Miles Davis would have turned 88 on Memorial Day (Monday the 26th); he died at 65 in the early 1990s. His influence on this music --- on these musics --- that we label "jazz" is obvious and enormous and arguably, in this age of omnipresent, genre-blurring crossover projects and increasingly sophisticated recording techniques and technologies, greater than ever before. (And have you heard, by the way, that Don Cheadle is planning to direct and star in a film about Miles? It is currently titled "Kill the Trumpet Player" and will co-star Ewan McGregor.)
So, in honor of the recent Miles b-day, the next edition of All This Jazz will highlight his tunes exclusively in the second half of our broadcast. "All Blues," "Solar," "Nardis," "Seven Steps to Heaven" --- these well-known modern jazz standards, all written or co-written by Miles, will be heard in Hour Two of our forthcoming show, as performed by a range of jazz greats (along with some other Miles-penned themes). We'll also hear, in this regard, at least one performance from Miles himself --- including a decidedly psychedelic-rock-inspired selection from the newly released box set, "Miles at the Fillmore --- Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Volume 3."
Hope you can tune in, dear listeners.
It's all to the good. It all sounds great. It's All This Jazz...and you'll find the latest playlist data here, btw.
(The fine print: ATJ airs every Saturday night on Public Radio 89.5, from 10pm till midnight. We always thereafter offer a 7pm re-airing of the program on Sunday evening, on Jazz 89.5-2, which is our station's all-jazz HD Radio channel. Each week, we spin modern jazz, both recent and classic --- from Geri Allen to John Zorn, Louis Armstrong to Joe Zawinul. And the second half of our two-hour program, beginning at 11pm, invariably carries a theme. Also, please note: All This Jazz now has a Facebook page. It's downright nifty, we think, and most assuredly worth your time.)
