April 2008

«20» Some more details of the upcoming Miles Davis feature movie, which will by accompanied by a documentary. Both are financed by HBO/Picturehouse. Everyone should know by now that Don Cheadle (Crash, Ocean's Thirteen) is directing the feature film and will star as Miles Davis. Chris Wilkinson and Stephen Rivele ("Ali"/"Nixon") are writing the screenplay and are executive producing, and Vince Wilburn Jr. and Darryl Porter are producing. Shooting is due to start in May, 2008. With regards to the documentary, Chris Wilkinson is the director, and it will be co-produced by him and Bob Belden. Filming is about to begin. The release date of these goodies? Who knows.

Left the cover of the May issue of Rave magazine, featuring Louiz Banks, keyboardist and arranger, who is, next to Bob Belden, the central force behind the Miles From India album. Rave is an Indian music magazine that appears to have discovered jazz with the imminent release of Miles From India. Belden is Rave's new jazz editor and there's a headline that claims India: The Future of Jazz. It might be worth picking up this issue of Rave, if you can get it. Btw, more news about Miles From India soon...

«17» Teo Macero, the grand master studio magician who played an essential role in many of Miles' greatest recordings, including many of his electric efforts, left his physical form on February 19. In addition, Joe Zawinul died last September. I had the pleasure of knowing both of them, and they were great men indeed. Both were instrumental in the making of two of Miles' most influential albums, In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew. To commemmorate the duo, I've retrieved my 2001 article for Mojo magazine about the recordings of these two albums, featuring interviews with them, as well as with several others that were present. You can read this article here... Oh, when reading, bear in mind that this was written for a rock audience. The article assumes readers that are less au fait with this bit of music history...

January 2008

«28» Too late to wish any of you MF's a Happy New Year, so here's me simply saying 'hi' and hoping that you're still occasionally checking in, because I have some good news for you. First of all, my prayers have been heard and an enthusiastic visitor to this site with software programming skills has contacted me and is now busy redesigning and programming this site. Some time later this year you'll be able to visit Miles Beyond MkII, the main difference being that many pages will be interactive, offering you the space to comment on and discuss what's on these pages! It'll prompt me to write some reviews, for instance of the Complete On The Corner Sessions, and you can add your own opinions, or dispute mine or anyone else's. I also intend to post more bootleg material, both AV and audio. All this should enliven this site no end!

Then, for those living in the US, the January-February issue of Jazziz magazine contains a feature article by me on the making of On The Corner. I may be biased, but will nevertheless assert that it makes worthwhile reading!

And finally, I just received a press release about the impending Miles From India release, which, as I've remarked below, is fantastic. I'll soon also post a full track and personnel listings and, with permission, a few snippets of music.

You can read the whole press release here......

December 2007

Aside from the seasonal well-wishes, the images above also serves to illustrate the two main reasons for the relative lack of updates on this site! I hope to be able to spend more time in the saddle next year. Anyway, have a good one, and, in keeping with the spirit of the season, you might want to click on the The Hunger Site and The Rainforest Site...

«04» A very amusing Complete On The Corner Sessions review on the Mapsadaisical blog site can be found here... Also entertaining, and we'll forgive the young critic some ignorant remarks (e.g. Miles calling people "motherfucker" had nothing to do with him being angry), is the piece in Stylus magazine here... Finally, the BBC says that everyone should have the OTC boxed set, and when they say it, it must be true... not? Read it here...

«03» Thanx for all your e-mails in recent weeks, mostly with reflections on The Complete On The Corner Sessions boxed set. Yes, a blog review of the boxed set, to which you can add your own impressions, is in the works, as is a blog review of Evolution of the Groove. Rather than apologise again for the delay with these efforts, perhaps this time it's better to tell you all to get a grip and that it is, admittedly at a stretch, possible to have a life without Miles Beyond updates!

In any case, here's a nice piece of news: I was sent a copy of the final masters of the Miles From India album, and... it's stunning. What could have been a Frankenstein-like juxtaposition of different cultures is, instead, a triumph. Former Miles sidemen Dave Liebman, Gary Bartz, Marcus Miller, John McLaughlin, Pete Cosey, Mike Stern, Adam Holzman, Robert Irving III, Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Benny Rietveld, Michael Henderson, Jimmy Cobb, Lenny White, Vince Wilburn, Jr., Ndugu and Badal Roy are all involved, as well as Wallace Rooney who sounds more like Miles around 1969 than ever before. Together with well over a dozen eminent Indian musicians they work their way through a collection of tracks from Kind Of Blue, In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and Big Fun, and the results are amazing. The album is planned for release in February on Times Square Records. Look out for it! I'll ask whether I can post a few snippets... Oh, and a small detail: Vince Wilburn and Adam Holzman play together on one of the tracks, which is cool as they until recently were not on speaking terms. Perhaps there's hope for Vince and yours truly after all! :)

On a sadder note, news has reached me that Tom Terrell, journalist and the writer of some of the liner notes for the Complete On The Corner Sessions has died of cancer. Tom's liner notes have come in for quite a lot of stick in some quarters, including from yours truly, because they were strong on impressionistic anecdotes and short on actual information and explanations. Given the mysterious and often perplexing nature of the music involved, the latter seemed more urgently called for. Whatever one's opinion on his notes, we wish those close to Tom strength and courage.

