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Hear Miles Davis Record 'Water Babies,' Request Champagne In 1967 Outtake
Hear Miles Davis Record 'Water Babies,' Request Champagne In 1967 Outtake

Hear Miles Davis Record 'Water Babies,' Request Champagne In 1967 Outtake

Hear Miles Davis Record 'Water Babies,' Request Champagne In 1967 Outtake

A month ago we wrote about a new Miles Davis box set centered around is iconic Second Great Quintet. Now, a snippet from that box set has been released.

The collection features an eight minute plus session reel for "Water Babies," which has been edited into a nearly four minute long track for fans awaiting the set's release.

The session reel begins with Davis asking an engineer "Did you order the champagne," with the engineer assuring the trumpeter that it's on its way. Davis then counts in saxophonist Wayne Shorter; pianist Herbie Hancock; bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. At first the ensemble seems to be doing well, each member adding to the moody and waltzing composition, but it turns out to be false start.

But the band finds their footing the second time around, with Davis launching into a full trumpet solo.

As mentioned before the box set, titled Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series Vol. 5, includes performances from 1967’s Miles Smiles; 1968’s Nefertiti; and the aforementioned Water Babies (which was released in 1967), as well as full session reels from Miles Smiles comprising "every second of music and dialogue." One such track, "Blues in F (My Ding)," speaks to this, where the recording finds Davis joking and chatting with Shorter while working on a new piece on piano.

The collection comes right as Miles Smiles has celebrated its 50th anniversary, with the album originally recorded from October 24 to 25 in 1966. Smiles became one of the more notable releases of the five albums the Second Great Quintet recorded, with the ensemble experimenting with bop and free jazz in a way that had not been done before.

The Second Great Quintet would also go on to make a number of albums such as E.S.P.Miles in the SkyFilles de Kilimanjaro and The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965.

Two of the members of that quintet, Shorter and Hancock, have recently made a supergroup with Carlos Santana and Marcus Miller called Mega Nova.

Freedom Jazz Dance is out on October 21.

>>>>>>Listen To "Water Babies" Here<<<<<<