neededtobeprogrammed– usually,you’dhave
togetsometechguytosetthingsup.I wasone
ofthefewpeople who could both programme
andplayit.”
Inearly1985,Milesinitiallycontactedseveral
potentialcollaborators– producerBillLaswell,
arrangerPaulBuckmaster,pianistGeorgeDuke,
Toto’skeyboardplayerStevePorcaroandeven
Princeallsubmittedtracks,butnonewereused.
“Hewantedtoworkcollaboratively,”saysHall.
“Buildingtracksfromthedrumloopupwards,
overlayingbass,keyboardsandthenhorns.Then
Vince came back and redubbed live drums.”
T
RADITIONALLY,jazzsessions– even
Miles’sexperimentaljazz-rockworkofthe
early1970s– wererecordedlive,withthe
oddoverdub.Bythetimehestartedrecording
Rubberband, however,Mileswasusingthe
accretive,track-by-trackprocessnowcommonin
contemporarypop.“It’slikethewayhepainted,”
saysHall.“You’renotworkinginrealtime,
you’reabletolookatthecanvasand
reworkthings.Let’saddmorered,or
green,orblue.That’showwemade
music.It wasallsketches.MeandZane
laiddowndrumgrooves,he’dsuggest
basslinesandchords,it builtuplikethat.
Itwasverymucha studiocreation,
ratherthana livejam.”
ThesessionsbeganonOctober17,
1985 withthetitletrack.Inthestudio,
Milesoftendeliveredcryptic,gnomic
commentstomusicians.“OnceI pointed
outthata melodywewereusing
soundeda bitlikesomethingI had
alreadyheardsomewhere,”saysHall.
“Milessaid,‘OK,inthatcase,youadd
onenote,andtaketwoaway.’Haha!
Thatwastoavoidplagiarism!I’dsayto
him,‘Miles,youthemaster.’He’dreply,
‘No,I’mthemaster’smaster.’Haha!”
Hisworkingmethodswereoften
counterintuitive.“We’dbeplaying
a funkgroove,andhe’dstartplaying
a completelyunrelatednoteorchord,”
saysZane.“Itsoundedhorribly
discordantatfirst,andhe’dtellusto
keepjamming.Eventuallyit madesense.
Andhe’doftendelivertheselittlepearls
of wisdom. He’d say things like, ‘There is
nosuchthingaswrongmusic.’He’doftengetyouto
embracemistakes.There’sa trackcalled‘Wrinkle’
whereI keptplayinga bumnote– Milesheardand
said:‘Playit again,justlikethat!’andstarted writing
amelodyaroundmy‘wrong’riff!”
Mileswasa highlycompetentbutunorthodox
keyboardplayer.“He’doftenplaythesynthwithhisleft
handwhileplayingthetrumpetwithhisright,”says
Zane.“Othertimeshe’djustdighiselboworhiswhole
forearmacrossthekeyboard!We’dstopplayingand
he’dlookupandgrowl.‘I didn’ttellyoutostop.Keep
playing!’Butthesechordclustersweren’trandom:
theywerethechordsthatweregoingonhishead!”
HolzmanrecallsMileshoveringoverhiskeyboard
andmakingsuggestions.“He’doftenwraphisarms
overyourshouldersandstartmovingyourhands
whileyouwereplaying,”saysHolzman.“I’vesince
seenoldphotoswherehe’ddoexactlythesamething
withBillEvansandHerbieHancock!Hecertainly
knewhiswayarounda keyboard.Heplayedwhat
youmightcall‘composer’spiano’– hehada verystrong
understandingofchordsandharmony.Onetimehesaidto
me,‘Don’tplaythoselongchords.It makestheguysinthe
rhythmsectiongotosleep.’SometimesI wakeupinthe
middleofthenight, 30 yearson, and realise, oh man, that’s
whatMileswasgettingat!”
AllmusiciansontheRubberbandsessionsrecallMilesas
anupbeatpresence.“Hewasneverdepressed,”saysHall.
“Hewasplayful,raringtogo,wantedtohavea greattime.”
Hewasalsoconstantlypaintingandsketchinginthe
studio.“Hestarteddrawingandpaintingasa corrective
fora slightparalysis,followinga strokeinthelate1970s,”
saysWilburn.“Itrelaxedhim.Soeverytimewe’dgetinto
thestudiohe’dsittherewithanenormouspad,drawing
withpensandpencils.Helovedpaintingdancersand
women’sbodies– thebooties,thecurves.Sometimesit’d
getkindaabstract.Forhim,it wasalllinkedtothemusic.”
“Often,whensomeonescrewedupa take,he’dsay,
‘Man,I’mgonnadrawyousoI canerase you!’,” laughs Hall.
“Itcrackedusupeverytime.”
“Hewashilariouscompany,”saysAttalaZaneGiles.
“Every morning he’d come in, dressed in these outlandish
MILESDAVISANDPRINCE
ThePrinceofDarknessmeetsHisPurpleness
T
HEREwasa mutualadmiration
betweenPrinceandMilesDavis
throughoutthe1980s.“Milesloved
thefunksoundthatPrincemade,and
therewereeffortstogethimtocomein
andrecordwithus,”recallsRandyHall.
“I thinkMilesandPrincesawa lotofeach
otherin theirmusic,”saysEricLeeds,the
hornplayerandmulti-instrumentalistwho
workedcloselywithPrincebetween 1984
and2003.“WhenI realisedthatPrince
wasreachingouttoMilesI madedamn
wellsureI wasgoingtobesomewhere
whenit happened!”
DuringtheRubberbandsessions,in late
1985,Milesreceiveda packagefrom
Prince,containinganaudiotapeanda
letterthatread:“Ifthistapeis ofanyuseto
you,pleasegoaheadandplaywhatever
youfeeloverit, becauseI trustwhatyou
hearandplay.”Thetrackwascalled“Can
I PlayWithU”– a fastandfuriousfunk
groove,featuringa vocalbyPrinceand
hornoverdubsbyEricLeeds.Mileslater
dubbeda trumpet track on this and sent it
back to Prince.
“Princecametomeandourtrumpeter
MattBlistanandaskedouropinionof
it,”saysLeeds.“IfPrincewasgoingto
askmethat,it meanthewasn’t 100 per
centsureit wasgreat.I said,‘If you’re
goingtodosomethingwithMiles,this
shouldn’tbeit.’Andheagreed.”You
canfind“CanI PlayWithU”online,but
it wasneverplannedtobeincluded
onRubberband. It did,however,
influenceseveraltracksonthe
album,mostobviously“GiveIt Up”.
Thepairdidcollaboratethough,
twoyearslater,atPaisleyPark
onNewYear’sEve1987.“Miles
playedwithusonstageforone
ofthesongs.Tothebestofmy
knowledge,thatis theonlytime
theywerein a spacetogether,
performing.Theybecame
friendlyandcertainlystayedin
communicationwitheachother.”
Leedsevenconfirmsthatother
trackswerelatersenttoMilestobe
used.“ButI havenoideawhether
Miles ever heard them!”
OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 91
FRANS SCHELLEKENS/REDFERNS; MARC S CANTER/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES
Davistheunorthodox
keyboardplayerat
theNorthSeaJazz
Festivalin theHague,
Holland, July 11, 1986
Princeon
February22,
1985 forthe
‘PurpleRain
Tour’atthe
LosAngeles
Forum
