Session details: Columbia Studio B (August 19, 1969)

Miles Ahead session details

August 19, 1969 (20 items; TT = 79:04)

Columbia Studio B, New York NY

Commercial for Columbia

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Miles Davis (tpt); Wayne Shorter (ss); Bennie Maupin (bcl); John McLaughlin (g); Chick Corea (el-p); Josef Zawinul (el-p); Dave Holland (b); Harvey Brooks (el-b); Jack De Johnette (d); Lenny White (d); Charles Don Alias (d, perc); Jumma Santos [Jim Riley] (perc)

1	Bitches Brew (rehearsal) (M. Davis)	2:45
	Macero: "OK, we're rollin'..." Tuning up. They play (0:51-1:35); Holland has questions about the bass line; more rehearsal (2:02-2:45)
2	Bitches Brew (rehearsal) (M. Davis)	1:59
	Macero: "We're rollin'..." After the breakdown Davis says, "Lenny, I want you to play some rolls that sound like aaaaAAAAHHHHH... Like that..."
3	Bitches Brew (take 1) (M. Davis)	4:09
	Macero: "This is CO, ah, 103745, take one..." Various tuning up and noodling. Davis: "Hey, Teo!" Macero: "Yes!" Davis: "How can I hear this, then? It's ringin'... Aren't you gonna put any of that out here?" Macero: "It should be, you should hear it out there; we'll give it a little more..." Davis plays: "Put it way up." Macero: "OK. It sounds nice, doesn't it?" Davis: "Yeah. Now if I could get it to go in something it'd be nice..." Macero: "Oh, sh..., you'll make it -- shit, just give 'em a downbeat..." Rehearsal. Davis: "Teo tries to be free -- that's his way, he's tryin' to be free..." (Davis counts off.) "Hey Teo, keep all this, we'll tie it together..." Various false starts. Davis: "Good, you can hear it all back." Macero: "Would you like to hear it all? OK. We got first..." (cut off)
4	Bitches Brew (part 2 take 1) (M. Davis)	0:34
	Macero: "This'll be part two of CO 103755, take one..." Very brief two-note bass passage (0:02), then cut to McLaughlin tuning. Macero: "Yeah, that's great, I..."
5	Bitches Brew (part 2 take 2) (M. Davis)	0:22
	Macero: "Part two, take two." DeJohnette: "Maybe you oughta have one of those bells..." Holland practicing. "For that last one, be-be-be..." One note, then Davis says, "I'll play that, Teo, like that." Macero: "Yeah!"
6	Bitches Brew (part 3 take 1) (M. Davis)	2:18
	Macero: "Part three, take one." Holland practicing. Holland: "I could play the top line Miles, how 'bout that?" Davis: "Hey John, you can play [undecipherable]..." Short take (0:13). Discussion. False start (0:02). More discussion and practicing. Another short take (0:19). More discussion and rehearsing. Another false start (0:04)
7	Bitches Brew (part 3 take 2) (M. Davis)	1:05
	Macero: "Two. This'll be part three, take two." Holland and McLaughlin discuss the bass line. As the take begins, Davis yells, "Hey, Teo, come on!" and Macero replies, "We're recording!" Breakdown after 0:24. Inaudible discussion, then Davis says, "Teo, part of that's nice, part of it isn't." Macero: "Huh, lemme find this thing..."
8	Bitches Brew (part 4 take 1) (M. Davis)	0:21
	Macero: "This'll be part four, take one." Short excerpt of beginning (0:05), then cut. Macero: "OK."
9	Bitches Brew (part 4 take 2) (M. Davis)	6:52
	Macero: "Part four, take two." Brief rehearsal (0:06), then long take (6:42), at the end of which Davis complains, "Hey Teo, I can't hear nothin' over here, man. I can't hear myself." Issued without chatter as "John McLaughlin" (alternate take)
10	Bitches Brew (part 5 take 1) (M. Davis)	0:26
	Macero: "This'll be part five, take one..." Davis: "Come on, Jack, sit down, man..." Cut. Macero: "OK, you wanna hear it out there?"
11	Sanctuary (take 2 - slated, no music) (W. Shorter-M. Davis)	0:13
	Macero: "All right, here we go, CO 103746, Sanctuary, take two..." No music
12	Pharaoh's Dance (rehearsal) (J. Zawinul)	3:20
	Macero: "OK, this is rehearsal." Rehearsal. Davis: "Come on, Joe. Give it to John." Bass and keyboards work out bass line. They play (0:29). More work on the bass line
13	Pharaoh's Dance (take 1) (J. Zawinul)	4:04
	Macero: "All right, I'm gonna give it a CO number so I can find it. CO 103747, take one..." Various noodling until 1:07, then a couple false starts (0:09, 0:12). Davis: "Teo, can you play that back?" Macero: "Yeah. We're recording." A couple more false starts (0:11, 0:48), then more rehearsing
14	Pharaoh's Dance (take 2) (J. Zawinul)	4:25
	Macero: "Ah, take two..." They play (1:17), followed by more discussion of the bass line. They play (0:42). Davis: "Hey Joe, gimme a bar and I'll play..." They play the ascending passage in unison. Davis: "Gimme a cue [undecipherable]". They play (0:28). More discussion. They play (0:36). More discussion
15	Pharaoh's Dance (rehearsal) (J. Zawinul)	1:42
	Macero: "Why don't we do this tomorrow?" Davis: "We ARE gonna do this tomorrow!" Macero: "OK, 'Cause then at one o'clock we'll stop then." Davis and Holland discuss bass line. False starts (0:07, 0:07, 0:33). Brief rehearsal by keyboards
16	Orange Lady (rehearsal) (J. Zawinul)	1:54
17	Pharaoh's Dance (rehearsal) (J. Zawinul)	0:20
18	John McLaughlin (M. Davis)	4:22
	Davis, Shorter, Brooks out. The issued version is assembled from two takes of parts 3 and 4 of "Bitches Brew"
19	Bitches Brew (issued version) (M. Davis)	26:58
	Edited (11:32) on Columbia CAS 42193
20	Sanctuary (take 2) (W. Shorter-M. Davis)	10:55
	Maupin, Brooks, White out


