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When Lights Are Low

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Shrdlu View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shrdlu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug 2014 at 5:43pm
Miles forgot the B section of that piece, and just took the A section up a fourth. (That version is on one of the Prestige sessions with Trane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe.)

I think I have heard the whole thing as Benny Carter wrote it, but I don't recall how it goes.

All the best with this. Try to get into Eb (and all the other keys) as soon as you can.

Lol, I was tossed in at the deep end with keys, at the tender age of 14. I used to take my alto saxophone to school, to jam with a friend who had a brand new Fender Stratocaster (guitar). He was into early pop and rock. Like most of those players, he spent most of the time in E, which is C# on an alto saxophone, so I had to get used to that key in a hurry.
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gitfrog View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gitfrog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Aug 2014 at 6:35pm
I've never been a big fan of Miles and I think it was probably from some of first stuff I heard in the 50s. I just never followed up on him until lately. I'm now beginning to like a some of his work.

The first time I heard "When Lights Are Low" is a Howard Roberts recording on his Capitol album "Color Him Funky. He uses the original composition by Carter. There's also a YouTube of Carter playing his piece. I got to go with the original over Miles. Funny thing is most of the charts you find on the net are Miles' version, which is too bad.
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Shrdlu View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shrdlu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2014 at 6:02am
I agree about not using the Miles version. The piece should be played as Benny wrote it.

Miles often tended to alter a piece, for whatever reason. He recorded "Straight, No Chaser" in F, and at a fairly brisk tempo. Because it's a blues, the performance is great. But Monk wrote that in Bb. He recorded the definitive version of that on the Riverside album "Five By Monk By Five", at a nice, slow groove.

Some Miles recommendations for you: The "Miles Ahead" album, with Gil Evans, and a piece called "Eighty-One", from 1965. That piece has a funky groove alternating with straight 4/4.

One alteration by Miles was a really good idea. Joe Zawinul brought "In A Silent Way" to a session, and they recorded a dreary take of it. Then Miles said why not drop all the chords and play the melody over a sustained E on the bass. That gave them a masterpiece.
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gitfrog View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gitfrog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Aug 2014 at 6:53am
I just listened to "In A Silent Way". I'm afraid my first instincts about Miles, at least for me, still holds. The only Miles music I own is "Birth of the Cool". That's on vinyl and it was an auto send from Capitol when I belonged to the Capitol Record Club 60 years ago.

Thanks for the recommendations. It's been nice chatting with you.
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