Then, not to leave you hanging in there with nothing, a few people have alerted me to reviews of the Complete On The Corner Sessions, in one case kindly agreeing with a comment that Miles Beyond, the book, should have been bundled with the boxed set. Who am I to argue with that?! :) Read the review here... In addition, Dave Segal alerted me to his review for Orange County Weekly, which you can read here..., while Greg Masters pointed to his very, very thorough review in All About Jazz, which you can read here...

Now, onto creating these blogs... It's hard to find time to do this, let alone spend the time involved learning about html coding, so if anyone who has experience in creating interactive web sites is willing to help me create such pages at the miles-beyond.com site, please contact me via... Ooops, this reminds me, the contact address for this site has changed! It's now speak@theurlofthissite. In other words, speak, the 'at' sign, and then miles-beyond.com.

October 2007

«26» Apologies, once again, for the lack of updates, due to the demands of my First Life: family, writing, playing music, the universe, and everything. Internet's Second Life has by consequence been rather neglected, this despite the fact that these are exciting times, with The Complete On The Corner Sessions seeing the light of day. Thanx for your various e-mails about the album and your book orders. It appears that the boxed set is finally easily available in the US, and the UK release will be this coming Monday.

To coincide with the UK release, The Guardian is publishing a story on the influence of On The Corner(see image to the left), written by yours truly . You can find the story here.... In addition, Jazziz magazine in the US will be publishing an entirely different story by me about On The Corner in their November issue, featuring new interviews with a number of the musicians. Meanwhile, Jazzwise magazine in the UK has published a story by my colleage George Cole, author of the book The Last Miles, and you can read an excerpt of it here...

Like many of you, I've also finally been able to lay my hands on the finished product of The Complete On The Corner Sessions, and, well, the embossed casing is great, and the booklet pretty cool too, with several great new photographs of Miles and his band in the 1970s. The only downsides of the finished product are that the essay by Tom Terrell is spread out so much that it's hard to read, I suppose Legacy felt that it had to fill the pages somehow to make the booklet look as substantial as that of previous boxed sets, and there's also an additional very short essay by Terrell that wasn't included in the pre-release promo pack. The brief essay places On The Corner in the context of Miles' musical development of 1969-1975, and is fine, though writing that OTC relegated Bitches Brew to "near-demo status" is just plain silly.

Yes, I do intend to start these blogs, that will allow you MF's to comment. Watch this space next week, when I'll post that promised page about Evolution of the Groove and there'll also be space to give your comments on The Complete On The Corner Sessions. So check back soon...

Finally, a pic from The Complete On The Corner Sessions era. It was first seen as part of the packaging of Dark Magus, which was recorded in March 1974 and featured a different band. This pic is from April 1973, when Cosey had just joined, and Smith and the two Indian musicians were still in the band. From left to right, Reggie Lucas, Lonnie Liston Smith, Dave Liebman, Pete Cosey, Miles Davis, Michael Henderson, Badal Roy, Mtume. Not pictured are drummer Al Foster and sitarist Khalil Balakrishna. This band features on quite a few tracks on the new OTC boxed set.

«07» I've been receiving several e-mails from folk in the US complaining that the On The Corner boxed set has still to turn up, and wanting to know why. I called Sony Legacy, and they tell me that they have production and transportation problems. The box is apparently rather difficult to make, involving a metal casing with embossed imprint, and is made in China. Small shipments are trickling into the US, and the Legacy representative couldn't say where they would be available first. The company doesn't even have promotional copies yet. He did send me what's called a 'product' shot, which you can see below... I was also sent a few images of Miles and his band in the early seventies, which I'll post in a few days. Oh, and I've begun a blog page, which will be up at the same time. So check back later this week.

September 2007

«28» A visitor to Miles Beyond made me aware that the review of The Complete On The Corner Sessions, at the allmusic.com site contains the following passage: "Bob Belden does a painstaking job of annotating this set from its inception in 1972 until the last studio date in 1975. He offers not only dates and players, but also disputes findings found in earlier discographies, and notes that in some instances either nothing took place or the tapes have been lost. He also reveals how little Miles himself plays on certain sessions, and as to whether a session was used as an overdub session or a full-on recording date."

This left the reader understandably confused, given what I've written on this site. The facts are: Bob Belden did NOT provide track by track annotations to The Complete On The Corner Sessions. The two brief essays by him that are included are excerpted from his annotations for the 2000 re-issue of On The Corner. Given that Belden has won a Grammy for previous track annotations, this anomaly is noteworthy in itself. Instead, Michael Cuscuna provides a discography and some track annotations the boxed set, and is credited as doing so. However, Cuscuna is a self-declared stranger to this music, and his annotations are therefore, inevitably, brief and sketchy. They also contain a number of mistakes that the allmusic reviewer didn't spot, for instance the mistitling of the "Turnaround" and "U-Turnaround" tracks.