9 Bitches Brew (part 4 take 2) CD: Columbia Legacy 88697 70274, Columbia Legacy 88697 54519
18 John McLaughlin 12" LP: Columbia GP 26 (= CS 9996, PG 30977, GQ 30977), Music on Vinyl MOV LP020, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory MFSL 2-439, CBS/Sony SONP 50255/6, CBS/Sony SOPL 24/5, CBS/Sony SOPJ 58/9, CBS/Sony 28AP 2151/2, CBS/Sony 36AP 1771/2, Mosaic MQ6-183, Columbia 88697 70274-2, Vinyl Me, Please A017 CD: Columbia C2K 40577, Columbia Legacy C2K 65774, Columbia Legacy C4K 65570, Columbia Legacy C4K 90924, Columbia Legacy 88697 70274, Columbia Legacy 88697 54519, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2149, CBS/Sony 50DP 703/4, CBS/Sony CSCS 5151/52, Sony SRCS 9118/9, Sony 8837/40, Sony SICP 669/72, Sony SRCS 9714/5, Sony SIGP 20/1, Sony SICP 834/5, Sony SICP 1220/1, SICJ 10008/9, Sony SICP 20002/3, Sony SICJ 30077/8, Sony SICP 30267/68, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 33)
19 Bitches Brew (issued version) 12" LP: Columbia GP 26 (= CS 9996, PG 30977, GQ 30977), Music on Vinyl MOV LP020, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory MFSL 2-439, Columbia CAS 42193 (12" single), CBS/Sony SONP 50255/6, CBS/Sony SOPL 24/5, CBS/Sony SOPJ 58/9, CBS/Sony 28AP 2151/2, CBS/Sony 36AP 1771/2, CBS/Sony 00AP 2076/81, Mosaic MQ6-183, Columbia 88697 70274-2, Vinyl Me, Please A017 CD: Columbia C2K 40577, Columbia Legacy C2K 65774, Columbia Legacy C4K 65570, Columbia Legacy C4K 90924, Columbia Legacy 88697 70274, Columbia Legacy 88697 54519, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2149, CBS/Sony 50DP 703/4, CBS/Sony CSCS 5151/52, CBS/Sony 80DP 872/5, Sony SRCS 5691/4, Sony SRCS 9118/9, Sony 8837/40, Sony SICP 669/72, Sony SRCS 9714/5, Sony SIGP 20/1, Sony SICP 834/5, Sony SICP 1220/1, SICJ 10008/9, Sony SICP 20002/3, Sony SICJ 30077/8, Sony SICP 30267/68, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 33)
20 Sanctuary (take 2) 12" LP: Columbia GP 26 (= CS 9996, PG 30977, GQ 30977), Music on Vinyl MOV LP020, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory MFSL 2-439, CBS/Sony SONP 50255/6, CBS/Sony SOPL 24/5, CBS/Sony SOPJ 58/9, CBS/Sony 28AP 2151/2, CBS/Sony 36AP 1771/2, Mosaic MQ6-183, Columbia 88697 70274-2, Vinyl Me, Please A017 CD: Columbia C2K 40577, Columbia Legacy C2K 65774, Columbia Legacy C4K 65570, Columbia Legacy C4K 90924, Columbia Legacy 88697 70274, Columbia Legacy 88697 54519, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2149, CBS/Sony 50DP 703/4, CBS/Sony CSCS 5151/52, Sony SRCS 9118/9, Sony 8837/40, Sony SICP 669/72, Sony SRCS 9714/5, Sony SIGP 20/1, Sony SICP 834/5, Sony SICP 1220/1, SICJ 10008/9, Sony SICP 20002/3, Sony SICJ 30077/8, Sony SICP 30267/68, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922 [= Columbia (F) 86975 52492] (CD 33)

