Snowfall

The sources of Miles Davis and Gil Evans' Miles Ahead

For some reason Miles Davis’ Miles Ahead (Columbia, 1957) has always seemed holiday adjacent to me— all those horns and sweet melodies, while not Christmas-themed, put me in mind of carols and yuletide bell-ringing. And it’s a family favorite, always puts me in a festive mood.

Pour yourself a glass of eggnog and join me on a medium-dive into Miles Ahead.

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Pianist Claude Thornhill’s band was one of the dozens of dance orchestras traveling around the United States in the late 1930’s. We don’t hear Thornhill’s name today, but we know alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and arranger Gil Evans, both part of the Thornhill organization.

Thornhill’s theme song was “Snowfall”, from 1941, when Miles Davis was 15. “Snowfall” strongly suggests Ahmad Jamal and the Miles Davis-Gil Evans-Bill Evans axis. Is “Snowfall” why I hear a faint echo of holiday music in Miles Ahead?

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Some Gil Evans arrangements for Claude Thornhill’s band with Lee Konitz include:

• “Anthropology”

• “Donna Lee”

• “Yardbird Suite”

These are stunning— drummer Billy Exiner, who later recorded with Tony Bennett, is transparent and swinging, and the brief Lee solos stand out.

The two titles Evans arranged for Charlie Parker and voices also strike us as prescient:

• “In The Still Of The Night”

• “Old Folks”

But it wasn’t until Gil Evans and Miles Davis finally got down to business on two tunes from Birth Of The Cool that it all comes together. Evans contributed arrangements of “Moon Dreams”, a staple of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Miles’ own “Boplicity”.

Finally, in 1955, George Avakian signed Miles Davis to Columbia. Though he’s not usually mentioned in discussions of the Third Stream, the mid-century blending of jazz and classical practices, Miles Davis, an associate of J. J. Johnson, John Lewis, Lee Konitz, George Russell, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, and eventually Bill Evans, was in some ways the ultimate Third Stream artist. Certainly, Miles found a way to imbue the Third Stream theories with an authentic blues feeling.

So, Third Stream was in the air, and what better way to capitalize on the trend than an entire LP devoted to Miles Davis as a soloist with Gil Evans arrangements?

Ergo, Miles Ahead.

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For all the brilliance of Miles and Gil, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor are essential to the success of Miles Ahead. Chambers brings something casual and authentic to the music. His fills on “The Maids of Cadiz”, for example, are classic; I can’t imagine anyone’s voice but Chambers in those spots.

Art Taylor was apparently not given charts, just told to watch Gil and listen to Miles, an incredible challenge. His cool demeanor and propulsive time feel define the performances, never playing hits with the band, just swinging away.

Here are links to older version of all the tunes on Miles Ahead, tune by tune. I’ve also assembled this YouTube playlist, if you don’t want to go tune by tune.

Side 1:

• “Springsville” (John Carisi). YouTube has the first recorded version of “Springsville” by trombonist Urbie Green; drummer Osie Johnson is playing beautifully here. I assume Gil got the tune from his Thornhill bandmate John Carisi directly, who sits in the trumpet section on Miles Ahead.

• “The Maids of Cadiz” (Leo Delibes). Delibes was evidently a French opera composer, and “The Maids of Cadiz” is a piece for voice and piano he published in 1872. Here’s Benny Goodman with Don Lamond on drums, Red Norvo on vibes, and pianist Jimmy Rowles playing an arrangement of Delibes’ melody in 1947.

• “The Duke” (Dave Brubeck). Perhaps Brubeck's single greatest tune. Brubeck was playing it with Desmond throughout 1956, but Miles and Gil based their arrangement on this recording of Brubeck playing it at his house, April 19, 1956.

• “My Ship” (Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin). Originally heard in Lady In The Dark, a musical from 1941. Here’s Sarah Vaughan singing it in 1956; it’s possible that she brought the tune to wider prominence.

• “Miles Ahead” (Miles Davis-Gil Evans). This is the first recording of this tune, but let’s not forget the heartfelt version from Joe Henderson, John Scofield, Dave Holland, and Al Foster from 1993.

Side 2:

• “Blues For Pablo” (Gil Evans). Alto saxophonist Hal McKusick first recorded Evans’ tone poem in 1956. This is a fascinating performance, with Art Farmer in the Miles Davis seat. Special props for drummer Osie Johnson and bassist Milt Hinton, cutting edge professionals who can bring off the most advanced sounds of the day.

• “New Rhumba” (Ahmad Jamal). The only recording of this tune prior to Miles and Gil is by Ahmad Jamal on his Chamber Music of the New Jazz (Parrot/Argo, 1955) album. Evans arrangement is very much an orchestration of Ahmad Jamal.

• “The Meaning of the Blues” (Bobby Troup). Bobby Troup also wrote “Route 66”, and according to Lord, the only recording of this tune prior to Miles and Gil was Julie London, and here it is. Thanks to the reader who pointed out that Bobby Troup was married to Julie London!

• “Lament” (J.J. Johnson) J.J. was a close associate of Miles, and this original recording of “Lament” from a J.J./Kai Winding album on Savoy from 1954 features Kenny Clarke, the drummer on Miles’ breakthrough 1954 recordings.

• “I Don’t Wanna Be Kissed” (Harold Spina, Jack Elliott). If you only hear one of these examples of the sources of Miles Ahead, this is the one to hear, as the Miles and Gil version is a tribute to Ahmad, even including an arrangement of Ahmad’s solo.

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Had I been alive in 1956 and ‘57, I might have heard all the tunes that became Miles Ahead, but I would never have thought of constructing a suite out of them, a suite for Miles Davis, no less. But Miles and Gil’s ears were open, ready to take in anything of quality, and they gave us a masterpiece.

All respect for Miles, Gil, and Art Taylor. Happy holidays everyone! Time to refill our glasses and keep the records coming….