"Pfrancing," also known as "No Blues," is a Miles Davis composition that became a staple of his live performances for years. This studio version from the 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come is a 12-bar blues in F performed at approximately 146 beats per minute, a comfortable medium tempo that brings out the best in the entire ensemble. The performance is notable for the extraordinary amount of solo space allocated across six separate solo statements. Wynton Kelly opens and returns twice during the performance for a total of seven choruses, his blues-drenched piano work providing some of the most soulful playing on the entire album. Davis delivers five compelling choruses of trumpet, his solo a masterclass in blues phrasing that balances his famous economy of notes with moments of rhythmic surprise. Hank Mobley contributes four choruses of tenor saxophone, and bassist Paul Chambers takes four walking-tempo choruses in a rare extended feature. The length and depth of the improvisation on this track make it the album's most expansive performance. The blues, the most foundational form in jazz, served as a vehicle through which Davis communicated with unmatched directness and emotional power, and "Pfrancing" stands as one of his finest studio blues performances.
