Miles Davis to be celebrated at 2015 Newport Jazz Festival
A review of the new boxed set, Miles Davis at Newport, 1955-1975, marking the 60th anniversary of his first appearance at Newport
A new set of recordings of Miles Davis performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, from 1955 through 1975, has been released, as part of a celebration of the 60th anniversary of Miles Davis' first appearance at Newport in 1955
The genius of Miles Davis reflected his ability to bring musicians together, whether it was the pairing of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly on Kind of Blue, or the three keyboardists Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul on In a Silent Way, along with guitarist John McLaughlin. Or, to invest in young talent such as Anthony ‘Tony’ Williams, when the drummer was just 18 years old, in the concert at Lincoln Center in 1964, issued as “My Funny Valentine.”
In an interview, McLaughlin described the stroke of genius when Davis asked him to play the melody from Zawinul’s title song on electric guitar with no accompaniment, and at first, McLaughlin said he was confused, he didn’t know what to do, and he played on instinct. “Miles, in one minute, had brought the real essence, the beauty out of it.”
The role that radio played as a way for music to be heard across the world changed our world forever in the 20th century – from the vacuum tubes to transistors to boom boxes, in harmony with capturing sound on vinyl, magnetic tape and CDs. The music traveled with us wherever we were, becoming a soundtrack for our lives.
Today’s MP3 format and mobile devices means that we can program our own playlist, or watch performances on YouTube on our individual screens – but the tendency is to become stuck in the music that we know and like best.
As the new set of recordings of Miles Davis performing at Newport demonstrate, the stage becomes a place where new musical ideas take hold. Imagine if Taylor Swift decided to take in the Newport Jazz Festival, and much like Joni Mitchell, decided to collaborate with bassist Christian McBride the way Mitchell once collaborated with bassist Jaco Pastorius and guitarist Pat Metheny.
NEWPORT – Miles Davis’ passing in 1991 at 65 never slowed the release of albums from a seemingly bottomless vault of recordings of one of modern music’s most influential figures.
Davis is credited with leading jazz into new directions no fewer than four times; those pioneering changes are all laid out in this four-CD Columbia/Legacy box set, Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975 Bootleg Series Vol. 4. Much of the nearly five hours of music has never been released until now.
The fledgling Newport Jazz Festival was in its second year in 1955 when Miles Davis came to town.
Already, he had pioneered the frenetic, hot, be-bop sound. He’d ushered in the “Birth of the Cool,” and would help to reinvent the language of jazz several more times in his career.
The 1955 Festival already had an all-star lineup, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington and Count Basie.
George Wein, the club owner and “impresario” who started the Festival, said showcasing the young trumpeter was a big deal.
“Jazz is like a deck of cards, with aces, kings, queens,” Wein said, in a recent interview. You need the aces to win, and Miles was an ace. We needed him to win and he really came through for us.”
“We had a lot of little problems, had a lot of fun,” Wein said of the sometimes prickly performer, whom he called “difficult.” But, Wein continued, “It always worked.”
Round Midnight
At Newport on July 17, 1955, Davis, 28, had recently emerged from rehab, was poised to sign with Columbia Records when he joined an All-Star Jam Session, including Thelonious Monk on piano, Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone, Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone, Percy Heath on bass and Connie Kay on drums.
Davis’ take on Monk’s “‘Round Midnight” showed listeners and critics that he was back and in full form. Wein has a vivid memory of that night.
“Miles came off the stage and says to me, ‘Tell Monk he plays the wrong changes to Round Midnight,’” Wein recalled.
“‘What am I going to do, Miles? He wrote the song,’ I told him.”
“I mean, that was just the way it was,” Wein said. “Miles played a different set of changes than what Thelonious wrote in the original one, but that didn’t make any difference to Miles, or to Thelonious, they just went ahead and played.”
Along with ‘Round Midnight, the previously unreleased set included “Hackensack” and “Now’s The Time.”
