Prince (July 15, 2009) In A Large Room With No Light - (Jazz Version)
- GlamSlamEscape
- Jul 15, 2009
- 2 min read
This entry documents the first public appearance of the newly recorded jazz version of In A Large Room With No Light, streamed on the Montreux Jazz Festival website on July 15, 2009. Although the recording was new, the composition itself dated back 23 years, originating from Prince’s prolific 1986 period. The stream coincided with Prince’s two Montreux shows scheduled three days later, offering fans a rare glimpse into a long‑shelved track revived in a fresh, improvisational style
The page details the song’s unusual history: originally tracked on May 4 1986 at Sunset Sound with members of The Revolution and Sheila E.’s band, the piece carried its full early title Life Is Like Looking For A Penny In A Large Room With No Light.
It was briefly included in the June 3 Dream Factory configuration before being removed from later versions. UK radio station Jazz FM premiered the 2009 version, noting it had been completed only two days earlier, likely at Paisley Park, though this remains unconfirmed.
CONTEXT AND NOTES
The 2009 jazz rendition marked the first official release of the track in any form, preceding the 2020 unveiling of Prince’s original 1986 version on Vault Tracks Part 1 from the Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition.
The song’s first live performance occurred on 29 March 2009 (a.m.), nearly 23 years after its initial recording. Personnel for the streamed version remains partly unconfirmed, though Prince handled all vocals and most instrumentation, with probable contributions from John Blackwell, Renato Neto, and Rhonda Smith.
Source: Prince Vault, Prince Recording Notes, Montreux Jazz Festival Stream, July 15 2009. All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.
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