He asked Miles to write a tune for the date, and Miles came up with this tune and it was kind of a new type of sound to contend with. My transcription of his words is below the video:īill says, “Maybe we can finish up featuring everybody in the trio with a Miles Davis number that's come to be associated with our group, because no one else seemed to pick up on it after it was written for a Cannonball date that I did with Cannonball in 1958. I also included his piano introduction and theme statement leading up to the bass solo. For example, let’s see what he said at a house concert and interview in Helsinki, Finland that was professionally filmed for television. (And in fact, there are so many “live” Evans albums out now that other songs also exist in many versions.) At performances, he tended to introduce it in words similar to what he said in the interview above. Most were issued after he died, some on bootlegs and some on official albums. Many were not intended for release-no artist or label would purposely release so many versions of the same tune. There are over 40 versions now available. He liked that Evans did not treat it as a standard tune, but got into the moody quality of it.Įvans clearly had an affinity for the song, and he continued to perform and record it over the years. His solo begins at 2:27 and he hits an awkward couple of notes at 2:40:Įven though the sax and trumpet “made the changes” (followed the chords) on the issued second take, I think Davis was looking for something else. Mitchell had some difficulty playing on the unusual chord sequence, as you can hear, for example, in the originally unissued first take. So the two takes of the preceding tune, Gigi Gryce’s “Minority,” were numbered 2 and 3.) Adderley and trumpeter Blue Mitchell basically treat it like a bop tune, which it is not. (They are labeled Takes 4 and 5 because Riverside, like Blue Note, numbered takes for the entire session, not separately for each tune. Two takes of “Nardis” have been released. So he was nervous anyway, and having Miles there made him more so. But this was “big time”-Adderley had convinced Keepnews to record Mitchell’s first date as a leader, which was scheduled right after this one, July 2 and 3. Mitchell had recorded a number of times since 1951, mostly backing up such soloists as saxophonist Earl Bostic, but also as a soloist on a 1952 date led by altoist Lou Donaldson. By then Miles was not needed, because he had explained the piece and coached them through it on the first day. (It is mentioned in Chris Sheridan’s Adderley reference boo k.) Fortunately, Keepnews had scheduled two days, and they got everything done the second day. In other words, there was a first day of recording, presumably Monday June 30, but they produced nothing usable that day so that day is not usually listed. I remember coming back and cutting the entire album on the second day” (Bob Blumenthal, essay for Mosaic's The Complete Blue Note Blue Mitchell Sessions ). Miles was in the booth the whole time on the first of the two days we had scheduled for recording, and Blue was totally freaked. Keepnews confirmed that, and added more detail: “Miles Davis, who had composed ‘Nardis’ for Cannonball, showed up at the studio to hear the tune recorded. Notice that Bill says that Davis was in the studio for the recording session. It has gone on evolving with every trio I have had." (Quoted by Pettinger from Brian Hennessey, "Bill Evans: A Person I Knew," Jazz Journal International, England, March 1985.) I must have helped his royalties over the years, because I have never stopped playing it. ![]() Miles wasn't happy either, but after the date he said that I was the only one to play it in the way he wanted. "It was certainly different it moved differently, and you could see that the guys were struggling with it. ![]() In Peter Pettinger’s biography of Evans, he quotes from a published interview: “ came along to the studio with it," Evans recalled. ![]() He had previously recorded as a leader for other labels.)īill Evans was the pianist on the album. The last tune on Side Two was, as producer Orrin Keepnews explained in his liner notes on the back, “the Oriental-flavored Nardis, one of Miles Davis' rather infrequent compositions, specifically written for Cannonball's Riverside debut.” (This was his debut album as a leader for Riverside Records. On Tuesday, July 1, 1958, a quintet led by saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley recorded music that was later released as the album Portrait of Cannonball. ![]() I’ve had several requests to discuss one particularly interesting case, “Nardis,” so I’ll focus on that now. This series about Miles Davis’s composer credits will have many installments, and I’ll be jumping around chronologically.
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