[78-L] Miles Davis etc [was Thelonious Monk [was Leonard

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Regarding Davis fluffs: I cited the Capitol recording of “Move” as an 
example. Davis’ fluffs are not only in his solos, which would likely be 
a matter of his ideas running ahead of his ability to execute them 
cleanly, but also in ensemble passages, which were presumably scored. 
If one were to do a “Benedetti” on early Miles’ solos, capturing only 
his solos as Benedetti did for Parker, the result might be 
embarrassing. A number of bop trumpeters had problems with execution. 
This includes Miles, Kenny Dorham, Howard McGhee, and even Fats Navarro 
and Clifford Brown. Two causes of the problem may have been the killer 
tempos and the, at times, complex original compositions. Some of the 
ensemble work on Gene Norman “Just Jazz” concert recordings is just 
plain sloppy. Even saying this, I remain fascinated by it all!