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Miles Davis on Columbia/Legacy


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I've heard that Bob Belden has finally, once-and-for-all, walked away from all future Miles projects, so that may or may not affect what gets done.

How recent is your information? According to the Miles Beyond website (for whatever that's worth), he was apparently back on the job for the "On the Corner" box set. That update was about 5-6 weeks ago though:

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.
Edited by Aggie87
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Miles Davis: Selling the Dark Prince

by Marc Hopkins

An Excerpt from the October 2006 issue

Say the name Miles Davis and it conjures images of the most poignant figure in jazz—ever. He changed the direction of jazz multiple times, and he was always at the precipice of the next groove of his own musical frontier. From bebop to hip-hop, from Coltrane to Prince, Davis effortlessly and seamlessly melded his distinctly delicate sound through straightahead, fusion, funk and beyond. He’s been studied and copied and debated. He’s a hero and a villain, an artist’s artist who always wanted the music to move forward.

Whether you know this about Miles Davis or just learned it, the people in charge of his legacy are working to make sure you never forget it.

“We want to raise the profile of Miles so people just don’t remember Miles when they reach into their record collection or turn on the radio,” says Darryl Porter, general manager of the Miles Davis estate. “We want it so that when people pick up a newspaper or magazine they have to see him.”

Since the beginning of the year, Davis’ estate has been managed by a new team comprised of family members and aided by business advisors who want to perpetuate his legacy. Plans are in the works for a motion-picture biography as well as recordings that remix classic Miles and pair him with soul, pop and hip-hop artists. His artwork comprising some 150 lithographs will be exhibited, and we’ll soon see Miles showing up in ad campaigns.

All of these efforts are being guided by Miles Davis Properties LLC, which includes Davis’ youngest son, Erin, his daughter, Cheryl, his nephew Vince Wilburn Jr. and his brother-in-law, Vince Wilburn Sr. The group is assisted by attorney Gerry Margolis of the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP law firm in Los Angeles. Publicity is handled by Rogers and Cowan, also in Los Angeles.

The current roster of players is a departure from New York-based representation spearheaded by attorney Peter Shukat of Shukat, Arrow, Hafer and Weber, which had a long history with the estate. Now all things Miles have a West Coast focus, and in the early days of the transition, the team was in the midst of transferring properties from New York to Los Angeles and untangling deals the new group didn’t think were a good fit.

“Part of the change in direction of how Miles’ intellectual property is treated is to make re-use something more special and treated with respect,” says Margolis, who has represented the Rolling Stones for more than 30 years.

Representatives from the Shukat firm declined to talk ...

Continued in the October 2006 issue

(from the Jazz Times website)

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Plans are in the works for a motion-picture biography as well as recordings that remix classic Miles and pair him with soul, pop and hip-hop artists. His artwork comprising some 150 lithographs will be exhibited, and we’ll soon see Miles showing up in ad campaigns.

So we will get the Juan-Les-Pins set--but with muthafucka overdubs from some rapper and a new drum track from Vince. And for the next person who asks "Who's Vince?", my answer is "Exactly."

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They can fuck with the Miles catalog all they want for all I care. Have rappers and shit over Miles. Pull apart the multi-tracks. Sample this, distort that. Remix it all to hell, for all I care. Some of it WILL be the shit ( :tup ), some of it will be so-so, and some of it will really stink. All of that's possible and probable, of that I'm sure.

So do all that, sure, great, do it.

But DON'T stop reissuing more unreleased stuff -- like the "On The Corner" Box, or the Juan-Les-Pins material (both disc's worth, thank you).

The world (or some of it, anyway) wants THAT shit too. Ain't the same world that might want the remix/rap stuff -- but who knows, maybe they'll sell more of each, if they do both.

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They can fuck with the Miles catalog all they want for all I care. Have rappers and shit over Miles. Pull apart the multi-tracks. Sample this, distort that. Remix it all to hell, for all I care. Some of it WILL be the shit ( :tup ), some of it will be so-so, and some of it will really stink. All of that's possible and probable, of that I'm sure.

So do all that, sure, great, do it.

But DON'T stop reissuing more unreleased stuff -- like the "On The Corner" Box, or the Juan-Les-Pins material (both disc's worth, thank you).

The world (or some of it, anyway) wants THAT shit too. Ain't the same world that might want the remix/rap stuff -- but who knows, maybe they'll sell more of each, if they do both.

I couldn't have said it better. Thanks, Tom!

I really want an On The Corner box. So much of the shit I've been listening to lately has its roots in that album and Get Up With It. No matter how much that period of Miles' music rubbed/rubs a lot of people the wrong way, it obviously rubs/rubbed just as many (or more) the right way, and its impact continues to reverberate today. I dare say that it's left a legacy just as profound and far-reaching as Kind Of Blue & probably moreso than that of Bitches Brew. Even if that legacy is off the radar for much of the "jazz" world, it's a legacy that is international & multi-generational in scope, and it's a legacy that is going a long way towards breaking down a lot of technological, cultural, & "intellectual" barriers. That's no different than any of Miles' other legacies, but it's a legacy that needs to be properly recognized by the "establishment" in order for things to get back on track (which might be precisely why it's not being recognized - there's a pretty good market these days, it seems, in things being off track).

Like Billy Harper said, Is It Not True Simply Because You Cannot Believe It?

Edited by JSngry
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