1967-10-23
Sorcerer
Miles Davis
By Maeve C.
Wayne Shorter wrote four of the seven pieces on Sorcerer, among them “Prince of Darkness” and “Masqualero”. The quintet of Miles Davis, Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams recorded most of the album in May 1967 at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio, with Teo Macero producing.
Hancock’s “The Sorcerer” supplies the title, a nickname he had for Davis, and Williams’s “Pee Wee” is played without the trumpeter. The closing “Nothing Like You” comes from a 1962 session, with Bob Dorough singing and Gil Evans arranging. Cicely Tyson appears on the cover.
Sources
Official Miles Davis site: release date Oct 23, 1967 (Columbia); producer Teo Macero; title from Hancock’s track The Sorcerer, his nickname for Miles; Shorter wrote four tracks; cover shows Cicely Tyson.Corroborates October 23, 1967; sessions May 16–24, 1967 at CBS 30th Street Studio; composers; Davis absent from Pee Wee; Nothing Like You recorded August 21, 1962 with Bob Dorough and Gil Evans.