Miles Davis Medley

It rarely occurs to me to post such recordings as these, privately made for my own entertainment or fulfillment, not for public exhibition. The world has changed in the years since I recorded these 3 covers of Miles Davis' music in 1982. My admiration and awe of Miles have not. The photo accompanying "Selim" (from "Live-Evil") was taken from my seat at Paul's Mall, Boston, on August 2, 1974. Of the 6 times I saw Miles there, 5 of them were from that seat (Miles brushed elbows with me another night, taking the stage from in front of Mtume's conga drums, instead of from behind them, per usual). I made Miles mad, taking flash pictures. He stopped playing, stood up straight and "yelled" something that I'm probably glad I couldn't hear. A guy came out between sets to say "Miles sent me out here to tell you to cool it with the flash pictures." I was so apologetic and insistent that he go right backstage and tell Miles how sorry I was and that I hadn't thought it would be a problem and I really respect the guy and you GOTTA go back there and make sure he KNOWS THAT!!!...." etc. etc., that the poor guy was glad to get away from me. I made Miles laugh once, whistling a 6-note melody to him before they began playing. He turned his back quickly, shoulders going up and down, and the whole band laughing. I figured it was my whistle. 7 months later, opening the last set he'd play in Boston before retiring in 1975, he raised that gorgeous red trumpet and blew those notes straight back into my face. I almost fell out of the chair. "Selim" is a little gem; a beautiful melody, richly harmonized and poignantly played. My version, done on RMI Electric Piano and electric guitar (Telecaster), deciphered by ear (there being, as far as I knew at the time, no chart available for it), is hopefully not butchered by my hands. The second picture was taken just as Miles took the stage at Paul's Mall on August 2, 1974, maybe 2 minutes before he cussed me out. I took 3 pictures, getting all the members just once (no longshots from that seat): Pete Cosey, Sonny Fortune, Michael Henderson, Miles, Al Foster, Reggie Lucas and Mtume. The music is my sound-on-sound recording of "Calypso Frelimo" from "Get Up With It." I was playing the trumpet with a wah-wah pedal, a familiar sound to anyone listening to Miles between 1970-1975. The recording technique, in which one track is joined to another (a method comparable to how Les Paul recorded in the late 40s and early 50s) resulted in a mono recording, the mix of which is unalterable- you either get it right, or you don't. "Theme From Jack Johnson" (as it's called on "Agharta") completes this medley, with the last picture, of me in 1975. Wah-wah again, some sitar, RMI, percussion...monaural mix. The last 2 recordings were much longer originally- these are just snippets. Enjoy these humble tributes to a great musician.