Just in case anyone was interested, I started up a file sharity blog called Nothing Is. Here’s just a taste of what I have to offer:
Miles Davis: Lost Mid 1970s Session
I stumbled onto this particular set of recordings last year via the miracle of Soulseek (a great p2p network). Needless to say, the files merely came “as is” with no titles to even remotely hint at what I was listening to. About the only thing that I could conclude with any certainty was that these were from studio sessions from the mid-1970s.
[more on the flipside]
The sound quality of the mp3 files is excellent (at 320 kbps it should be), and the music is about what one would expect of Miles and his crew from around the mid 1970s, just before he took an extended break from recording and touring. Miles plays trumpet exclusively on a few tracks, splits time between trumpet and organ on a few tracks, and plays organ exclusively on a few tracks – nothing out of the ordinary. Since Miles was fond of doing extensive post-production work it’s hard to know just what the final mixes might have sounded like had he continued to pursue the ideas that he and his crew were working out right before retirement. My guess is that the final product would have been a follow-up to the excellent Get Up With It.
I did some detective work, and while checking out the discography at Miles Ahead, have gathered that the tunes that I was grooving on came originally from a couple bootlegs: Unknown Sessions Vol. 1 and Unknown Sessions Vol. 2.
The first disc consists of tunes recorded between the end of February, 1975 and the end of December, 1976. The second disc consists of two sessions separated by three and a half years. The earlier material is clearly more on the psychedelic tip, with all the Indian instrumentation and wah-wah pedals. The later material turns up the funk quotient, while Miles seems to veer ever into Sun Ra territory. Since these are compilations of recording sessions, expect there to be tracks that just seem to cut off in the middle, as well as occasional studio chatter at the start of some tracks (if you’re a collector of the various complete sessions for Bitches Brew, etc., this won’t surprise you in the least).
The information for the recordings follows below:
Disc 1
Track 1: TDK Funk recorded Dec 27, 1976 (5:01)
Track 2: Turn of the Century Feb 27, 1975 (15:34)
Track 3: Latin take 7 recorded May 5, 1975 (3:56)
Track 4: Latin take 6 recorded May 5, 1975 (4:41)
Track 5: Latin takes 3 & 4 recorded May 5, 1975 (4:47)
Track 6: Latin take 6 different mix recorded May 5, 1975 (4:15)
Track 7: untitled original 750505 take 2 recorded May 5, 1975 (6:15)
Track 8: untitled original 760330a take 3 recorded Mar 30, 1976 (4:50)
Track 9: untitled original 760330a take 5 recorded Mar 30, 1976) (5:27)
Personnel:
Track 1: Miles Davis (org); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d)
Track 2: Miles Davis (tpt, org); Sonny Fortune (ss, ts, fl); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Reggie Lucas (g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)
Tracks 3 – 7: Miles Davis (tpt, org); Sam Morrison (ts); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Reggie Lucas (g); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)
Tracks 8 – 9: Miles Davis (org); Sam Morrison (ss, as, fl); Mark Johnson (el-p); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d)
Disc 2
Track 1: Agharta Prelude pt. 2 take 14 recorded Nov. 30, 1972 (17:46)
Track 2: Agharta Prelude pt. 2 take 15 recorded Nov. 30, 1972 (9:36)
Track 3: Song of Landa take 2 recorded Mar. 30, 1976 (4:05)
Track 4: Song of Landa take 6 recorded Mar. 30, 1976 (4:48)
Personnel:
Tracks 1 & 2: Miles Davis (tpt); Carlos Garnett (ss); Cedric Lawson (keyb); Reggie Lucas (g); Khalil Balakrishna (sitar); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); James Mtume Forman (cga, perc); Badal Roy (tabla)
Tracks 3 & 4: Miles Davis (org); Sam Morrison (ss, as, fl); Mark Johnson (el-p); Pete Cosey (g, perc); Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d)
Notes:
Disc 1 appears to be excerpted from the album UNKNOWN SESSIONS 1973-1976 VOL. 1, released on the Kind of Blue label (KOB 002)
Disc 2 appears to be the contents of the album UNKNOWN SESSIONS 1974-1976 VOL. 2, released under the Kind of Blue label (KOB 003)
Curious? Download the Lost Mid 1970s Sessions and hear for yourself.
I do have a number of mp3s of Miles Davis’ live gigs from the early and mid 1970s that I will probably be sharing in the near future. Stay tuned.
I kind of gathered the community more or less lost interest in the various jazz jams that Knoxville Progressive, dada, etc. did.
Just in case there were still any jazzheads left here, I thought I’d open up a new space.
Peace, y’all.
I’ve just been really busy as of late, and haven’t really had time to participate like I used to. I’m actually lurking more these days…reading what’s going on to stay current, maybe hitting the recommended button if time. I’ve offered the most comments tonight that I have in a while (or perhaps it just feels that way). But I like these diaries and learn so much from them. Maybe this could be every other week if weekly doesn’t work.
Either way–great job! Will make sure the hubby sees this. The music is brilliant, but the man was fucked up, and I can never quite separate myself from that knowledge.
We saw Buck Hill a few nights ago, and it dawned on me that perhaps we should have done a diary on him. A local treasure…my heart & spirit still miss Shirley Horn, another IMO totally underrated artist while she was here.
Thank you for this.
In years to come, the work of Miles Davis will be remembered as one of the lasting peaks of this idiom.
Centuries from now (If indeed we survive that long) it’ll be Duke Ellington, Miles Davis…especially his work with Gil Evans… and some esoteric history .
Bet on it.
AG
P.S. Regarding the demise of the Jazz Jam here…
I suppose it should not surprise me. And I suppose that i should have contributed more to it as well.
This society does not support ANY art form that is rooted in any way with the healthiest parts of the the African-American culture, and as a result the mainstream white-dominated culture has no real interest in jazz. The left/intellectual segment of the culture is only marginally different in this regard from any other part.
Remember the ’60s/’70s meme “You are what you eat?”
Well one of its corollaries is “You eat what you are told to eat.”
You can extend this idea further to include ALL serious art.
A culture that is ALL about lying does not want its subjects dealing with the truth, and the only thing that “art” really is…the highest art, anyway…is an attempt to express the inexpressible.
The truth.
So it goes,
Later…
AG
A culture that is ALL about lying does not want its subjects dealing with the truth, and the only thing that “art” really is…the highest art, anyway…is an attempt to express the inexpressible.
So in this regard, the only acceptable paintings are that insipid Thomas Kinkade crap…what better example of the true essence of how “we” want to see ourselves–not as we are.
You have to keep that lie well-lit with soft brushstrokes.
Thanks also for the blog.
AG
Great find James! Thanks.
I’m a big fan of Miles, and I would have to agree with AG’s assessment of his place in the pantheon of jazz…most certainly a genius of the highest order who always surrounded himself with other exceptional musicians.
And thanks for the link to your blog.