Minor Key Club, Detroit (December 7-10) and the Jazz Gallery, New York (December 21, 1961-January 3, 1962). Saxophonist Rocky Boyd is sometimes said to have joined the group for some of these shows.

Touring continued in 1962: Howard Theatre, Washington (January 12-18 -- Philly Joe Jones on drums, and Johnson apparently did not make this gig); Regal Theatre, Chicago (February 23-March 1); and Sutherland Hotel Lounge, Chicago (March 7-18). A two-week engagement at Club Renaissance in Los Angeles (March 20-April 3) was canceled. On to Indiana University Auditorium (March 24 -- a benefit for the Indiana NAACP for which Davis did not show!). The group was booked for two stretches at the Village Vanguard (April 3-9 and April 17-29), between which they played a week at the Minor Key Club, Detroit (April 12-15). A two-week engagement at the Sutherland in Chicago (May 1-13) was canceled, but the group performed at Kansas City's Mardi Gras Club (May 18-28). Davis' father died during this engagement, and Davis attended the funeral in St. Louis. In June the group traveled west: Music Box Theatre, Los Angeles (June 1-10); Blackhawk Supper Club, San Francisco (June 12-July 1); Penthouse Theatre, Seattle (July 4-10); Minor Key, Detroit (August 16-19); La Comédie Canadienne, Montréal (August 24-25; Davis filled in for an ailing Sonny Rollins for the August 25 matinée); Showboat Club, Philadelphia (September 17-22); Village Vanguard, New York (November 13-19); Old Brown Theatre, Louisville KY (December 1). A four-night engagement at the Music Box Club, Cleveland (December 6-9) was canceled and rescheduled for December 27-30. The group was booked for a week at the Uptown Theatre, Philadelphia (December 25-January 1) -- Davis missed one of the shows on the 25th, played until the 30th, and walked out on the 31st, leaving his trumpet behind and missing the last two days of the gig. Mobley is still listed as the saxophonist at the end of 1962.