miles davis and bill evans

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Miles Davis and Bill Evans: Miles and Bill in Black & White

September 2001

Ashley Kahn

They were musical brothers separated by skin tone. The brief, nine-month partnership of MilesDais and !ill "ans yielded some of the most sublime and endurin# $a%% eer recorded. &et itcould not surie the ri#ors that tested the creatie union almost ni#htly' the road, their owncareer momentum and, most of all, the racial forces of the day.

(ad either been more laid-back, thicker-skinned or same-skinned, who)s to say further modale*cursions mi#ht not hae followed their ultimate cooperatie statement, +ind of !lue Thena#ain, without the uniue blend of their sensitiities perhaps such a masterpiece would nothae been possible in the first place. erhaps the same heart-on-the-sleee ulnerability thatcolored their respectie musical si#natures fated their association to such a short life.

/r perhaps Miles mi#ht hae tempered his habit of ha%in# his new recruits.

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Dais dubbed him Moe, a button-down name that fit "ans) horn-rimmed, seriousappearance. t was 1345' Dais had $ust hired the pianist for his on-fire se*tet and the tauntin#be#an. !ut this time, there was an uncommon twist. 6fter years on the short end of the

6merican racial euation, the trumpeter found himself leadin# one of the world)s most popularblack $a%% bands with a lone white sideman.

Sure, Miles had rubbed shoulders with white $a%%men in other #roup situations, but most hadbeen recordin# efforts or one-off #i#s, and none were as hi#h profile as the Miles Dais band of )45. "en his le#endary The !irth of the 7ool nonet8comprised of a white ma$ority8had spentmore time in rehearsals than on sta#e. 9il "ans That was a purely in-the-studio pairin#, farfrom public iew.

!ut in Dais) powerful )45 lineup8featurin# :ohn 7oltrane, 7annonball 6dderley, aul7hambers and :immy 7obb8"ans was in the spotli#ht ni#ht after ni#ht, a minority of one.

6nd Miles was not about to let him for#et it.

Miles used to mess with him. ;ot about his music or anythin#8he $ust used to call him<whitey), 6dderley reported. 7obb also witnessed Dais teasin# "ans. !ill would say

somethin# and Miles would tell him, <Man, cool it. =e don)t want no white opinions.) They wereclose but Miles would $ust fool with him. t was #ood-hearted.

Dais and "ans were close, all teasin# aside. Musically, Dais was more in tune with his newpianist than anyone else in the fabled se*tet. !oth were masters of minimal #esture, speakin#so much with so little, manipulatin# their respectie instruments to enhance their distinctiestyles. The fra#ility with which one worked the (armon mute paralleled the other)s delicatefacility with the soft piano pedal.

!oth were e*plorers, immersed in $a%% tradition yet channelin# classical and world musicinfluences, seekin# a #reater freedom of e*pression and spontaneity in a music Milesdescribed as thick with clich>d chord runs.

ndependently, both had been been dabblin# with more fle*ible improisational paths, implyin#root structures rather than lockin# into lon#-established harmonic patterns.

Their partnership far e*ceeded the leader-sideman paradi#m. "ans influenced Dais) outlookand #uided his taste, introducin# him to a host of modern classical composers. (e then playedcatalyst to8and co-composer of much of the material on8the modal-$a%% masterpiece +ind of!lue. planned that album around the piano playin# of !ill "ans, Dais admitted in 1353.

The story of how they #rew to#ether and then apart is all the more poi#nant #ien the time andplace they lied in. n the late ?40s, 6merica was witnessin# the ciil ri#hts moement in itsearly maturity, awakenin# to the comple*ities of race relations in modern times. !lack leaderswere findin# their oice and testin# strate#ies for self-empowerment, pushin# for oter

re#istration and inte#rated education. =hite 6merica was fi#urin# out its role in the stru##le,findin# a place to stand on the immediate eents, while considerin# more far-reachin# issues.

The few ima#es that cau#ht Miles and !ill side by side8lookin# so different in style and skinyet so familiar and at ease8seem to defy the tenor of the time. !ut outside the photo frame, inthe $a%% world of 1345, Dais) decision to offer "ans the piano chair forced to the surfacesentiments, beliefs and preconceptions that continue to #enerate debate today.

