Session details: Columbia 30th Street Studio (April 22, 1959)

Miles Ahead session details

April 22, 1959 (7 items; TT = 36:56)

Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York NY

Commercial for Columbia

Show chatter

Miles Davis (tpt); Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (as); John Coltrane (ts); William J. "Bill" Evans (p); Paul Chambers (b); Jimmy Cobb (d)

1	Flamenco Sketches (take 1) (M. Davis-B. Evans)	10:18
	"OK, Miles. Surface noise, CO 62293, take one..." At the end Davis says, "Play that, Irving..." Townsend: "Nice, Miles." Chambers practicing; Davis noodling
2	Studio chatter	0:31
	Townsend: "Take two..." Davis: "Wait a minute, Irving... Wait." Townsend: "OK." Davis (to Adderley:) "Hey when you raise up off the stool, man, you get... Oh, yeah, all right..." To Townsend: "You know your floor squeaks, you know? You know what I mean? Can you hear me?" Townsend: "Yeah." Davis: "Let's go..." Adderley: "Surface noise, you know." Unkn: "That's all part of the tune, man..." Evans: "Surf-ass noise..." Unkn, laughing: "Surf-ass noise..."
3	Flamenco Sketches (take 2 (inc)) (M. Davis-B. Evans)	0:54
	"Here we go, take two..." Breakdown. Davis: "Start over again." Chambers: "I'm sorry..."
4	Flamenco Sketches (take 3 (inc)) (M. Davis-B. Evans)	0:42
	Townsend: "Ready? Three..." Davis: "Here you go, Paul..." Breakdown. Davis: "Can we start, keep on, Irving?" Townsend: "Let's do one more." Davis: "OK. Ready?"
5	Flamenco Sketches (take 4 (inc)) (M. Davis-B. Evans)	1:37
	"Yeah, take four..." Breakdown. Davis: "We'll try it again, Irving..."
6	Flamenco Sketches (take 5 (inc)) (M. Davis-B. Evans)	0:54
	"Ready? Take five, Miles..." Breakdown. Davis: "You're not watching, Bill." Evans: "I know, sorry..." Davis: "Try it again, Irving."
7	Flamenco Sketches (take 6) (M. Davis-B. Evans)	9:38
	"Right. Six..." As the tune winds down Davis says, "That's terrible, Irving..." Townsend: "Don't worry about it..."
8	All Blues (take 1) (M. Davis)	12:22
	Edited (3:03) on Columbia 42057; faded out on all issued versions
	"CO 62294, number two, take one..." Davis counts off. False start (0:03). Chambers: "Let's start over again, sorry..." Davis: "Bill will start it off, you just come in. Ready? One two three, one two three..." As the tune winds down Adderley(?) says,: "Whew!" Chambers (panting): "God damn, that's a hard mother..." Evans (?): "Boy, if I didn't have coffee, I'd..." Townsend: "What?"


