More Info
Among the legends of jazz, Louis Armstrong still stands out as the best known of them all, but Miles Davis also has his unique place: as the greatest genius and innovator the art form has ever known .Born in St. Louis in 1926, the trumpeter was not just an instantly recognizable figure, he was a visionary who repeatedly gave new, decisive impulses to modern jazz, starting in the early 1940s while still in his teens, when he was at the heart of the invention of bebop. Then, in 1949, he countered the heat of bebop with cool jazz. And when the ground breaking recordings of this period were released on‘ Birth of the Cool’ as late as 1957, Miles Davis, together with the masterly arranger Gil Evans, was already anticipating the next mini revolution: modal jazz. Between 1957 and 1959, three epoch-making albums in this idiom were produced in quick succession: ‘Miles Ahead’, ‘Milestones’ and ‘Kind of Blue’, the last of which became the most successful jazz album of all time.
At this time, Miles Davis, still in his early 30s, was still to take his art in yet more new directions with hard bop, fusion jazz and jazz rock. Davis also had an uncanny and unerring knack for identifying talent. Throughout his career, he consistently brought the very best up-and-coming musicians into his bands, people who frequently went on to become stars in their own right: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Keith Jarrett, Joe Zawinul and many more. By the time Miles Davis died in Santa Monica in 1991, at the age of just 65,he had become one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century.
Miles Davis performed at the Philharmonie at the first Jazzfest Berlin in 1964, returning there as headliner a total of eight times. In memory of this lasting connection, and also to mark 30 years since Miles’ death, Siggi Loch, curator of the ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic’ series, devised a homage to this musical genius with ‘Sketches of Miles’. The spirit of Miles Davis was once again in the air on the 27thof November, 2021 at the hallowed hall, where it palpably inspired and energized the participants in this unique concert. The Theo Croker Quartet and members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Magnus Lindgren, were clearly stepping into mighty shoes, and yet the tribute they produced to one of the great icons of jazz is constantly dazzling.
As is the case for all of the ‘Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic’ concerts, the line-up was a complete one-off. The first part of the programme focused on highlights from recordings by Miles Davis’ band, whereas in the second, members of the Berlin Philharmonic joined the Theo Croker Quartet on stage to perform three suites from the orchestral albums, ‘Miles Ahead’, ‘Porgy and Bess’ and ‘Sketches of Spain’. The arrangements were especially commissioned for the concert.
Tracklist
Pinocchio / Milestones
Footprints
My Funny Valentine
So What
Miles Ahead Suite
Sketches of Spain Suite
Porgy and Bess Suite
All Blues