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:a%% inte#ration had once been a matter of reolutionary stance and ma$or risk-takin#8think of !enny 9oodman performin# and recordin# with Teddy =ilson and @ionel (ampton in the )A0s.!y the late )40s, it had become a simpler matter of choice. Bewer social barriers hinderedinte#rated $a%% bandsC hotels and performance enues were openin# their doors, een theirfront doors, to blacks. 6udiences, too, appeared more racially balanced. Thou#h mi*ed-racecouples were still seldom seen publicly and mi#ht proe a risky enture in certain localesE,

most urban centers seemed comfortable with the idea of mi*ed crowds patroni%in# $a%% clubs8whether downtown or up. 6 payin# customer meant more money in the till' drink up, brotherF

!ut other, subtler forms of se#re#ation remained. =hite musicians still held a lion)s share of thebest-payin#, union-protected #i#s in TG orchestras, !roadway shows and recordin# studios.

6nd as the locks of racism loosened and lowered, so a riptide of resentment swept in,e*pressin# itself more openly than eer before. Hestricted economic opportunities drew muchof the newly ocali%ed ire.

Take cool $a%%, for e*ample. The spate of subdued sounds that blew in from the =est 7oast inthe mid-)40s8eleatin# the careers of 7het !aker, 9erry Mulli#an, Shorty Ho#ers and Dae!rubeck8seemed to the black community one more instance of white musicians profitin# fromblack cultural inention. #uess it was supposed to be some kind of alternatie to bebop, orblack musicIbut it was the same old story, Miles maintained in his autobio#raphy, black shitwas bein# ripped off all oer a#ain.

9erry Mulli#an8actie in both "ast and =est 7oast scenes of the day8later came toacknowled#e the black perspectie on the situation. suppose it was later on that reali%edthat there was some reaction amon# the musicians themseles, some of whom resented thesuccess of cool $a%% in 7alifornia, and that broke down into the white #uys a#ainst the hard-blowin# black #uys in ;ew &ork.

t was a deep rift that became deeper as the decade wore on, a rift !ill "ans could neer haeknown he would eentually be straddlin#. (is approach to $a%% had be#un innocently enou#h inhis hometown of lainfield, ;.:. Still a youn#ster in the )J0s, "ans fell under the spell of ;at

7ole)s piano and later found he could actually improise on the sheet music before him. Musictook him throu#h hi#h school and, like for Miles, was his ticket to colle#e. !ut unlike Dais8who came to the bi# city ostensibly to study, and then dropped out8"ans traeled to theDeep South and dili#ently finished four years of music courses at Southeastern @ouisiana7olle#e.

Dais had already been in town for 10 years when "ans first stepped into the ;ew &ork $a%%scene in 1344. "ans immediately discerned a stiffer, more formal code of cross-racialcommunication than he had e*perienced in @ouisiana. 7ontrary to the #eneral assumptions ofSouthern racism, @ouisiana had been a pocket of racial ease.

There was a kind of freedom down there, different from anythin# in the ;orth. The intercourse

between ;e#ro and white was friendly, een intimate. There was no hypocrisy, and that)simportant to me. told this to Miles, and asked him if he understood what meant. (e said hedid. Some ery horrible thin#s #o on down there. !ut there are some #ood thin#s too, and thefeel of the country is one of them.

;ew &ork 7ity helped snap "ans back to a blackKwhite reality. (e immersed himself in $a%%culture, takin# a ariety of sideman #i#s. (e dabbled in third-stream pro$ects, recordin# withforward-lookin# #roups led by 9eor#e Hussell and 7harles Min#us. (is lifestyle also took aturn away from the mainstream. (is first lon#-term romance was with a black woman named

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eri 7ousins for whom eri)s Scope was namedE. (e e*perimented with narcotics and bythe late )40s was hooked on heroin.

!ut no fanciful aspirations of achiein# white ;e#ro status as ;orman Mailer dubbed thecross-racial identification common to many wanna-!eats of the mid-)40sE had him hoodwinked."ans was not lookin# for a #hetto pass, and felt disdain for those who romantici%ed the $a%%

life' They lie their full lies on the frin#e of $a%% and yet miss its essence entirely. They takethe neuroses that are inte#ral in eery art and blow them up to where they)re the whole thin#.

n early )45, 9eor#e Hussell8at Dais) ur#in#8droe "ans oer to the 7olony 7lub in theblack, !edford-Stuyesant section of !rooklyn to sit in with the se*tet. "ans knew it was anaudition and that if he played his cards8and the piano8ri#ht, one of the most presti#iouspositions in the $a%% world could be his. Dais and 6dderley had already spoken of the pianist8the former had heard him at !irdland and the latter had witnessed him sittin# in with hisbrother ;at8and had a#reed he was well worth a listen.