1 Flamenco Sketches (take 1) 12" LP: Columbia C5X 45000, Classic Records CS 8163, Music on Vinyl MOV LP019, Mosaic MQ9-191 CD: Columbia C4K 45000, Columbia C4K 86569, Columbia CK 64935, Columbia CK 52861, Columbia CK 64403, Columbia CK 64935, Columbia C6K 65833, Columbia C6K 90922, Columbia 88697 33552, CBS/Sony 80DP 5430/3, Sony SICP 5037/40, Sony SRCS 2223/8, Sony SICP 651/6, Sony SRCS 9701, Sony SRGS 4501, Sony SICP 816, Sony SICP 1206, Sony SICP 5037/40, Sony SICP 30216, Sony SICJ 30048/9, Mega Disc Legendary 1959, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922
2 Studio chatter 12" LP: Mosaic MQ9-191 CD: Columbia C6K 65833, Columbia C6K 90922, Columbia 88697 33552, Sony SRCS 2223/8, Sony SICP 651/6, Mega Disc Legendary 1959
6 Flamenco Sketches (take 5 (inc)) CD: Columbia 88697 33552
7 Flamenco Sketches (take 6) 12" LP: Columbia CL 1355 (= CS 8163), Columbia 88883 76103, Music on Vinyl MOV LP019, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory MFSL 2-45010, Columbia C5X 45000, Nippon Columbia YS-127, Nippon Columbia SL-1224, CBS/Sony SONP 50027, CBS/Sony SOPL 155, CBS/Sony 18AP 2056, CBS/Sony 23AP 2556, CBS/Sony 25AP 755, CBS/Sony 28AP 2833, Classic Records CS 8163, Classic Records CS 8163-45 (45 rpm), Classic Records CS 8163-200, Mosaic MQ9-191 CD: Columbia CK 08163, Columbia CK 40579, Columbia C4K 45000, Columbia C4K 86569, Columbia CK 64935, Columbia CK 52861, Columbia CK 64403, Columbia CK 64935, Columbia C6K 65833, Columbia C6K 90922, Columbia CK 65038, Columbia 88697 33552, Columbia Legacy 88883 75664, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2085, CBS/Sony 35DP 62, CBS/Sony 32DP 513, CBS/Sony CSCS 5141, CBS/Sony 80DP 5430/3, Sony SICP 5037/40, Sony SRCS 6681, Sony SRCS 9104, Sony SRCS 2223/8, Sony SICP 651/6, Sony SRCS 9701, Sony SRGS 4501, Sony SICP 816, Sony SICP 1206, Sony SICP 10083, Sony SICP 20001, Sony SICP 20258, Sony SICP 30216, Sony SICJ 30048/9, Mega Disc Legendary 1959, Sony SICP 30521/9, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922
8 All Blues (take 1) 45 rpm: Columbia 4-42057 12" LP: Columbia CL 1355 (= CS 8163), Columbia 88883 76103, Music on Vinyl MOV LP019, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory MFSL 2-45010, Columbia C5X 45000, Nippon Columbia YS-127, Nippon Columbia SL-1224, CBS/Sony SONP 50027, CBS/Sony SOPL 155, CBS/Sony 18AP 2056, CBS/Sony 23AP 2556, CBS/Sony 25AP 755, CBS/Sony 28AP 2833, CBS/Sony 00AP 2076/81, Classic Records CS 8163, Classic Records CS 8163-45 (45 rpm), Classic Records CS 8163-200, Mosaic MQ9-191 CD: Columbia CK 08163, Columbia CK 40579, Columbia C4K 45000, Columbia C4K 86569, Columbia CK 64935, Columbia CK 52861, Columbia CK 64403, Columbia CK 64935, Columbia C6K 65833, Columbia C6K 90922, Columbia 88697 33552, Columbia Legacy 88883 75664, Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory UDSACD 2085, CBS/Sony 35DP 62, CBS/Sony 32DP 513, CBS/Sony CSCS 5141, CBS/Sony 80DP 872/5, Sony SRCS 5691/4, CBS/Sony 80DP 5430/3, Sony SICP 5037/40, Sony SRCS 6681, Sony SRCS 9104, Sony SRCS 2223/8, Sony SICP 651/6, Sony SRCS 9701, Sony SRGS 4501, Sony SICP 816, Sony SICP 1206, Sony SICP 10083, Sony SICP 20001, Sony SICP 20258, Sony SICP 30216, Sony SICJ 30048/9, Mega Disc Legendary 1959, Sony SICP 30521/9, Columbia Legacy 86975 24922

Evidence for the date of this session is contradictory, but the date seems certain:

The notes to Columbia C6K 65833 and Mosaic MQ9-191 confidently place this session on "Wednesday, April 22, 1959 (2:30 to 5:30 pm)."

The "Quintet Timeline" in the notes to the same release places the second Kind of Blue session on April 6th.

In her notes to the original gold Master Sound edition (CK 52861), producer Amy Herot claims that "Sessions for Kind of Blue took place on Monday, March 2, and Monday, April 6, 1959. Two other sessions were scheduled for March 10 and April 22; these may have been booked and canceled; in any case, no tapes from them survive."

In his book Dis Here: A Bio-Discography of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2000), Chris Sheridan places the session on April 6, adding that "this date is sometimes given as April 22, but that session, although booked for Miles Davis, seems to have been canceled."

In his book Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece (New York: Da Capo, 2000), Ashley Kahn places the session on April 22. He also includes a photograph of the session log which clearly lists the date as April 22. (This would seem to settle the matter.)

All of the items above are included on The Making of Kind of Blue (Kind of Blue KOB-001), Another Tracks of Kind of Blue (Core Collections CC-001), and The Sessions of Blue (Mega Disc Legendary 1959).