The allmusic.com review was written by Thom Yurek, and it leaves one wondering whether Thom wrote his review before actually receiving the pre-release boxed set.

«28» The Complete On The Corner Sessions boxed set was earmarked for release September 25 in the US, but production problems have caused a delay of a week. The official US release date is now October 2. The UK and German release dates have been put back to October 29.

«11» Sad news: this morning Joe Zawinul died in a hospital in Vienna, his birth place. Apparently he had been suffering from cancer. His web site has a beautiful photographic tribute to him. I particularly like the text: "Joe Zawinul was born in Earth time on 07 July 1932 and was born in Eternity time on 11 September, 2007. He, and his music, will continue to inspire!" Amen to that. It was probably formulated and posted by his son Ivan, who also worked as his engineer. Our thoughts go to him and the rest of Joe's family.

I never met Joe in person, but spoke to him a number of times on the phone, and I really enjoyed his larger-than-life joviality, even as it was also clear that he didn't suffer fools gladly. Amen to that too. Zawinul was one of these rare musicians who, like Miles, kept renewing himself and kept sounding modern and relevant, until the very end. His My People album (1996) remains one of my all-time favorite works. Zawinul performed with his band until he checked into the Vienna hospital a month ago.

You can read the article on him that I wrote for Sound On Sound magazine here. As a tribute to Joe, I'll later this week finally post my long article about the making of In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew in which Joe talks at length about his work with Miles.

Jan Lohmann jumped to the rescue to answer the question I posed a few days ago. It turns out that a total of four tracks are wrongly titled on the forthcoming On The Corner boxed set. Not only are "Turnaround" and "U-Turnaround" in fact two early takes of "Agharta Prelude," but what's called "Minnie" on the boxed set is in fact something Miles titled "Mr Foster" when it was recorded 1975. The evidence for this is a) Pete Cosey told me in 2000 (he actually whistled the tune for me), b) "Mr Foster" was covered by Al Foster on his eponomously-titled solo album of 1979, and sounds exactly like what's now called "Minnie." To make matters even more confusing, an unrelated track recorded in 1973 is called "Mr Foster" on the OTC boxed set, and is therefore also mistitled.

«3» I'm still trying to establish whether in addition to the wrongly titled "Turnaround" and "U-Turnaround," two more of the tracks on the The Complete On the Corner Sessions have incorrect titles. Does anyone reading this have Al Foster's cover of the track "Mr Foster" which was released on a Japanese label in 1979? (See here for more info). If so, and you're up for sending me the charts, a written out melody, or an MP3, please contact me: mail (at) miles-beyond.com

«2» This is definitely not news, but it's new to me. Still while researching my The Complete On the Corner Sessions article, I stumbled upon one of the most entertaining and passionate reviews of the increasingly inaccurately named holy trinity of Get Up With It, Dark Magus, Agharta, and Pangaea I have ever read. It's written by psychedelic rock eccentric Julian Cope, and the review is out there. "What the jazz-loving Miles Davis fan would consider to have been an affronting (and even uncool) sell-out turns out to have been nothing less than the great Cunt of the Mother opening in a manner which she had rarely opened before. (...) In 1974-75, Miles Davis did so much more than merely glimpse eternity - he actually embraced it." Hallelujah. Embrace, or enter, or whatever your preference, the review here...

August 2007

«29» Bob Belden has recently completed his production and arrangement work on a new album called Miles From India, which features Miles Davis music played by some of the best Indian classical and jazz musicians, teamed up with alumni of the various Miles Davis groups from the past, including John McLaughlin, Michael Henderson, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Cobb, Gary Bartz, Lenny White, Pete Cosey, Vince Wilburn, Chick Corea, Mike Stern and others. Some of the tracks recorded are "In A Silent Way," "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down," "Ife," "Jean Pierre," as well as a McLaughlin original, "Miles From India." I've heard some of the music, and it sounds great. I'll be posting some pix of the session soon, and if I get permission, some streaming audio. The release date is not yet known, but probably towards the end of this year.

While researching an article about the On the Corner boxed set, I had a look at the current page on Miles Davis at Wikipedia, and was shocked. When I last looked, two years ago when writing the article about the Cellar Door boxed set, I thought that the Wikipedia entry, particularly about the electric period, was impressively good. What's there now about the electric period is a mishmash of revelant and irrelevant facts (why is it so important that Miles alledgedly said that he liked John Lydon's singing??), horrendous English, errors of fact, and stuff that appears to reflect the particular tastes of whoever wrote a particular line (writing that Carlos Garnett "highlighted" On the Corner is not only terrible English, but what about Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette, etc??). I've already deleted a couple errors of fact, but I don't have the time to spend half a day cleaning up this page. I also am pretty sure that the enthusiasts who currently maintain it will not accept a wholesale re-write by one person. So here's a call to anyone reading this who knows his or her stuff about electric Miles to go in and improve Wikipedia's Miles Davis entry...