!y the end of the ni#ht, Miles told !ill that he)d be playin# their ne*t en#a#ement inhiladelphia.

"ans was swept away in a flurry of #i#s, the ma$ority in black ni#htclubs like the 7olony.Thou#h "ans had be#un to make a name for himself in ;ew &ork circles, it was a tou#h andunwelcomin# audience he encountered on the road. Hed 9arland was a tou#h act to replace.The dynamic pianist had been one of the popular thou#h often tardyE sparkplu#s in Dais)hard-char#in# rhythm section for almost three years. :a%% enthusiasts8many of whomfollowed band lineups as closely as sportswriters knew pro team rosters8were a#hast' =howas this white #uy, and where was Hed

(e looked like a (arard professor on a (arlem street corner, is how one witness of the daydescribed "ans. (is bookish looks, white skin and uiet demeanor e*acerbated the problemof usherin# him into the fold. Dais8neer accused of bein# a #racious host8watched fromthe win#s, tossin# in barbed comments when it amused him.

"ans) more subdued playin# style did not help in#ratiate the youn# pianist to Dais) followin#any more than his appearance did. (e lacked the drama 9arland had deliered and had#enerously supplied behind the other soloists in the band. Dais adored "ans) contrastin#sense of space and subtlety, but a noisy, packed $a%% $oint was not the ideal location for crystalnotes or sparklin# water cascadin# down from some clear waterfall, as the trumpeter laterpraised the pianist)s sound.

=ith mi*ed emotions, "ans perseered. (e felt intimidated, thou#h challen#ed and ecstatic' thou#ht was inadeuate. felt the #roup to be composed of superhumans. !ut the bandbe#an to find a new, smoother #rooe, as 6dderley noted. =hen he started to use !ill, Mileschan#ed his style from ery hard to a softer approach.

!y the end of May, on Miles) A2nd birthday, the se*tet recorded a number of sides that leanedheaily on ballads, and reealed a certain tension within the band.

aul 7hambers and :immy 7obb were #ettin# ed#y hain# to hold back and wanted to cookon somethin#, "ans recalled. 6fter recordin# rather hushed ersions of Stella by Starli#htand /n 9reen Dolphin Street, Miles turned and said, @oe for Sale, and kicked it off.

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Summer of )45 found "ans increasin#ly comfortable in the #roup. (e was no lon#er theyoun#est member8:immy 7obb had been called in to replace hilly :oe :ones a month after"ans $oined8but he remained the only white musician. Miles continued to tease him, but hehad stood the trumpeter)s skewerin#8certainly a rite of entry to the band8and earned Dais)respect.

!ut the unease "ans faced in certain enues #rew. t was more of an issue with the fans. The#uys in the band defended me staunchly. =e were playin# black clubs, and #uys would comeup and say, <=hat)s that white #uy doin# there) They said, <Miles wants him there8he)ssupposed to be there).

Heerse or not, it was a form of racism, and Dais and "ans were of one mind about it.Miles' 7row :im is what they call that. t)s L#ot a lot of the ;e#ro musicians mad becausemost of the best-payin# $obs #o to the white musicians playin# what the ;e#roes created. !ut don)t #o for this, because think pre$udice one way is $ust as bad as the other way.

"ans' This is an a#e-old disproen theory8that white men cannot play $a%%. =hat peoplewho are talkin# that way mi#ht be sayin# is they want to #et credit for deelopin# the music as

a tradition.

&ears later, "ans opened up a bit more, addin#' t makes me a bit an#ry. want moreresponsibility amon# black people and black musicians to be accurate and to be spirituallyintelli#entIto say only black people can play $a%% is as dan#erous as sayin# only white peopleare intelli#ent. !ut in )45, the pianist held his ton#ue, while the pressures of tourin#8theconstant trael, the lon# hours, the persistent uestionin# of "ans) presence on thebandstand8mounted.

