Miles Davis Sextet - Birdland 1959

Este disco é praticamente um single com apenas duas músicas: So What e The Theme. No entanto, é um registro de importância histórica e marcou um dia que Miles Davis, muito provavelmente, não gostava de lembrar. Naquela noite de 25 de agosto, de 1959, ele ouviu de um policial a frase "you're under arrest!" (você está preso!) que viria a ser o título de um de seus álbuns em 1985. Tudo aconteceu em frente ao Birdland, uma das mais badaladas casas de jazz da época. O Sextet tinha acabado de tocar um set de músicas para uma transmissão de rádio, ao vivo do Birdland, pelo o Dia das Forças Armadas e no final da audição, Miles acompanhou uma amiga até a porta para deixá-la em um táxi, ficando ali por alguns instantes a fim de fumar um cigarro, pegar um ar fresco ou coisa assim. Então me aparece um “gambé”, no melhor estilo W.A.S.P. (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) e resolveu mostrar toda a cordialidade da polícia local para com os cidadãos afro-americanos ordenando ao negro ali parado, em um terno de cinco mil dólares, que saísse andando (afinal, naqueles trajes só podia ser um vagabundo). Miles não gostou do tom, mas ainda argumentou que não iria a lugar algum pois estava trabalhando ali, apontado para o cartaz com seu nome. O policial respondeu: “não estou nem aí para aonde você trabalha, eu disse para você cair fora ou eu vou te prender”. Em resumo: o músico não saiu andando e o policial resolveu prende-lo, só que Miles, que treinara box, decidiu que não iria assim tão fácil. Tudo acabou em uma delegacia com Miles Davis, preso e espancado; com o terno de cinco mil dólares manchado pelo próprio sangue; sendo obrigado a pagar uma multa absurda e ainda teve a sua licença para tocar em Nova York cassada. Quanto ao policial, provavelmente ganhou uma promoção. E foi assim que a polícia americana mostrou a sua gratidão para com Miles Davis pela transmissão da sua apresentação em homenagem ao dia das Forças Armadas!

Miles Davis Sextet - Birdland
On August 25, 1959, Miles Davis had these words uttered to him: "You're under arrest!" (which became the title of his 1985 album). After doing a set for an Armed Forces Day broadcast at Birdland, Miles was escorting his friend, a white woman, to a cab. He was stopped by the police, got beaten and was arrested.The following is an extract from Miles - The Autobiography (Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, Touchstone Book, 1989):"I had just finished doing an Armed Forces Day broadcast, you know, Voice of America and all that bullshit. I had just walked this pretty white girl named Judy out to get a cab. She got in the cab, and I'm standing there in front of Birdland wringing wet because it's a hot, steaming, muggy night in August."This white policeman comes up to me and tells me to move on. At the time I was doing a lot of boxing and so I thought to myself, I ought to hit this motherf***er because I knew what he was doing. But instead I said, "Move on, for what? I'm working downstairs. That's my name up there, Miles Davis," and I pointed to my name on the marquee all up in lights."He said, "I don't care where you work, I said move on! If you don't move on I'm going to arrest you.""I just looked at his face real straight and hard, and I didn't move. Then he said, "You're under arrest!" He reached for his handcuffs, but he was stepping back. Now, boxers had told me that if a guy's going to hit you, if you walk toward him you can see what's happening. I saw by the way he was handling himself that the policeman was an ex-fighter. So I kind of leaned in closer because I wasn't going to give him no distance so he could hit me on the head."He stumbled, and all his stuff fell on the sidewalk, and I thought to myself, Oh, shit, they're going to think that I f***ed with him or something. I'm waiting for him to put the handcuffs on, because all this stuff is on the ground and shit. Then I move closer so he won't be able to f*** me up."A crowd had gathered all of a sudden from out of nowhere, and this white detective runs in and BAM! hits me on the head. I never saw him coming. Blood was running down the khaki suit I had on. Then I remember Dorothy Kilgallen coming outside with this horrible look on her face... and saying, "Miles, what happened?" I couldn't say nothing. Illinois Jacquet was there too."It was almost a race riot, so the police got scared and hurried up and got my ass out of there and took me to the 54th Precinct where they took pictures of me bleeding and shit. So, I'm sitting there, madder than a motherf***er, right? And they're saying to me in the station, "So you're the wiseguy, huh?" Then they'd bump up against me, you know, try to get me mad so they could probably knock me upside my head again. I'm just sitting there, taking it all in, watching every move they make..."Later I sued the police department for US$500,000. Harold (Lovett) wasn't doing negligence suits, so he got another lawyer, who forgot to file the claim before the statute of limitations ran out. We lost the damage suit, and I was madder than a motherf***er, but there wasn't nothing I could do about it. The police revoked my cabaret license, and that prevented me from playing New York clubs for a while."

Miles Davis Sextet - Birdland 1959