«28» Last week Sony finally released the EP Evolution of the Groove. It features five Miles tracks, among them "It's About That Time," "Honky Tonk" and "Black Satin," remixed and reinterpreted by Charley Drayton, Vince Wilburn Jr and Pat Thrall, with a contribution by Santana. You can read a review of the EP at the Allmusic site here. Written by Thom Jurek, an electric Miles affectionado, it's very positive. Though when he compares the album to Bill Laswell's Panthalassa his comments are incomprehensible and incorrect. Does anyone know what is meant by: "He [Laswell] was attempting to create a dark sound piece that evoked the spirit of Miles in his own manner of hearing"? You can read the real story of Laswell's creative vision here...

Here's something that could lead to some cognitive dissonance for those who thought that jazz had something to do with renewal and opennes to new ideas... Visit this page, scroll to the bottom and check out Wynton Marsalis' wages, three times as much as the Lincoln Jazz center's CEO! Can these possibly be a reward for Marsalis' self-appointed role as curator of traditional jazz, someone who is intent on excluding all forms of music he doesn't agree with? Certainly Marsalis has done everything in his power to discredit the electric music of Miles Davis, and of others.

«27» The final track listing of The Complete On The Corner Sessions boxed set is up and can be found here... More details will be added in the next few days, so keep checking back.

«10» Yes, more updates finally coming up. I have an advance copy of the On The Corner boxed set here, which is called, you guessed it, The Complete On The Corner Sessions. Kind of like calling a boxed set release of all the post-1967 Beatles material The Complete Sgt. Pepper Sessions. Anyway, it doesn't take away from the great material that's on this set, including one track in which Pete Cosey really lets rip... The only such Miles studio track I've heard. Sony tells me that the official release is still September 18, though it may be pushed back by one or two weeks. date The complete track listing, and other info will follow soon...

July 2007

«03» To all you Miles Davis affectionados who are by now concerned, impatient, annoyed or whatever over the lack of updates on this site: DON'T PANIC! I've been totally pre-occupied with finding a new place to live for my family and and I, and with finally moving house. We're now in the new house here in the South of France, which is great (the only thing that needs some work is the weather, which is cold and wet), but I'm in day 34 waiting for France Telecom to connect our broadband. Today FT called because they were unsure what telephone line to connect the broadband to. After 34 days!!! You get the picture. PLUS I've had a major computer crash 6 weeks ago, and lost a year's worth of data (the back-ups wouldn't load, and I'm currently working on a C drive that's a year old.)

The be and end all of this is that once my office and computer are fully up and running again, hopefully in a couple of weeks, and France Telecom has finally connected the broadband (some time before 2010), there will be some major updates, including pictures of sessions Bob Belden is currently doing with several ex Miles men and Indian musicians. Meanwhile ex-Captain Beefheart guitar virtuoso Gary Lucas was given my book, and had some nice words to say. You can read his observations halfway down this page.

See ya all later...

Februari 2007

«18» Here then, finally, the long-awaited On The Corner & Beyond track listing, including session information. The next update will feature MP3 samples of some of the previously unreleased tracks.

January 2007

«31» 2007 is hardly new anymore, but happy continuation to all you electric Miles Davis lovers anyway!

Here's the good news that you all have been waiting for: the On The Corner boxed set appears on schedule for a release in the fall of this year, PLUS I have the full 6-CD track list, which covers the period 1972-75, and permission to put it on the web.

I'm crazily overwhelmed with stuff concerning life, the universe, and tax returns at the moment, and it'll take a few days before I'll have the time to do the update. So check in later for this track list, which may even have a few MP3 snippets of the new material. The update should also—finally—feature a review of Gregory Miles' book about his father.

November 2006

«24» Today the New York Times publishes a comprehensive update of what's happening with the two in-the-works feature movies about Miles, one with a script written by Quincy Troupe, the other overseen by the Estate. You can find the article here... (you'll need to register with the NYT to be able to read it). The article also contains a brief interview with Jo Gelbard, but strangely no mention of Gregory Davis's brand new book Dark Magus: The Jekyll and Hyde Life of Miles Davis.

Gregory's ode to his father, also mentioned below, landed on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago (thank you Backbeat Books). I've not had the time to read it yet. Leafing through it, there are a number of never-seen-before photographs, and it seems that Davis' oldest son is very honestly trying to chronicle his admiration and love for his father as well as the pain their relationship caused him. I intend to post a review in the coming weeks. In fact, my plan is to review all serious books on Miles currently on the market. There are so many now that some pointers and impressions may be a good idea. Watch this space.

Bob Belden, George Avakian, George Duke and, yes, Teo Macero, are all part of a panel that's scheduled to appear at the International Association for Jazz Education's 34th annual festival, January 10-13, 2007. The topic: Producing Miles Davis. Sounds like something that's not to be missed if one's in New York. Anyone who is going and wants to write a report, please contact me.

Bob Belden informs me that he's working on a project called MILES FROM INDIA, "using the major Indian cats from the various MD bands.... Stern, Scofield, Al Foster, Ron Carter, Chick, Herbie, Bartz, Liebman, Garrett, Erin Davis and Vince so far have agreed to play with the Indian cats..." It's hard to imagine what that would be like, but it certainly should be interesting. This is all the info I have right now. More later.

