"Seven Steps to Heaven" is a 1963

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

composition by

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

. Different lyrics to it were written much later by

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...

and

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...

. This iconic jazz standard was introduced in 1963 by the Miles Davis Quintet. Although Feldman played and recorded with Davis in Los Angeles on ''

Seven Steps to Heaven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

'', and he appears on half of the tracks of the album, the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

-based pianist did not want to follow Davis to New York, where the album version of the composition was finally recorded with

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

on piano.Chambers, Jack. ''Milestones 2: The Music and Times of Miles Davis Since 1960'', Da Capo Press, 1998. pp. 53ff.

Composition

''Seven Steps to Heaven'' is a 32-bar composition in AABA form; it has an intro, an interlude and an ending - but these are the same. It was originally played in an up-tempo swing style in the key of F Major.

References

External links

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{{Authority control 1963 songs 1960s jazz standards Compositions by Miles Davis Songs with lyrics by Jon Hendricks

Composition

See also

References

External links