This image made available by Hard Rock International Friday, May 10, 2013, shows a telegram addressed to Paul McCartney and the reply. Fans of the late trumpet and guitar masters have long known that Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix had been making plans to record together in the year before Hendrix's sudden death in 1970. But less attention has been paid to the bass player they were trying to recruit: Paul McCartney, who was busy with another band at the time. This tantalizing detail about the super group that never was — jazz standout Tony Williams would have been on drums — is contained in an oft-overlooked telegram that Hendrix sent to McCartney at The Beatles' Apple Records in London on Oct. 21, 1969. "We are recording and LP together this weekend," it says, complete with a typographical error. "How about coming in to play bass stop call Alan Douglas 212-5812212. Peace Jimi Hendrix Miles Davis Tony Williams." The telegram, advising McCartney to contact producer Douglas if he could make the session, has been part of the Hard Rock Cafe memorabilia collection since it was purchased at auction in 1995. Still it has only generated attention in recent months with the successful release of "People, Hell & Angels," expected to be the last CD of Hendrix's studio recordings. (AP Photo/Hard Rock Cafe)
Behind many of Americas jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie was a great womanMary Lou Williams, an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and mentor for the aforementioned musicians.
This 1991 photo released by Herman Leonard Photography shows jazz great Miles Davis in Montreux, Switzerland, where Davis would perform his last concert, six weeks before he died. The photographer Herman Leonard followed Davis over four decades, from his beginnings as a trumpeter in the late 1940s. "I could see in his face ... he knew he was dying," Mr. Leonard recalled of this photo. (AP Photo/Herman Leonard Photography, LLC., CTSIMAGES)
This 1948 file photo released by Herman Leonard Photography, shows tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon photographed by Herman Leonard, with Gordon enveloped in his cigarette smoke at the Royal Roost in New York. Mr. Leonard, famous for his smoky, backlighted black-and-white photos of such greats as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, died Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, family spokeswoman Geraldine Baum said. He was 87. (AP Photo/Herman Leonard Photography, LLC., CTSIMAGES, File)
In this photo provided by Jim McHugh, photographer Herman Leonard is seen at his home in Pasadena, Calif., on May 15, 2010. Mr. Leonard, famous for his smoky, backlighted black-and-white photos of such greats as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, died Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, family spokeswoman Geraldine Baum said. He was 87. (AP Photo/Jim McHugh)
FILE - This 1948 file photo released by Herman Leonard Photography, shows tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon photographed by Herman Leonard, with Gordon enveloped in his cigarette smoke at the Royal Roost in New York. Leonard, famous for his smoky, backlighted black-and-white photos of such greats as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, died Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, family spokeswoman Geraldine Baum . He was 87. (AP Photo/Herman Leonard Photography, LLC., CTSIMAGES, File)