October

«9» A belated mention of the fact that Miles was inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk on September 28. To the right the poster of this event. For a newsreport on MSNBC with a picture of his son Erin, daughter Cheryl, former wife Frances, and the bronze bust of Miles, click here...

It appears that more and more children of Miles are climbing out of the woodwork and taking an interest in their father's legacy, something that's sure to lead to conflicts with the family members currently in control of the Miles Davis Estate. Below I mentioned Gregory and Peter, and how the former was miffed at not being invited for his father's induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame last April. In addition, Gregory, who is Miles' oldest son, has written a book. Dark Magus: The Jekyll and Hyde Life of Miles Davis will be published by Backbeat Books in November, and promises "a warts-and-all look at the real Miles Davis." On the linked page you can see a recommendation from fellow Backbeat author Philip Freeman. This prompted me to finally post the catalogue of conjecture and errors that's his book Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis.

September

«14»The Swedish painter and poet Henry Denander has made a number of water colors of Miles, some of which you can see on this site, for instance above left. His version of the cover of Miles Beyond is below. Denander has a small exhibition of jazz paintings on his site that's well worth visiting.

«12» New paperback copies of Miles Beyond are now available via this site! Soon this will be the only place where you'll be able to find them. You can order via the Interact page, where you also have the options to buy my CD and make a donation if you appreciate this site.

As most of you will have noted, the Cool & Collected CD is out (see below for more info). There's not much of interest on it for the electric Miles fan, unless you want to check out the remix of 'It's About That Time' by Vince Wilburn, Jr., Pat Thrall and Charley Drayton, also featuring Santana.

August

«30» Ostensibly because the company is moving to another warehouse, Watson-Guptill, who published Miles Beyond on their imprint Billboard Books, have decided to discontinue sales of the book by the end of the year. They've offered to set up a "print on demand" service, meaning that the book will offically remain in print and will be printed as demand arises. Given that the company has done a poor job at promoting and distributing the book, I've decided to take the alternative option, which is to buy as much of the remaining stock as I can afford, and allow the book to go out of print, so that the rights revert back to me. In due course I hope to find another publisher who is willing to re-publish the book, perhaps in an updated version. This may take a couple of years or more.

Until this time Miles Beyond may be hard to find, so I'll soon be selling the book via this web site for a price equivalent of that charged by Amazon for new copies. I'd love to have an idea of how many books I need to order from Watson Guptill, so if you are interested in buying Miles Beyond via this site, please e-mail me without delay at <mail@miles-beyond.com>, making sure you mention "Miles" somewhere in the subject heading. Obviously, if you want, I'm happy to sign the book!

On an entirely different note, some good news: it appears that Bob Belden is back on the job of completing the On The Corner boxed set! More news about this, and about the Evolution of the Groove CD soon.

July 2006

«17» Just back from the Veneto Jazz 2006 festival that commemmorates Miles's 80th birth year, and is organised in the vicinity of Venice, Italy, where I took part in the below-mentoined symposium. The symposium went pretty well, and I'll post a few pix in the next few days. I'll also look into posting my talk as an MP3 file. What I want to convey here is my surprise at the scope of the festival. It didn't only include the Miles symposium and several Miles exhibitions, but also concerts by former Miles men such as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Garrett, and Jimmy Cobb. Keith Jarrett (Venice, 19 July) is still to follow. Plus there are concerts by various other artists, among them Youssou N'Dour and even Enrico Merlin's Tiger Dixie Band. The festival runs until September 22 and is well worth checking out.

«5» During July and August there's a celebration of Miles's 80th birthday near Venice, Italy, organised by Veneto Jazz. On the 15th there's a Miles Davis symposium with guest speakers Jimmy Cobb, Ira Gitler, Enrico Merlin, Maurizio Comandini, Luca Bragalini, and yours truly.

There's no new insider information at this stage about the Evolution of the Groove album, so whether it will indeed see the light of day later this year is anyone's guess. There's a lot of turmoil within SonyBMG, and sadly the On The Corner boxed appears as far away as ever. The only solid plan appears to be the release of a compilation CD by the end of the summer, with at least one remix. The CD is to be called Cool & Collected, and features jazz tracks like 'So What,' 'Bye Bye Blackbird,' and 'Seven Steps to Heaven.' The electric era is rather neglected, with nothing from recordings released in the 1970s. All that's included are two 1980s pop tunes, 'Time After Time' and 'Human Nature,' plus a 3:40 remix of 'It's About That Time,' from In A Silent Way (1969). The remix is produced by Vince Wilburn, Jr., Pat Thrall and Charley Drayton, and additional musicians include Wilburn (drums and programming), Pat Thrall (guitar and programming), and Carlos Santana.

CNN also has some news concerning the MD Estate's plans for Miles's 80th birthday year: Miles Davis: Still defining cool, long after death. "This year, his estate is finding ways to reinvent Davis and let the music he composed continue to evolve." God help us all...

