Miles Davis: Origins of "Donna Lee," 2 of 2. Guest Post by John Purcell

[John Purcell is a Boston alto saxophonist, a Founding Member of this Playback, and author of a series of essays on Charlie Parker here. Last time (please see the Index under Miles), John took us through some of the many reasons that we know “Donna Lee” was written by Miles and not by Parker. In fact, subscriber Ron Drotos adds, “in the mid-1980s, Max Roach told me that everyone at the original recording session knew that Miles had written ‘Donna Lee.’” This time, John looks closely at two recordings that influenced Miles’s composition. This is not about Miles “stealing,” which I’ve shown is a misconception—the record companies owned the copyrights, Not Miles! This is a study of his compositional process. And the resulting piece, “Donna Lee,” is totally original.]

Origins of "Donna Lee,” Part 2 of 2

by John Purcell

Let’s now look closely at the two relevant predecessors of “Donna Lee”: The recording of “Tiny’s Con” was led by Aaron Sachs, a very active New York saxophonist and clarinetist who had a long and distinguished career, making it to the age of ninety. The “con,” or deception, is of course that not everyone will know that it is based on “Indiana.” Here’s the head (complete track at the bottom):

This head comes as a shock, and the first reaction is, “Gadzooks, it’s ‘Donna Lee!’” But is it? Both lines are based on “Indiana,” both are taken at a brisk clip, and both are fashioned from blocks of 8th notes, all of which results in inevitable similarities. That said, Miles was undoubtedly aware of “Tiny’s Con.” Here are both heads played at the same time, “Tiny’s Con” in the left channel and “Donna Lee” in the right. I slowed them down and synchronized them:

From approximately 0:14 to 0:18, the notes overlap exactly, beginning in unison and continuing an octave apart, far exceeding the bounds of coincidence. And from approximately 0:28 to 0:30, the notes overlap again very briefly. This time, though, it’s the entrance that’s the issue. Both phrases begin at the exact same place in the form (pickups into bar 21). They diverge almost immediately, but that doesn’t lessen the impact of this carbon copy entrance. What’s more, this is followed by a pause at 0:32, which results in another identical entrance at 0:34. There are also brief overlaps at 0:28, 0:34, and 0:39. By this point, coincidence lies in tatters—Miles had to have done this on purpose.

We turn now to the trumpet solo from “Ice Freezes Red,” also considered to be grist for “Donna Lee”(complete track at the bottom):

When slowed down and played in conjunction with “Donna Lee,” nothing overlaps:

There is certainly a stylistic influence, since Fats fashions his solo from blocks of 8th notes, but “Tiny’s Con” provides a much clearer blueprint than “Ice Freezes Red.” In fact, if you ask me, the first eight notes of “Ice Freezes Red” have a more obvious connection, despite a one-note difference, with another Miles tune from 8/14/47, “Sipping At Bell’s.” [Lew adds: That’s how the title appears in the copyright and on the original label. Bell’s was a bar in Harlem. Significantly, “Sipping” is also built from strings of eighth notes.] Here is the beginning of each one, slowed down:

But this eight-note group didn’t originate with Fats. Bird uses it at the JATP concert on January 1, 1946, at the top of his sixth chorus on “Blues for Norman” (slowed down):

As a matter of fact, Bird uses it to open his solo on “Donna Lee” (master take):

Was he intentionally quoting Fats? Probably not, since he doesn’t open with it on any other takes. I think this note group was pretty much in the public domain, which may explain why Miles also used it, and altered it slightly, making it his own.

I said that nothing in “Ice Freezes Red” overlaps with “Donna Lee,” but this first impression turns out to be misleading. “Donna Lee” starts on beat 3 of the first bar, two beats late. When you think about it, this is quite the anomaly. Jazz tunes usually start on beat 1 of the first bar, or with pickups into it. You can even argue that this is true of songs in general.

So why did Miles make this unconventional choice? He had to, in order to avoid copying Fats! If you shift “Donna Lee’s” opening phrase to beat 1, and match it up with beat 1 of “Ice Freezes Red,” (in other words, leave out the pickup), then they do indeed fit hand-in-glove:

So the evidence is clear, and always has been, that Miles adapted phrases from two existing recordings when he composed “Donna Lee.”

How much does this matter? In my opinion, not a lot. Shifting “Ice Freezes Red” by two beats is a valid idea on its own, and the overlaps with “Tiny’s Con” were only of use to Miles because he was able to incorporate them seamlessly into his own compositional structure. “Donna Lee” has a flow and logic that allows it to stand on its own as an artistic statement, one that has also stood the test of time–unlike “Tiny’s Con,” which no one else has recorded, ever. This leadsheet of “Donna Lee” shows, in boxes, the opening that fits Navarro’s solo (shifted over) and the few ideas that overlap “Tiny’s Con”:

In jazz of the 1940s, the collective quest to renew the vocabulary meant that new ideas belonged to everyone, no matter who happened upon them first.

Come to think of it, that’s the story of jazz itself.

Here are the complete tracks: “Donna Lee”—Charlie Parker with Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Tommy Potter, Max Roach, recorded May 8, 1947:

“Tiny’s Con” —Aaron Sachs (cl) with Terry Gibbs (vib), Gene Di Novi (p), Clyde Lombardi (b) Tiny Kahn (d & composer), June 8, 1946:

“Ice Freezes Red”—Fats Navarro (tp & co-composer) with Leo Parker (bar sax), Tadd Dameron (p & co-composer), Gene Ramey (b) Denzil Best (d), January 29, 1947:

[THANK YOU, JOHN!

All the best,
Lewis

P.S. John is not related to the multi-reed player of the same name who recorded with Jack DeJohnette and others from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Please don’t forget John’s Charlie Parker essays here. Click on that or cut and paste this: charlieparkercentennial.com ]