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Liner Notes

By Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
June 15, 2009
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This album represents, if not a landmark in jazz, certainly one of those roadside signs that points out a landmark

When renowned jazz critic Leonard Feather was asked about this record, he said something favorable. And thus has become the general consensus since its release in late 1959, early 1974, 1989, 1998, and finally in 2004. I'm certain that upon hearing it, you'll feel the same.

The fates aligned when this session was recorded. Not only did Miles Davis discover three additional skinny ties he'd forgotten that he'd bought, but Rudy Van Gelder snagged a really sweet parking spot right in front of the studio and he found a nickel in the drink machine coin return. Drummer

Max Roach

drums
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach received some good news from his sister, further cementing his place in jazz history.

But there was tension, as well.

Cedar Walton

piano
1934 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Cedar Walton, famed for never forgetting a phone number, lost his car keys. Earlier, unbeknownst to

Paul Chambers

bass, acoustic
1935 - 1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Chambers, Blue Note founder Alfred Lion ate almost an entire Whitman's Sampler while on the phone to Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun. This was widely viewed as a slight to promoter

George Wein

piano
1925 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">George Wein, who was a Russell Stover man.

Meanwhile,

Wynton Kelly

piano
1931 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Wynton Kelly.

Tracks 1,3, and 8 were recorded on April 8th, in a marathon recording session that featured no less than 450 key changes (not counting modulations).

Joe Pass

guitar
1929 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Pass would later say that he used all six strings and over half of his frets.

Track 6 was recorded almost by accident, when a mike was accidentally left on while

Lee Morgan

trumpet
1938 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Morgan was fooling around trying to pick out the tune to "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on the balalaika. Many jazz historians point to this moment.

Track 4 was originally recorded by the Wolverines (whether it was the Wolverine Orchestra, or actual wolverines, remains a bone of contention to this day) in 1924. It featured one of

Bix Beiderbecke

cornet
1903 - 1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Bix Beiderbecke's most famous pauses, the dotted quarter note rest in measure 37. Eager to put his own mark on the tune, Miles played only during that rest.

Tracks 2 and 7 were recorded during a make-up recording session on May 8th, during which Francis Wolff took band photographs and everyone received DTP booster shots after which they all got pudding cups and "good boy" stickers.

There has been considerable debate as to the personnel on tracks 9 and 11. Studio logs list

Milt Jackson

vibraphone
1923 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Milt Jackson on vibes, but according to the memoirs of

Coleman Hawkins

saxophone, tenor
1904 - 1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Coleman Hawkins, Jackson could not possibly have been there during those sessions because he was in Cincinnati helping Hawkins win their annual chili festival with their famous Bean 'n' Bags concoction.

Track 10 represents a compromise between Miles, who intended it to be a meditation on a traditional 12-bar blues, and

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans, who preferred the economy of the 8-bar blues structure. A 10-bar blues, common in the Delta tradition, was voted down by

Wes Montgomery

guitar
1923 - 1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Wes Montgomery, who once got a bad plate of shrimp in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The resultant 9.875-bar blues is considered the most precise lengths to which someone would go for what is pretty much just a throwaway gag near the end of a piece.

Finally, it should be said that this album represents, if not a landmark in jazz, certainly one of those roadside signs that points out a landmark in a single paragraph too small to read going 60 damned miles per hour.

Enjoy.

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