May 2006

«26»Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926, and would have been 80 today. To celebrate, check out, for instance, the BBC's extensive and excellent radio coverage, Miles Davis At 80.

«18» OK, here's the current SonyBMG insider story. Reports suggest that there's a war going on within the company between the Sony side and the BMG side, which the latter is winning. This apparently means that the accountants have taken over, one of whom has stipulated that all jazz titles are now subject to draconian accounting rules that leave only compilations unaffected. This far-reaching measure led an informant to complain that the accountants were in effect "wiping out an entire music genre... the jazz album."

With regards to Miles releases the result is that as things stand, only the below-mentioned 80th anniversary album is still definitely on the cards. The release of the Evolution Of The Groove album is uncertain, as is the release of the 1967 Stockholm live DVD. Work on the On The Corner & Beyond boxed set has been halted.

I'll report back when there's more news, and when there's clarity on whether there's anything that Miles fans can do to to support the music lovers within SonyBMG, and make sure that the accountants stick to what they're hired for, which is to (ac)count. Perhaps the radio interview with Bob Belden (see below), will provide more answers.

Something I forgot to mention a few weeks back, perhaps because it seemed too self-congratulatory, but George Cole, author of The Last Miles, made me aware that Miles Beyond was named as number three in a list of the Web's Top 5 Miles Davis sites in the London Times of April 29th. Nice. Preceding where the official Miles Davis site, and Peter Losin's site (see Links page.) Cole's site made it to number 4, and Mike Zwerin's site Sons Of Miles was number 5.

«16» Bob Belden lets it be known that he will be doing a live interview with Ted Panken on WKCR-FM, Columbia University, this Thursday, May 18, 1-3pm EST. Music will be played from his 8 CDs since 2001, and, adds Belden, tellingly, "You know me... an open mike..." So if Panken asks the right questions, Belden may reveal details of the goings-on at SonyBMG. The live stream can be found here....

«15» To those who have checked in regularly in recent months, hoping to read my Cellar Door article, keep the faith! One thing that has held them up is life with babies.... the other reason is that I have yet to be paid by the German and French magazines that had this article as their cover story many months ago. Fingers crossed, read my lips, etc, the liner notes will be posted in the next week or so...

In addition there will be some very fresh and not so good news of accountants reportedly having taken over at SonyBMG and having ordered the abandonment of a whole slew of jazz releases, including, quite possibly, the On The Corner and 73-76 boxed sets. I need to check a few more facts before giving more details. But if correct, perhaps this site will start a campaign similar to the freefiona.com one: enter freemiles.com. Instead of sending Sony apple-related things, we could, well, stand en masse on the corner, or something...

The next update will also have details of a Miles Davis conference in July in Italy, that promises to be a cracker...

April 2006

«4» For those of you that can't get enough of the controversies surrounding the Miles Davis family's handling of Miles's musical legacy, the Soul Patrol web site contains a 2-hour interview with the family. Topics discussed include the delays of the release of the Cellar Door boxed set, why they parted company with lawyer Peter Shukat, new Miles releases, and so on. The interview can be found on this page.
It appears in the context of Soul Patrol celebrating Miles's induction in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, and the site also contains a page with an overview of Miles's electric music, both written and in streaming audio.

More repercussions, perhaps, from the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame induction... could it be that Stanley Crouch has finally decided to ease off on his vendetta against Miles Davis's electric music? An article by him in Slate, Miles Davis, Romantic Hero: Assessing the trumpeter's legacy as he enters the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sees him only addressing Miles's performance of My Funny Valentine. Oddly, in the context of the trumpeter's elevation to the status of rock deity, there's not a word about his electric period.

March 2006

«14» One positive aspect of Miles' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday is that it has stirred up some intense debate, generating, for instance, two articles in the New York Times: yesterday A Jazz Legend Enshrined as a Rock Star?, and today even an editorial: Miles Davis, Genre Bender. (Access to these links requires registering with the NYT, which is simple and seems harmless. I did it a few years ago and have to date not received any e-mails from them.)

«13» Miles Davis is now a certified rock 'n roll artist, as he's today (March 13) inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at the same time as the likes of Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols. Whether this matters depends on one's view on awards in general and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame award in particular. (The Sex Pistols don't think much of it, for they refused to come to the ceremony, calling the R&RHoF institution "urine in wine.") One wonders what Miles would have made of it. One thing is for sure, the induction once again confirms something that was already known, which is that the rock establishment doesn't seem to have any problems acknowledging the merits of the second half of Miles's career.

On the same subject, but a sadder note, an article recently appeared chronicling the troubled relationship of Miles's son Gregory with his father and family. Apparently he's not invited to the R&RHoF induction event: "Son Can't Afford a Ticket to the Party." For some reason a direct link to the article doesn't work, but go to the Village Voice web site, search for "Miles Davis," and click on the "Riff Raff" article called "Run the Voodoo Down."

