In 1958, George Gershwin’s opera Porgy And Bess was very much in vogue. Several jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Collette, and Mundell Lowe had already created their own versions of certain songs. Cal Lampley, George Avakian’s successor, wanted to take advantage of the fact that a film version of the opera was in production. Gil Evans’ adaptation of Gershwin’s score was a veritable tour de force. He chose certain pieces and reorganized the chronology of the original work, adding “Gone,” a completely original work whose tonal combinations placed it among his masterworks. The fierce violence of the orchestra’s overture, the funeral lamentations of “Gone, Gone, Gone,” and the powerful clamors of “Prayer” seized the audience and released their grip only to overwhelm them with the astonishing romanticism of the
trumpeter who, with an actor’s intuition and a dandy’s grace, slipped into the skin of the different characters.

Original issue: Columbia LP CS 8095 on March 9, 1959
Producer: Cal Lampley
Engineer: Frank Laico
July 22, 1958 (a)
Miles Davis (flh); Ernie Royal (tpt); Johnny Coles (tpt); Bernie Glow (tpt); Louis Mucci (tpt);
Joe Bennett (tb); Frank Rehak (tb); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); Dick Hixon (tb); Willie Ruff (frh);
Julius Watkins (frh); Gunther Schuller (frh); Bill Barber (tuba); Cannonball Adderley (as);
Romeo Penque (fl, alto fl, cl); Phil Bodner (fl, alto fl, cl); Danny Bank (alto fl, bcl);
Paul Chambers (b); Philly Joe Jones (d); Gil Evans (arr, cond)
July 29, 1958 (b)
Same personnel as July 22, except Jimmy Cobb (d) replaces Philly Joe Jones
August 4, 1958 (c)
Same personnel as July 22, except Jerome Richardson (fl, alto fl, cl) replaces Phil Bodner;
Jimmy Cobb (d) replaces Philly Joe Jones
August 18, 1958 (d)
Miles Davis (tpt, flh); Ernie Royal (tpt); Bernie Glow (tpt); Louis Mucci (tpt);
Joe Bennett (tb); Frank Rehak (tb); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); Dick Hixon (tb); Willie Ruff (frh);
Julius Watkins (frh); Gunther Schuller (frh); Bill Barber (tuba); Cannonball Adderley (as);
Romeo Penque (fl, alto fl, cl); Jerome Richardson (fl, alto fl, cl); Danny Bank (alto fl, bcl);
Paul Chambers (b); Jimmy Cobb (d); Gil Evans (arr, cond)
All tracks recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, NYC

  1. Buzzard Song [c]
  2. Bess, You Is My Woman Now [b]
  3. Gone [a]
  4. Gone, Gone, Gone [a]
  5. Summertime [c]
  6. Oh Bess, Oh Where’s My Bess [c]
  7. Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus) [c]
  8. Fishermen, Strawberry And Devil Crab [b]
  9. My Man’s Gone Now [a]
  10. It Ain’t Necessarily So [b]
  11. Here Come De Honey Man [b]
  12. I Wants To Stay Here (aka I Loves You Porgy) [d]
  13. There’s A Boat That’s Leaving Soon For New York [c]
  14. I Loves You, Porgy* [d]
  15. Gone* (Take 4) [a]

* Not on original LP