Miles Davis - 1978 Session

I have been waiting for this for such a long time! Thanks to dino000 at Dime for this gem!

The infamous 1978 supposed "comeback" session with Miles on organ, Larry Coryell on guitar, George Pavlis and Masabumi Kikuchi on keys, T.M. Stevens on electric bass and Al Foster on drums. For details about the session, you should drop by Miles Ahead and read Peter Losin's notes.

Regarding the tracks featured here, they're all multiple takes of a piece registered as Miss Last Summer although Miles and/or his friend Eleana Steinberg wanted to name it Amanaura. Who knows why it didn't happen that way, but at least we've got this to listen to. As hinted by my note that Miles is on organ here, he plays no horn during this session, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. So, I hope you enjoy this fascinating set of recordings and again I want to extend credit to dino000 for sharing the files and Peter Losin for providing details. Now dig in!


Miles Davis - 1978 Session


PS - Thanks to The Last Miles which is where I got the image from. It's from the actual session. Teo Macero is clearly visible on the far right.

George Duke - Aura Demos

I'm not certain if these are really demos or not, as Mr. Duke and his band sound pretty tight, but they certainly don't sound like the album they're referenced to, 1975's The Aura Will Prevail. As I understand it, then boss Frank Zappa may have produced these "demos" and it's likely he contributed the guitar solos, but when these recordings occurred are another mystery that likely only Mr. Duke himself could clarify. To be specific, an instrumental of Uncle Remus, the Duke/Zappa penned track from Zappa's 1973 album Apostrophe(') appears here, and it sounds as if it's from the same sessions that the Zappa version is taken from, whereas on the finished Aura album, the track is a complete re-recording with Duke on vocals in a very slowed-down and soulful performance. The other two tracks are also completely different from later-released versions, so who really knows when these were recorded or what they're purpose was, but to my ears they resemble the Mothers as a jazz crew rather than a solo excursion from George. Nonetheless, beautiful stuff and the performance of Psychosomatic Dung is smokin'!

I'll be back Monday, as this weekend is a celebratory road trip for myself. Enjoy!


George Duke - Aura Demos

01 For Love (I Come Your Friend)
02 Psychosomatic Dung
03 Uncle Remus (Instrumental)


PS - Once again, big thanks to the fine folks at Zappateers where I got the original files for this post. Keep up the great work guys!