Talking about Miles's sons, news has emerged of another son, named Peter, born to Miles and a Detroit prostitute. DNA has confirmed his relationship to Miles as father/son. Peter is a visual artist who lives in New York City. Apparently he never asked Miles for money and the two were always friendly towards one another. Rumour has it that he's now seeking input into the affairs of the Miles Davis Estate.

March 2006

«2»Surprisingly, given what's written below, Bob Belden is back on his Miles Davis job with Sony Legacy, and currently researching and compiling the On The Corner boxed set. Apparently there's enough for a five CD-set of sessions from June-December 1972, and Belden is therefore pushing for a separate "Studio 1973-76" box. Fingers crossed he stays in his job and the sets get realized and released soon.

Especially for those that can't wait for the 73-76 set... here's an excellent bit of video (well the music is excellent, the images leave a bit to be desired) for download from the beginning of a concert Miles gave in Berlin on November 1st, 1973.

The m4v file plays in iTunes or Quicktime.

February 2006

«15» A leak confirms plans for the Evolution of the Groove album to be released some time later this year, and a 2007 release for the On The Corner & Beyond boxed set. In addition, there's talk at Legacy of an 80th anniversary album with a selection of Miles' most popular tracks and of a DVD with a 1967 Stockholm concert for release in the next half year or so.

«8» Apparently Sony has commissioned a commemorative album to celebrate Miles' 80th birthday in May. It is to be produced by Richard Seidel, known for his involvement in quite a few more traditional jazz recordings. The album's working title is The Evolution of the Groove, and, sit down for this, is said to consist of remixes, including a remix of the second quintet's "Freedom Jazz Dance" by one Vince Wilburn. Those that have followed the news updates on this site, and read the story of the aborted The Last Word boxed set are now likely to have have eyebrows racing to the ceiling. Bob Belden, who produced, or, as some have it, compiled, all Miles Legacy releases to date, has been dropped. Presumably this is part of the fall-out of the whole 5-year brouhaha surrounding the Cellar Door boxed set. Sony Legacy is very tightlipped about the whole situation, and about The Evolution of the Groove, and the only thing that can be inferred from what they do say is that the 1-CD album is unlikely to see the light of day in the first half of this year.

Something that is also very likely a result of the behind-the-scenes conflict surrounding the Cellar Door boxed set is the sacking of long-standing legal representatives for the Miles Davis Estate, Shukat, Arrow, Hafer & Weber. Peter Shukat has long been the executor of the Estate, and the company was given notice early this year that their services were no longer required. Apparently Darryl Porter now represents the Estate, but other than that he's on the West Coast we have been unable to find out anything more about him. We have no insider information on what went on here, but the story of The Last Word, in which Shukat and Weber were happy to cut a deal, but were later rather embarrassingly called back to heel by Vince Wilburn, suggests something about the relationship between the two parties. In addition, Shukat is also the lawyer of Adam Holzman, the original co-producer (with Belden) of the Cellar Door boxed set. The moment that the Estate, or rather Wilburn, were at odds with Holzman and Belden, Shukat clearly had a conflict of interests.

With all this mess going on, it's not surprising to learn that 2007 is now coined as the most likely release date of the On The Corner & Beyond boxed set, that covers the period 1972-1975. It's produced, or perhaps 'compiled,' by Bob Belden, so this may lead to more legal wrangling and hence delays. Legacy representatives are again tightlipped, but claim that a 2006 release date is not altogether ruled out.

The current issue of the German jazz magazine Jazzthetic features my article on the Cellar Door boxed set. I'll be posting the English version of this article on this site in March.

"Whaddabouda 1970s live videos??" I now hear you ask. Have patience... some will be posted here shortly!

December

«22» Several Americans have reported to me today that they bought the Cellar Door on the 20th. Sony Legacy insists that the official release date is the 27th, so presumably this means that some shops have begun selling their stock early, making it possible, for some at least, to enjoy Christmas 2005 and the Cellar Door at the same time!

Also received my promotional copy of the Cellar Door today, and the belowmentioned sticker can be found on page 94 of the booklet, where the word "produced" in the line "BOX SET PRODUCED BY ADAM HOLZMAN AND BOB BELDEN" has been replaced by "compiled."

«15» It looks like the December 27 release date for the Cellar Door is holding and that the 6-CD boxed set will soon finally see the light of day. It does indeed sport a sticker saying that Adam Holzman and Bob Belden compiled the set, or something along those lines, instead of that they produced it, as it says in the booklet. The artwork and booklet contents remain otherwise unchanged, and so Bob Belden remarks, tongue lightly in cheek, "This should be on all websites....'remove the glued sticker and it will reveal the true source of the delay.' As to my request, the glue used for the sticker is the weakest made, so the little sticker just comes off..."

One wonders whether this was all worth it for Vince Wilburn. Or perhaps his strategy was a convoluted marketing ploy after all, for it certainly drew a lot of attention to the set... :) Whatever way, everyone can enjoy their Christmas in peace, as one should, and look forward to listening to the Cellar Door immediately afterwards.

