Electric Miles - Splash

Well, after five years I'm finally making good.

"Splash" was recorded on November 12 1968 in Columbia's Studio B, with Miles's then-touring band: Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Chick Corea, and Tony Williams; Herbie Hancock was added to the session as a second pianist.

An edited version of "Splash" was included on Circle in the Round, a compilation of various materials that was released during Davis' hiatus in the late 1970's. (Water Babies and Directions are similar collections.) But the full take was unreleased until 2002's Complete In A Silent Way Sessions.

To hear the edited version of "Splash", scan to 1:03:20 in the video above. It begins at Letter D in my transcription.

It's something of a myth among jazz musicians that Miles Davis didn't actually write any music, that all of the tunes attributed to him were actually written by other people. But this is to take a few cases (Solar, Four, perhaps Blue in Green) and draw a false conclusion (some, therefore all). Miles was an accomplished and thoughtful writer, evidenced even in the late 40's with "Donna Lee". His work in the late 60's is groundbreaking in the way it embeds open modal improvisation within a larger composed scheme. Other tunes that do this: Frelon Brun, Shh/Peaceful, and the Ghetto Walk, all from 1968.

Paul Tingen describes "Splash" as "almost a cross between 'Two Faced' and 'Dual Mr. Anthony Tillmon Williams Process,' [both recorded the previous day - ME] employing both the stop-start device of the former and echoes of the twist rhythm in the latter." (2001, p. 53)

Download Splash (Concert pitch).
Eb version
Bb version

Rhodes part on "It's About That Time"

Ahoy hoy! Earlier this summer, I received the following comment:

A close listen to the recording suggests two things: 1) there is some sort of core voice leading going on that is more or less the same throughout, and 2) Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea are each adding their own alterations to these core voices, and change these each time. So, without digging into the rich alterations used by Corea and Hancock, I think this is a close approximation to what they were working with:

(To download MIDI file click here.)

To hear the passage I listened to for this, begin at 4:57 of this video.

I'm not especially happy with the 4th chord, but I think the others are pretty close. I'm very interested to hear what other people think. Post a comment!

Joe & Miles

These two tunes were recorded on Feb. 20th, 1969 with Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Dave Holland and Joe Chambers. Both tunes never saw the light of day until the In A Silent Way Sessions box set came out.

Miles Davis - The Ghetto Walk

Another example of Miles' extended compositions with modal solos. The recorded take is nearly a half-hour long, leaving ample solo space. (In fact, you can really hear the band settle into the solo section groove)

Miles and Wayne restate parts of the melody in a rubato fashion. I'll leave it to you for now to figure this part out, I just wanted to get the basic form of the tune transcribed.

Joe Zawinul - Early Minor

A beautiful minor ballad. The Rhodes really shimmers on this one. This tune deserves to be played far more often, hopefully this chart will encourage people.

In A Silent Way Sessions

I've been going back to the Complete In A Silent Way Sessions box lately, transcribing tunes of interest. Lots of good composing, and great playing (considering they were likely sight-reading most of these). Next up on the docket are "Splash" and "Splashdown" but we'll see how far I get in those!

Throughout the late 1960's, Miles Davis and his group was intensely exploring new compositional methods. The 2nd quintet had delved into modern, non-functional harmony (see "Circle" and "Fall") free jazz (see "Orbits", "Dolores", etc.), and rock (see "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Eighty-One"). By the time of Filles de Kilimanjaro, Miles was writing complex linear song forms, with modal solo sections stuck in the middle.

Up until 2003 it was generally assumed that this tendency fell away in 1969 as Miles went completely modal. But the recent release of unedited session tapes tells a different story.

Miles Davis - Shh, Peaceful

The song form is almost completely obscured by editing on the album version. But listen to the version on the box set and you'll hear a fully-formed composition, with modal solo sections, just like "Frelon Brun".
For the uber-uber-nerds, here's an interesting piece of history: Miles' own lead sheet of the tune. I used it for parts of the transcription above.
The last three bars of system 5 resemble the descending chord progression that is heard on "It's About That Time", but the bassline is nowhere to be found. Maybe this sheet of music was the source material for the entire recording session, not just "Shh, Peaceful"?

In any case, this tune was recorded on February 18, 1969. Peter Losin's always-useful Miles Ahead website also includes a breakdown of how the master take was edited for the LP version. Check it out!

More Miles!

Miles Davis - Dual Mr. Anthony Tillmon Williams Process

This tune was recorded on November 11th, 1968. Discographer Peter Losin suggests that this tune may have been co-written by Gil Evans, which is definitely possible. It was shelved but eventually released by Columbia in 1976 on the album Water Babies.

Marcus Miller - Tutu

Recorded on February 11th, 1986. Released on the album Tutu, by Warmer Bros. I didn't bother transcribing all the synth hits at the beginning.

Annette Peacock, Miles Davis & Ornette Coleman

Well it's the first post! Here goes.

Annette Peacock - Dreams (If Time Weren't)

This tune has appeared on quite a few recordings since it was written, including

Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone MSP 9046)
Paul Bley - Alone Again (Improvising Artists Inc, IAI 373840)
Paul Bley / Annette Peacock Synthesizer Show - Revenge (Polydor, 2425 043) [BEAUTIFUL version, with eerie processed vocals by Annette]
Marilyn Crispell - Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (ECM 1626/27)

Know of some others? Let me know. Every version is going to be slightly different, but I think the overall picture is there.

The introduction (first two lines) is left out on many versions for some reason. It's on the Crispell recording. I'm working on the lyrics, hopefully I'll update this post later on.

Miles Davis - Mademoiselle Mabry

The last song on Miles' Filles de Kilimanjaro, with Chick Corea at the RMI Electrapiano. I'm not sure about the bass note in bar 4, it may be a B-natural, not B-flat. Thoughts?

I left out chord symbols to reduce clutter. Most of the harmonies are triadic anyway, easy enough for the soloist to figure out. Chick plays different chords almost every time, especially in bars 3 and 4, but as with the Peacock tune, the general idea is there.

The form of the tune is strange. Every third time, they play the first bar a little differently by resolving to an F-major triad. Very unusual. But it happens consistently throughout the tune, from what I can tell.

Ornette Coleman - Jordan

Featured on his recent CD Sound Grammar. (Transcription updated on 5/20/11). Take a look, give it a listen, follow along... post your comments!