Newport Jazz Festival Celebrates 60 Years of Miles Davis (Published: June 25, 2015)
Newport Jazz Festival Celebrates 60 Years of Miles Davis
on New "Storyville" Stage, August 1-2
Award-winning Author Ashley Kahn Curates
Four Panel Discussions and Presents Music
from the New Columbia/Legacy Recordings Box Set
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol.4
To Be Available Everywhere on July 17
NEWPORT, RI, June 24, 2015 - When a teenage George Wein regularly
left his parents' home in Newton, MA, to sneak down to the Big Apple to
catch concerts on legendary 52nd Street, he had no idea that his love
for jazz would lead to a life-long music career, including owning
Storyville, a world-class jazz club in Boston that was home to every
major jazz star, and creating the iconic Newport Jazz Festival.
Wein also built enduring friendships with some of the world's leading
musicians. Among his friends was trumpet player Miles Davis, whom he
first met in 1952 when they were both beginning to make names for
themselves. Miles brought down the house at Storyville, whenever he
performed there; and he received the same rave reaction on the stage at
the second annual Newport Jazz Festival in scenic Newport, RI.
On August 1-2 during the Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis
Global Asset Management, Wein re-imagines Storyville on a new Festival
stage located in the former Yachting Museum at Fort Adams State Park.
Grammy Award®-winning author and music historian Ashley Kahn will curate
two seminars each day on the renowned trumpet player, in celebration of
the 60th anniversary of Davis' first performance at Newport on July 17,
1955.
Highlights of the Miles Davis tribute include an interview with Wein
conducted by New York Times critic Nate Chinen; a celebration of Miles
and the St. Louis trumpet tradition; and a discussion of Miles' romance
with electric guitars. There will also be a playback of music from the
new Columbia/Legacy Recordings box set Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975:
The Bootleg Series Vol.4, with co-producer of the collection - Grammy
Award®-winning producer Steve Berkowitz and consultant Nell Mulderry -
Miles' nephew, drummer Vince Wilburn, Jr., and Miles' son Erin Davis.
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975 will be available everywhere on Friday,
July 17 - 60 years to the date since Davis' breakthrough performance at
Newport in 1955 - through Columbia/Legacy Recordings, a division of
Sony Music Entertainment.
The full schedule features:
Saturday, August 1 - 1:00-2:00 pm
MILES & GEORGE: Wein talks about his long relationship with Miles to
Nate Chinen, co-writer of Wein's autobiography, Myself Among Others: A
Life In Music, and also New York Times critic.
Saturday, August 1 - 3:15-4:15 pm
MILES & NEWPORT: Every time Miles Davis performed under the banner
of the Newport Jazz Festival - between 1955 to 1975 - his groups
delivered historic performances, all of which were recorded. MILES DAVIS
AT NEWPORT 1955-1975: THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 4 is the title of a new
four-CD set featuring a musical overview of Miles' relationship with
Newport Jazz. Tasty excerpts from the collection will be played in
addition to discussions with co-producer Steve Berkowitz, packager Nell
Mulderry, Miles' nephew, drummer Vince Wilburn, Jr., Miles' son Erin
Davis, and moderator Ashley Kahn.
Sunday, August 2 - 1:00-2:00 pm
MILES & THE ELECTRIC GUITAR: Miles' long romance with the sound of
the electric guitar began in the mid-1960s when he asked George Benson
to sit in on a recording session, and was shoved into high gear when the
rock revolution of the late ‘60s hit. He began playing his trumpet
through a wah-wah guitar pedal, and his lineups featured stars of jazz
guitar as John McLaughlin, Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas, as well as John
Scofield, Robben Ford and Mike Stern. Guitarist and festival performer
Mike Stern, Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke, and author and critic
Bill Milkowski join moderator Ashley Kahn to discuss and play examples
of Miles' guitar infatuation.
Sunday, August 2 - 3:15-4:15 pm
MILES, CLARK TERRY & ST. LOUIS TRUMPETERS: Miles' first and most
enduring hero was trumpeter Clark Terry; both were residents of St.
Louis and were products of that city's long-standing trumpet tradition.
Terry passed away in the past year just as the documentary Keep On
Keepin' On was released. Trumpeters and festival performers Jon Faddis
and Randy Sandke join moderator Ashley Kahn in celebrating Terry, Miles
and other St. Louis trumpet stars with music and video excerpts.
In addition to the celebration of Miles Davis, Storyville will feature
piano performances by Helen Sung, Christian Sands and the 11-year old
prodigy, Joey Alexander, on Saturday, August 1, and Aaron Diehl, Frank
Kimbrough and Giorgi Mikadze on Sunday, August 2.
George Wein's Storyville opened in 1950 in Boston's Copley Square Hotel.
A nearly 200-seat room frequently filled with dynamic artists and
dedicated jazz fans, the club launched with Bob Wilber and went on to
present some of the world's most renowned jazz artists, including Duke
Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Billie
Holiday and Miles Davis. For a decade, the club was the place to be in
Boston. As George wrote in his book about the original club, the new
stage, Storyville, at the Newport Jazz Festival won't have a "bad seat
in the house;" and when you leave to go to another stage, the producer
hopes you will share his feeling when Satchmo first played Storyville:
"Life was very, very beautiful right there and then."
The 2015 edition of America's first annual jazz festival, which takes
place July 31-August 2 at Fort Adams State Park and the International
Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, will feature Chris Botti,
Cassandra Wilson, Jamie Cullum, Snarky Puppy, Maria Schneider, Arturo
Sandoval, Dr. John, Jack DeJohnette: Made in Chicago, Kenny Garrett,
Billy Childs, Arturo O'Farrill, Fred Hersch, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Jon
Batiste, Kneebody, Hiromi, Michel Camilo, Jon Faddis, James Carter,
Christian McBride, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern/Bill Evans Band, Ambrose
Akinmusire, Tom Harrell, Pat Martino, Matana Roberts, John Hollenbeck,
Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton and many others.
For more information on the Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Global Asset Management, go to http://www.newportjazzfest.org" rel="nofollow - www.newportjazzfest.org or http://www.newportfestivalsfoundation.org" rel="nofollow - www.newportfestivalsfound... .
from www.jazzcorner.com
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