DAVIS, Miles; Sidney Bechet; Charles Delaunay; Walter Schaap.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Signed contracts for the Paris International Jazz Festival in 1949. From the collection of Charlie Watts, this group of documents captures a pivotal moment in European jazz: the 1949 Paris debut of bebop, with Charlie Parker and the young Miles Davis appearing alongside Sidney Bechet and the older generation. The material includes Miles Davis's performance contract, signed "Miles Davis Jr." on 11 March 1949, engaging him to play at the Salle Pleyel and related festival venues from 8-15 May. His fee - just $250 - underscores his still-emergent status, despite growing attention in the United States for his work with Charlie Parker and the "Birth of the Cool" nonet. Paris, his first trip abroad, became central to his artistic identity, and this is the earliest Davis signature we have seen. Minor pencilled amendments adjust the advance and specify exchange rates.Two documents concern Bechet's engagement. His contract, signed in blue ink by Bechet and in green by Charles Delaunay, sets out down payments totalling $1,600 (25% of a $6,400 fee) and schedules the balance for payment after his arrival on 8 May. A separate agreement between Bechet and his friend Walter Schaap obliges Schaap to reimburse him in dollars for francs deposited with Delaunay, a device - according to John Chilton - designed to avoid France's strict post-war currency controls on festival performers.Bechet was the headline attraction, his bond with French audiences long established, though organizers remained wa

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