Miles Davis & Remixing History
Wired’s Remixing History timeline (on pages 128-129 of the print version) doesn’t mention that Miles Davis was one of the earliest users of studio technology to craft composite recordings. As early as the 50s, Davis would splice together tape from different takes of songs to create what he felt represented the group’s best combined effort. If the band played the melody particularly well on take 1 but he didn’t like his solo, he had no qualms about combining a solo from a later take with take 1 of the melody.
Later Miles Davis albums feature much more obvious splicing; the track “Right Off” from “A Tribute To Jack Johnson” (1970) (at Amazon) is a composite of four different recording sessions with three different ensembles (four if you count Miles Davis + a synthesizer as an ensemble).
The trio heard in the iTunes Music Store preview is:
- John McLaughlin - Guitar
- Michael Henderson - Bass
- Billy Cobham - Drums
Thirty seconds doesn’t give you a good preview of a track that transitions several times over its nearly 27 minutes.
I intend to get “The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions” so I can hear more of the source material for the two tracks that comprise the original release.
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