ABSTRACT
Miles Davis's 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come has never attracted the attention or accolades accorded to many of the trumpeter's other records. Because the meanings and experiences generated by the creak on "Old Folks" so closely involve the activity of listening to a commercial recording, that sound does share some traits with other phenomena connected to interaction with audio media. One could also note that the questions raised by this rickety piece of furniture suggest the ideals of John Cage, who so famously challenged us to hear all sounds, "whether intended or not," as music. No doubt, the creak on "Old Folks" raises issues pertinent to all genres. Still, it would seem to be especially intriguing to consider in jazz contexts, for the lore and values surrounding that tradition are very much bound up with the notion that its lifeblood entails live, real-time, performance, even as recordings have become the genre's fundamental "texts.".
