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Miles Ahead session details

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February 25-March 2, 1969 (9 items; TT = 85:19)
Duffy's Backstage, Rochester NY
Audience recording (B-)

Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ss, ts); Chick Corea (el-p); Dave Holland (b); Jack De Johnette (d)

First concert
1 On Green Dolphin Street (inc) (N. Washington-B. Kaper) 12:17

Missing opening note
2 So What (M. Davis) 9:01
3 Nefertiti (inc) (W. Shorter) 8:37

Splice at 3:12. The last 3:28 sounds like "Agitation" although the theme is never played straight
4 No Blues (M. Davis) 14:58
5 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 0:11

Second concert
6 Gingerbread Boy (inc) (J. Heath) 6:30

Begins during Davis solo; splice at 4:24
7 Paraphernalia (W. Shorter) 14:37

Splice at 4:25
8 No Blues (M. Davis) 18:59
9 The Theme (with applause) (M. Davis) 0:09


Since full versions of "No Blues" appear in both medleys, this music is probably from different concerts, maybe even different dates. Some tapes of the first medley are 3-4% slow, and the times listed here are from a speed-corrected copy.

Many people have helped with the details of this session, though I still don't know the exact date for this music. Mel Wilcox, who was a bartender at Duffy's during this period, supplied possible dates, as did Tom Hampson. Thomas Marcello supplied the correct name of the venue. Jan Lohmann and Enrico Merlin provided additional help with the dates. It was during this gig (February 26) that John Walter took the photograph that appears on the back of the original issue of In a Silent Way (Columbia CS 9875). It's possible that the Quintet returned to Duffy's later in the spring, and this may account for some of the uncertainty about the dates.

The Quintet resumed its busy schedule of live dates in the spring: Club Baron, New York (January 25-February 16); Duffy's Backstage, Rochester (February 25-March 2); Cellar Door, Washington (March 10-15); SUNY-Stony Brook Gymnasium (March 21); Village Gate, New York (April 25-26, May 23-24, and July 29-August 10); Lennie's on the Turnpike, West Peabody (May 5-11); Spectrum, Philadelphia (May 11).

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