Davis, Coltrane and Cannonball
Davis returned to Newport in 1958, leading his “first great quintet,” with Cannonball Adderly on alto saxophone, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums, on previously released songs, including “Ah-Leu-Cha,” a sinuous “Fran-Dance,” “Two Bass Hit,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,”and “The Theme.”
The quintet
On the Fourth of July in 1966, Davis was back at Newport with one of his greatest lineups: Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, playing “Gingerbread Boy,” “All Blues,” “Stella By Starlight,”, “R.J.,” “Seven Steps to Heaven,” and “The Theme.”
The following year, 1967, Davis was back at Newport with the same lineup, playing “Gingerbread Boy,” a sublime “Footprints,” “‘Round Midnight,” “So What” and “The Theme.”
In a silent way
In 1969, as rock and roll topped the music charts, Davis was already heading into new musical directions, with a new band and new sound.
“When I thought he was going to bring Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter and Tony Williams, like he did the year before; [instead] he brought a completely different band, Jack DeJohnette on drums,” Wein said. The other players were Chick Corea on electric piano and Dave Holland on bass.
“That was the beginning of the “Bitches Brew” thing, and Miles stood next to me all night long every night, just to hear the rock bands we had there in 1969,” Wein said.
Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and Sly and the Family Stone alternated with the more traditional jazz acts, including Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Anita O’Day, Dave Brubeck and the Buddy Rich Orchestra.
“He wanted to reach young people, and he didn’t want to keep playing the same thing all the time. People remember him best from his early days, but in the latter days, that gave him a whole new career.”
Davis’ set at Newport in 1969 included, “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down,” “Sanctuary,” “It’s About that Time/The Theme.”
Absorbing the rock sound, Davis began to shape an entirely new jazz sound, and by the 1970s, he brought new energy levels to what’s become known as “crossover,” or “fusion.”
Newport on the road
Finances and sponsorships were among the factors that brought the Newport Jazz Festival to Dietikon, outside Zurich, Switzerland in 1971, to Berlin in 1973, and to New York City in 1975. They provide some of the most electric, most venturesome recordings of the entire box set.
The previously unreleased and completely wild Newport Jazz Festival in Europe Swiss set was recorded Oct. 22, 1971, and includes “Directions,” “What I Say,” “Sanctuary,” “It’s About That Time,” “Bitches Brew,” “Funky Tonk,” and another take of “Sanctuary.” The recordings featured Gary Bartz on soprano and alto saxophones, Keith Jarrett on electric piano and organ, Michael Henderson on electric bass, Ndugu Leon Chancler on drums, and Don Alias and James Mtume Forman on percussion.
The 1973 Newport Jazz Festival in Europe performance in Berlin features Davis on both trumpet and organ, Dave Liebman on soprano and tenor saxophones, Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas on guitars, Michael Henderson on electric bass, Al Foster on drums and James Mtume Forman on percussion.
They offer a burning set, including “Turnaroundphrase,” “Tune In,” “Tune in 5,” “Ife,” “Untitled Original,” and “Tune in 5” again.
There is a single number from the Newport Jazz Festival in NY, July 1, 1975: “Mtume,” with Davis on trumpet and organ, Sam Morrison on tenor saxophone, Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas on guitars, Michael Henderson on electric bass, Al Foster on drums and James Mtume Forman on percussion.
This year, in recognition of the 60th anniversary of Davis’ first appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, many of the artists will incorporate Miles Davis’ songs in their sets, including trumpeters Chris Botti, Jon Faddis, Arturo Sandoval and Tom Harrell.
“He’s something else, there’s only one Miles Davis,” said George Wein. “He sits with the greatest in the history of the music.”
Steve Klamkin is a reporter, anchor and host for WPRO News.
Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975 Bootleg Series Vol. 4
Columbia/Legacy - Released July 17, 2015, MP3 $27.99; Audio CD $42.88
