I can hardly find any information on the tune entitled Nardis! Can anyone Help?

james hayter · April-8th-2005, 08:47 AM

Hi, I am currently writting a disertation for my music A-Level on "Nardis" by Miles Davis/Bill evans. I was just wondering if anyone has any information on the piece. Things like, the date it was composed, who actually composed the piece (Miles Davis/Bill Evans), if Davis ever recording it? etc.

Steve Reynolds · April-8th-2005, 08:49 AM

don't think Davis ever recorded it

my favorite version is on George Russell's great recording - Ezz-Thetics (featuring Eric Dolphy)

james hayter · April-8th-2005, 08:52 AM

did he compose it tho? Or was it Bill Evans who did?

Pete C · April-8th-2005, 08:55 AM

The bio on the official Miles Davis site (maintained by his estate) claims he wrote Nardis & admits he was mistakenly credited for Blue in Green & Four, so that definitely argues for Miles as composer.

I've always wondered why Miles never recorded it.

I believe it was first recorded by Cannonball in 1958, with Evans on piano, on "Portrait of Cannonball," while both were in Miles' group. It makes one wonder whether this is something they ever did on gigs with Miles.

Pete C · April-8th-2005, 09:17 AM

OK, I just found Orrin Keepnews' notes for Portrait of Cannonball online.

* * *

Portrait of Cannonball strikes us as a most fitting title for Cannonball Adderley's first album for Riverside, not only because of the unusually expressive photograph of the man on the cover, but also because the contents of the LP seem to make up an equally expressive musical "portrait."

The colleagues he selected for this album include, first of all, Blue Mitchell, an exceptionally gifted young trumpet man who is an old friend from Florida days. It was Cannonball who brought Blue forcibly to Riverside's attention and it was Cannonball who felt that using Mitchell on this LP would be a most helpful way of introducing him.

Sam Jones, one of the best of several superior young bassists currently on the New York scene, is also from Florida and was an important part of Adderley's own group. Philly Joe Jones, who was Miles Davis's drummer when Cannonball joined that unit, is one of today's most formidable rhythm men. He can be heard with great frequency on Riverside LPs and his presence here is an indication that Cannonball shares our high opinion of him. Bill Evans, also currently featured with Miles, is a brilliant and distinctive stylist just beginning to gain recognition.

The friends-and-associates aspect of this "portrait" is also in evidence in the repertoire. In addition to one free-blowing version of a standard ("People Will Say We're In Love"), there are two Cannonball originals ("A Little Taste," first recorded on the first album Adderley made; and "Straight Life," a new ballad), a blues contributed by Sam Jones, a new scoring of one of the best tunes of the talented composer-arranger-altoist Gigi Gryce, and finally the Oriental-flavored "Nardis," one of Miles Davis's rather infrequent compositions, specifically written for Cannonball's Riverside debut.

--ORRIN KEEPNEWS, from the liner notes.

james hayter · April-8th-2005, 09:37 AM

Cheers for that pete C. Do u know have any other information on the piece? Do have know what the word Nardis actually means? Do u know of any other recordings? Do u have any useful links/names of books etc?

Richardo Caerleoni · April-8th-2005, 09:45 AM

Nardis is "Sid ran" backwards? So I suspect it's maybe one the "word plays" on "Sid" ...as in "Sid's Ahead" etc. ? ......Symphony Sid.

Could be totally wrong!

Rc.

Pete C · April-8th-2005, 09:46 AM

For what it's worth, a Google search shows that Nardis, or de Nardis (derived from the town of Nardo), is an Italian family name, so maybe it was a dedication to somebody.

Gentle Giant · April-8th-2005, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richardo Caerleoni

Nardis is "Sid ran" backwards? So I suspect it's maybe one the "word plays" on "Sid" ...as in "Sid's Ahead" etc. ? ......Symphony Sid.

Could be totally wrong!

Rc.

I'm assuming it's not an ode to Ben Sidran.

Richardo Caerleoni · April-8th-2005, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gentle Giant

I'm assuming it's not an ode to Ben Sidran.

GG...

RC.

Sand · April-8th-2005, 12:17 PM

Well, Petter Pettinger's How My Heart Sings was lying on table right over there. The most natural thing to do, was to look it up in the index. Nardis: first hit on page 58 ( and about 15 other hits). Turned out that most of the story is in that first paragraph, though you would have to check other occurances in the book, as well. The tune was written for Cannonball, it says, specially for him and for the album Portrait of. The rest is there in the book ( if it's true).

bluenoter · April-8th-2005, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james hayter

Cheers for that pete C. Do u know have any other information on the piece? Do have know what the word Nardis actually means? Do u know of any other recordings? Do u have any useful links/names of books etc?

James--

Welcome to JC! Go here to see 185 recordings of "Nardis" listed at AMG online (see the second page too). If that link fails to work, go to AMG's homepage

http://www.allmusic.com

and enter "Nardis" in the Search window, then select Song.

The recording I think of is the aforementioned one by George Russell on the album Ezz-thetics.

--Rita

Ron Thorne · April-8th-2005, 06:05 PM

Welcome, James.

GG, I also thought of Ben Sidran. Guess we weren't alone, either. Interestingly, Ben and Leo Sidran named their recording label Nardis Music.

James, if you're interested, you can hear and see the chord progressions Miles wrote for Nardis here.

Ralph Towner has a wonderful interpretation of Nardis on his live solo recording from 1979.

Nate Dorward · April-8th-2005, 06:31 PM

Take a look at Ben Sidran's book of interviews--there's an interview with Miles Davis there. At the end of the interview Sidran asks Miles about "Nardis" & Miles confesses he forgets the origins of the title. Sidran then mentions that the reason the tune's always fascinated him is that it spelled his name backwards, & the interview ends with Miles marvelling about this (which he says he'd never noticed).

I think the credit to Evans is in part due to confusion because Miles himself never recorded it & the tune was an important part of Evans' repertoire; but also because Evans's composed countermelody in his usual arrangement of the piece became an important part of the tune.