Takes one to know one #oes the old schoolyard retort. !y the end of the summer, Dais knew"ans well enou#h to reco#ni%e, and identify with, certain personality traits. !ill was a erysensitie person and it didn)t take much to set him offC a lot of people were sayin# he didn)tplay fast enou#h and hard enou#h for them, that he was too delicate, Dais recalled. "ans

was fast approachin# his professional limitC a decision to depart seemed imminent.

Dais sensed that there was another factor propellin# "ans to leae the #roup. /n top of allthis shit was the thin# about wantin# to form his own band and play his own music. n an ironictwist, "ans) personal resole and musical ision had been steeled in the fire of derision hefaced almost ni#htly. Thou#h he felt e*hausted in eery way8physically, mentally, spiritually8it did a lot of #ood, he would say, a #reat deal for my confidence.

!ut it went deeper than mere self-assurance. "ans) immersion in an inte#rated settin#,surrounded by incredibly stron#, creatie indiiduals, forced a chan#e that transcendeduestions of white or black. !ein# with the band and the real honest personalities inoledreally helped confirm my own identity, made me reali%e that bein# myself was the only place to

be.

6fter a few festial and special appearances8recordin#s of which contradict "ans) alle#edinability to play fast Lor hard enou#h 8and a few more weeks with the band, he departed in;oember.

To Miles, their $oint destiny remained unfulfilled. 6 few months later, despite hain# hired=ynton +elly to take oer the piano spot after considerin# another white pianist, :oe NawinulE,Dais called "ans and set up studio time at 7olumbia Hecords) A0th Street Studio. n 6u#ust

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1343, the eidence of their final effort to#ether, and one more compellin# ar#ument for a color-blind approach to $a%%-makin#, was deliered' +ind of !lue.

:immy 7obb notes that Dais) famous se*tet was so talent-packed that it was fated from theoutset to fracture into a series of powerful, #enre-definin# bands. =ithin a year of "ans) e*it,that)s e*actly what happened, each splinter #roup led by a soloist initially hand-picked by Dais

while still youn# and lar#ely unknown' 7oltrane, 6dderley, +elly with 7hambers and 7obbEand, establishin# his own trio format and returnin# to chord-based e*plorations, !ill "ans.

(istory did, and continues to, look upon the nine-month Dais-"ans union throu#h the lens ofrace. Down !eat, in a 13O0 profile on "ans, reported of the rumbles in some uarters thatthe color of !ill)s skin automatically depreciated his alue to the LDais #roup. 6nd recently, in!S) 10-part opus :a%%, the oluminous +en !urns compressed "ans) si#nificantcontributions to a few moments focused on the white #uy in Miles) band.

"en Dais, writin# on his former pianist)s choice of sidemen after their split, saw "ans)famous Scott @aBaro-aul Motian trio not in musical terms, but as a return to a less-than-pro#ressie, all-white situation. t)s a stran#e thin# about a lot of white players8not all, $ust

most8that after they make it in a black #roup they always #o and play with all white #uys. !illdid that, and )m not sayin# he could hae #otten any black #uys better than Scott and aul,)m $ust tellin# what )e seen happen oer and oer a#ain.

Dais did not balance his comments with the fact that amon# many black $a%% musicians whom"ans hired oer the years, hilly :oe :ones8Miles) own lon#time drummer8consistentlyreappeared. ;or did he mention that :ack De:ohnette fi#ured prominently in one of "ans)most powerful lineups, alon#side bassist "ddie 9ome%, before $oinin# Dais in 13O3.!ut then the issue of race8as "ans learned while onsta#e with Dais8is often fueled bywhat appears, and seldom by what is. 6nd Miles8whose penchant for self-contradiction isle#endary8often approached the truth in an obliue way.

(e is a ery parado*ical, many-sided person, "ans once commented, wain# away not

Dais) eracity, but the tendency to hold him to the e*act letter of his words.

f you were to take any number of thin#s he said out of conte*t, you could be completely onthe wron# track. !ecause he could say one thin# today, and the opposite tomorrow for reasonsthat hae to do with momentary response or defense mechanisms or who knows what.

Bor one who neer hesitated bein# outra#eous or outspoken to the point of almost losin# hisoice followin# throat sur#eryE, Dais must hae been atypically talked out but accurateE whenhe confided to layboy in 13O2' This black-white business is ticklish to try to e*plain.

