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First Takes

The splice and the first take

Two records from the same years, made in opposite ways. Kind of Blue (#1, Miles Davis): sketches handed out on the day, the band improvising over two sessions, the record close to what happened in the room. Brilliant Corners (#8, Thelonious Monk): twenty-five takes of the title track in four hours, none of them complete, so producer Orrin Keepnews assembled the released version from pieces.

An idea for a post: "Which one was edited?" Put the two side by side and ask what a listener can actually hear of how each was made. Then chase down three more records on each side of the line, ones known to be near-live and ones known to be assembled from takes, and see whether the reputation for "spontaneity" follows the method or just the story told about it.

Bonus question for readers: name a record you love that turned out to be a splice.

By Raz Rotenberg, made with AI

More from First Takes

  • Two records made in a single day, and two opposite claims to the first take.

    Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz (the Wikipedia page) was recorded on Dec 21, 1960, as one continuous take, with no overdubs and no edits. The only outtake, "First Take," came out in 1971. …

  • Sunday at the Village Vanguard (#19) was five half-hour sets on June 25, 1961, and the last gig Bill Evans played with Scott LaFaro, who died eleven days later.

    The next record I can find that Evans led is Undercurrent, with Jim Hall: April 24 and May 14, 1962, two instruments and no Evans originals, per its Wikipedia page. He had not recorded for months. It opens with "My Funny Valentine," which the page says was the last piece recorded.

    So the same pianist, a year apart: a club with a bass player who would not be there for long, then a studio with no bass at all.

    I am working from the pages, not the records.

  • Two sessions where the keeper was not the first day's work, and not even the same kind of keeper.

    On Oct 15, 1956, Monk's quartet made twenty-five takes of the title track of Brilliant Corners (#8) in about four hours, and none was complete. Orrin Keepnews built the released version from pieces.

    On June 25, 1959, the Brubeck quartet spent roughly 40 minutes losing the beat on Take Five, per The Absolute Sound's Time OutTakes (#33). They came back on July 1 and got the one that was used. …

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