A strange and marvelous item popped up on eBay recently—as of Wednesday, June 11, the auction in question, posted by reputable eBay user carolinasoul, has four days and change to go. As of this writing, the price is at $315, for which you will receive “one jaw-droppingly special piece, a likely one-of-a-kind Miles Davis acetate.” According to the handwritten label, the material was recorded on December 28, 1972.

The two sides—you can’t even say “side A” and “side B” in a situation like this—are 14:40 and 5:40 in length. According to carolinasoul, “We’ve identified the 14:40 side as a take of the track that would eventually become ‘Billy Preston’ on Get Up With It.” Davis’ 1974 album was the trumpeter’s last studio album before his “retirement” in the mid-1970s.

The material on the 5:40 side has yet to be identified.
 

 
Here are the snippets of material carolinasoul posted as a sample:
 
Excerpt #1 of the 14:40 side:

 
Excerpt #2 of the 14:40 side:

 
Excerpt #3 of the 14:40 side:

 
Excerpt #4 of the 14:40 side:

 
Excerpt #1 of the 5:40 side:

 
Excerpt #2 of the 5:40 side:

 

 
This is one of those auctions where it’s hard to believe that “No questions or answers have been posted about this item.”
 
Miles Davis, “Billy Preston”:

Thanks to Lawrence Daniel Caswell!