6s the )O0s played out and musical fashion rocked )n) rolled, the pair kept in touch sporadically.Dais kept himself abreast of "ans) music and certainly his sidemenE, while "ans noted how

apart they were driftin# musically. Dais) new mid-)O0s uintet8=ayne Shorter, Hon 7arter,Tony =illiams and youn# pianist (erbie (ancock, one of whose primary influences was "ans8increased its reliance on modal structures, unlockin# and recreatin# the $a%% ocabulary.

Meanwhile, "ans reembraced functional harmony as pianist !rad Mehldau calls itE,retracin# his steps to and then from bebop. /er the years, he created, and continued toe*plore, a nuanced, te*ture-rich sound that became his si#nature, most often within anacoustic trio.

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=atchin# as Dais introduced amplified instruments and rock rhythms into his sound, andadded more and more sidemen, the pianist shook his head. "ans missed his lyrical buddy,and blamed the chan#e on considerations of commerce.

would like to hear more of the consummate melodic master, "ans commented in the late)P0s. !ut feel that bi# business and his record company hae had a corruptin# influence on

his material. t)s temptin# for the musician to pre$udice his own iews when recordin#opportunities are so infreuent, but for one am determined to resist the temptation.

t $ust doesn)t attract me. )m of a certain period, a certain eolution. hear music differently,he confessed, addin#' mean, for me, comparin# electric bass to acoustic bass is sacrile#e.

Dais felt as stron#ly as "ans. !ut to the trumpeter, blasphemy was the idea of remainin#static stylistically. (e sin#led out the modal $a%% he had pioneered with "ans.

)So =hat) or +ind of !lue, they were done in that era, the ri#ht hour, the ri#ht day, and ithappened. t)s oer, Dais told !en Sidran in 135O. (e further declared, =hat used to playwith !ill "ans, all those different modes, and substitute chords, we had the ener#y then and

we liked it. !ut hae no feel for it anymore8it)s more like warmed-oer turkey.

=hen Shirley (orn insisted in 1330 that Miles reconsider playin# the #entle ballads and modaltunes of his +ind of !lue period, he demurred. ;ah, it hurts my lip, was the e*cuse.

6nd yet, the DaisK"ans dialo#ue neer ended. 6s sa*ophonist Dae @iebman recalls fromhis days with Dais at the hei#ht of Miles) electric period' (e said !ill was really the #uy whoopened the doors for him musically8!ill was ery special to him. (e said to me, < used to call!ill up and tell him to take the phone off the hook. :ust leae it off and play for me because loed the way he played.)

6s temptin# as it is to sum up their $oint efforts with +ind of !lue, Dais and "ans were not all

about melancholy and moodiness. /n :a%% at the la%a, a simple four-son# album Miles)se*tet recorded lie on 6u#. 3, 1345, there)s a 10-minute ersion of My Bunny Galentinefeaturin# Dais and "ans as the sole soloistsC Trane and 7annonball both lay out. Mutedtrumpet and bri#htly stroked piano are alone to spar, at moments haltin# and punchy, thenplayful and flowin#. t)s a li#hthearted conersation between two masters totally familiar withone another, en$oyin# the composition and the company. t blasts apart any misperception thatthe two were only capable of creatin# sounds somber, serious and bittersweet.

!lastin# misperceptions. /f the essential effects of the black-white, Miles-!ill brotherhood,that)s as accurate a definition as any. Bor Dais, the motiation to e*pose8and e*plode8stereotyped notions of race powered much of what he created. (ain# !ill "ans as his pianistonly furthered his cause. 6s Dais once testified'f hadn)t met that pre$udice, probably wouldn)t hae had as much drie in my work. hae

thou#ht about that a lot. hae thou#ht that pre$udice and curiosity hae been responsible forwhat hae done in music.

n a less oppositional way, "ans drew stren#th from the same sourceC he certainly had ampleopportunity once he hit the $a%% front line in Dais) #roup. ;o matter the racist salos that werelofted in )45 or later in his career, "ans, like Dais, had his eye on the pri%e' aspirin# for thosemoments onsta#e or in the studio, when creatie inspiration strikes and true and honeste*pression freely swin#s. Bor Miles and Moe, and for those who play and lie the $a%% life, it#oes to the heart of why they do what they do. "ans summed it up well'

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:a%% is the most honest music )e come across. The really #ood $a%% musicians only respectmusicians they feel are worth respectin#. There, there are no racial barriers.

/ri#inally published in September 2001

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