For Dutch-speaking visitors, JazzNu in The Netherlands has just published the Dutch translation of my article, that previously appeared in JazzTimes (US), JazzMan (France), and Musica Jazz (Italy). There's one more European magazine planning to publish this article. A couple of months after they have done so, I will post the English-language version of the piece on this site.

In addition, I'd like to briefly address one question that I have repeatedly received, namely, "do the Cellar Door and Jack Johnson boxed sets make Live-Evil redundant?" My answer is, not really. First of all, the Cellar Door stuff was remixed, so the live material on Live-Evil offers a different sound picture. In addition, the latter is full of often dramatic edits by Teo Macero. Love or hate these edits (or the old mix), Live-Evil is a work of art that Miles heard and approved of.

The double album is a blend of studio and live material compiled and edited by Macero, and can in many ways be understood as a collaboration between Miles, his musicians, and Macero. It is also, arguably, a concept album, assembled in the studio and influenced by studio production ideas and perpectives that were alive in 1971. By contrast, the Cellar Door is a historic live document of what one particular band was up to over four nights in December 1970, mixed, as you can read in my JazzTimes article, in line with the aesthetics of the time.

Anyway, Merry Christmas, enjoy the Cellar Door set, and all best wishes for 2006!

November

The latest news in the Cellar Door boxed set saga: a new release date has been set for December 27. I'm still waiting for official confirmation from Sony Columbia, but given the events of the last months, that would hardly set things in stone. The problem remains the Miles Davis Estate, and mainly Miles's nephew, Vince Wilburn. A few weeks before the original release date last September he wanted the credits of Adam Holzman and Bob Belden changed from 'produced by' to 'compiled by.' Understandably, this was not something these two, or Sony, were happy about. Moreover, the Cellar Door set had been more than five years in the making, and Belden's and Holzman's involvement must have been clear for ages, so the timing of the demand reeked of a hidden agenda.

When I asked one of my informants, who is very close to the fire, what's behind Wilburn's demand, he simply replied, 'God knows.' There are reports that it's driven by Wilburn's personal resentment against some of those involved in the making of the Cellar Door, including Holzman. My own, entirely speculative, take on it is that Wilburn has a love/hate relationship with his uncle and his music. On the one hand he owes his entire income and reputation to his uncle (what noteworthy things has Wilburn done on his own since 1987?)—on the other Miles hurt Wilburn badly when he sacked him from his band in 1987. By all accounts Wilburn never fully recovered from this—see the story of The Last Word, the Warners boxed set that was repeatedly delayed and in the end torpedoed by the Estate, alledgedly with Wilburn at the controls. Why the rest of Miles's family, including his son Erin, puts up with Wilburn obstructing Miles releases nobody really knows.

Certainly Sony has been reluctant to put up with Wilburn's last-minute changes of heart, but while the company has the full rights to the recording and can do what it wants with it, the company apparently feels that it can't simply go against the wishes of the Estate. (That's not even talking about the physical threats that Wilburn is said to have made against some of those involved.)

Whatever way, initially a compromise was found, whereby a sticker would be added to the already printed boxed set, saying 'compiled by Bob Belden and Adam Holzman.' This led to the November 22 release date. Then Wilburn again threw, as it was put, a 'kibosh.' The exact nature of the new compromise that has led to the planned late December release date is unclear, but probably involves a fresh art work re-print.

Of course it's possible that the Estate will have another last-minute change of mind, which would spell the end of the Cellar Door. That would be very bad news indeed, for, as one informant told me, if the Cellar Door doesn't come out, it may well mean the end of any more new Miles Davis releases, and would almost certainly terminate the boxed sets series. So fingers crossed that common sense, and respect for Miles's music and legacy, prevail.

October

Earlier this month, Seth Rothstein, VP of Columbia Legacy, confirmed the release date of the Cellar Door as November 22 in the US. A week later someone closely involved e-mailed me with the message that "Vince Wilburn has put a kibosh on the whole thing again." Wilburn, Miles' nephew and a drummer in his uncle's band 1985-1987, is the leading voice in the Miles Davis Estate. He was also the person behind the first delay of the boxed set release. The latest word is that the release is abandoned altogether, but Columbia Legacy tells me today (October 28), that they continue to be confident that the set will come out, and that they are still hoping for a pre-Christmas release. Please watch this space for official news, and more details on the story behind all this, insofar as they can be revealved without compromising my sources. (More information on the set below.)

September

Frustrating news on the Cellar Door Sessions 1970 boxed set: its release date, originally earmarked for September 27, has been put on hold. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the problem involves the Miles Davis Estate, in a story not dissimilar to that of The Last Word. No new release date is set, so fingers crossed that any difficulties and differences are sorted out soon. Watch this space for a new release date, or, if the set doesn't come out, the behind-the-scenes story of why not. Meanwhile, my article on the Cellar Door has been published in JazzTimes magazine in the US. Italian, French, German, and Dutch versions are to follow soon.

Adam Holzman informs me of the October release of his latest project, the album JazzRocketScience, featuring him and his band Brave New World, on Nagel Heyer Records. More news and a review soon. (Btw, Holzman is not the informant mentioned above.)