"Bitches Brew" was originally conceived as having five sections, to be combined after each section was recorded. The session reels include music from four slated "parts" (the fifth is slated but there is no music). The issued version of "Bitches Brew" is put together from parts 1 and 2, roughly as below.

"Bitches Brew"
0:00-0:41	introduction - part 2 (rubato)
0:41-2:51	part 2 theme (Davis, Shorter with echo)
2:51-3:32	part 1 bass vamp (loop)
3:32-3:54	part 1 with rhythm section
3:34-6:34	Davis solo
6:34-7:24	McLaughlin solo
7:24-7:51	ensemble settles down (Davis instructs, "Keep it like that, yeah... Right.")
7:51-8:55	McLaughlin solo
8:55-10:31	Davis solo
10:31-11:28	repeated passage (looped)
11:28-11:40	ensemble
11:40-12:36	Shorter solo
12:36-12:42	Holland solo
12:42-13:28	edit to drums, Corea solo
13:28-14:36	edit, Corea solo continues
14:36-15:56	edit - part 2 (rubato)
15:56-17:20	part 2 theme - Davis with echo
17:20-19:24	edit - part 1, Holland solo
19:24-20:14	Davis solo
20:14-20:59	ensemble
20:59-22:02	Davis solo
22:02-24:05	edit to ensemble, Zawinul solo
24:05-26:57	edit to part 2 (repeat of beginning 2:51)

The Canadian rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears had a best-selling single, "Spinning Wheel," on the charts in the summer of 1969, and Davis' first solo (5:50-6:20) deconstructs the melody.

The issued version of "John McLaughlin" is a composite using pieces of parts 3 and 4 of "Bitches Brew." The alternate take of "John McLaughlin" included in the 40th Anniversary Collectors Edition (Columbia Legacy 88697 70274) is really "Bitches Brew," part 4, take 2.

The issued version of "Sanctuary" combines two takes: the first includes just Davis' working quintet and percussionist Don Alias (0:00-5:12), the second which adds Maupin, Zawinul, McLaughlin, and White (5:12-10:54).

The music that does not appear on Bitches Brew is included on the bootleg CDs Deep Brew, Volume 1 and Deep Brew, Volume 2 (Mega Disc) and Unreleased Bitches Brew Session (So What SW-146/47).

The tapes of these sessions contain a large number of gaps, the result of Teo Macero's editing and post-production. Apparently on this occasion Macero worked directly from the master tapes, not from safety copies; as a result there are no extant "complete" recordings of these sessions. For the details, consult Enrico Merlin and Veniero Rizzardi's Bitches Brew: Genesi del capolavaro di Miles Davis (Milano: Il Saggiatori, 2009), which carefully analyzes the issued recording and all available unused studio material.

The Davis Quintet maintained a busy touring schedule during this time: Rutgers University Stadium, New Brunswick (Rutgers Jazz Festival) (July 27); Sheraton Park Hotel, French Lick (French Lick Jazz Festival) (July 31); Spectrum, Philadelphia (August 15); Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis (St. Louis Jazz Festival) (August 16); Grant Park Auditorium Theatre, Chicago (August 22); Crosley Field, Cincinnati (Ohio Jazz Festival) (August 23); Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis (Memphis Jazz Festival) (August 24); Shelly's Manne-Hole, Los Angeles (September 9-21).