Miles Directions

1970 serves as a tectonic shift within the crossroads of American popular music. With rock and roll on the cusp of dive bombing into its arena-era, the more adventurous and esoteric off-shoots tended to be whisked away from the spotlight while oppressive corporate behemoths drooled at the opportunity to rule labels, touring, publicity and all of their ancillary business interests with an iron fist.

“Electric Miles” celebrates the music of the early electric period of Miles Davis with big band arrangements of classics from “Bitches Brew”, “On the Corner”, “Jack Johnson” and “In a Silent Way”. Trumpeters Tim Hagans and Clay Jenkins are featured as the “Miles” voice with Dave Liebman appearing on “Black Satin” and “Yesternow”. Also featuring trombonist Michael Davis, Pillow on alto sax/alto flute; the band is powered by the rhythm section of drummer Jared Schonig and bassist Chuck Bergeron. This band is full of NYC seasoned pros and peppered with up and coming musicians.

Trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and one of the most important figures in jazz music history, and music history in general. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in a five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz. Winner of eight Grammy awards…

1969 Miles – Festiva de Juan Pins is a live album by Miles Davis recorded at the jazz festival in La Pinède, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France, as an ORTF radio broadcast. The quintet performed twice at the Juan-les-Pins Festival, July 25 and 26. Columbia Records recorded both shows, but the music would not be released in its entirety until 2013.

The last performance of the lost quintet. The 'third great quintet' by itself was never documented in the recording studio. Their European tour of 1969, represented on this new CD, is one of only two existing recordings of the group; this is the final second set never released before. In 1969, Miles was promoting his million selling album Bitches Brew and recorded 4 superbly remastered live tracks in a rare radio recording from Rotterdam lost for many years. Remastered to an amazing powerful sound, the album includes alternate versions of tracks found on Miles globally successful album Bitches Brew. The recording highlights Miles ever expanding progression in sound, developing on his Jazz based roots into the more prominent Jazz/Rock fusion style that he latterly became known for.

A rare live recording of Miles Davis performing with his septet in 1971 will finally be released this summer by Sleepy Night Records. The Lost Septet is the second release in the record label’s trilogy of previously unheard Miles Davis recordings that began last year with The Lost Quintet. Captured at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, The Lost Septet features Davis accompanied by Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, Michael Henderson, Ndugu Leon Chancler, James Mtume Foreman and Charles Don Alias. Davis toured Europe with this septet in 1971 — during his controversial, rock-oriented fusion era — but he never recorded with them in a studio. This concert was only previously broadcast on the radio.

A monumental innovator, icon, and maverick, trumpeter Miles Davis helped define the course of jazz as well as popular culture in the 20th century, bridging the gap between bebop, modal music, funk, and fusion. Throughout most of his 50-year career, Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. It was a style that, along with his brooding stage persona, earned him the nickname "Prince of Darkness." However, Davis proved to be a dazzlingly protean artist, moving into fiery modal jazz in the '60s and electrified funk and fusion in the '70s, drenching his trumpet in wah-wah pedal effects along the way.

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 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 musical directions in a five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz.