Miles Electric Band, featuring Miles Davies alumni as well as an A-List band of musicians including Darryl Jones from the Rolling Stones, will perform at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall in April, presented by Noise11.com.
Miles Electric Band was put together by Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, who runs the family business Miles Davis Properties LLC with Eric and Cheryl Davis, the son and daughter of Miles.
Vincent was also the Executive Producer of the Miles Davis movie ‘Miles Ahead’ starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor.
Miles Electric Band features The Rolling Stones bass player Darryl Jones on bass as well as well as Grammy nominee Robert Irving III, legendary Parliament Funkadelic guitarist Blackbyrd McKnight, Munyungo Jackson and Grammy winner Vince Wilburn, Jr. (Davis’ nephew) on drums. Davis’ longtime keyboardist John Beasley also plays with the band.
Miles Electric Band will perform the Miles Davis albums ‘Bitches Brew’ (1970), ‘Jack Johnson’ (1970) and ‘On the Corner’ (1972), that were made during the seminal time when Miles Davis went electric and created fusion music.
Miles Electric Band will perform at Bluesfest over Easter and in Melbourne at Hamer Hall on Saturday April 15, 2017.
BUY TICKETS: http://www.bluesfesttouring.com.au/events/?EventGroupID=210
Miles Electric Band band members
VINCENT WILBURN JR.
Vince Wilburn, Jr., nephew of late jazz icon Miles Davis, oversees Miles Davis Properties, LLC, along with Erin Davis (son of Miles) and Cheryl Davis (daughter of Miles). Wilburn, Jr. is a highly accomplished drummer and producer, who has both toured and recorded with Miles on many legendary recordings from 1984 through 1987, including: The Grammy award winning album “AURA” — which he co-produced; “Decoy” – which he also co-produced; “You’re Under Arrest”, and the 2008 Grammy nominated “Miles From India” – which hit #8 on the Billboard jazz charts.
He is Executive Producer of the forthcoming Miles Davis film, starring Don Cheadle, directed by Antoine Fuqua and scored by multiple Grammy Award winner Herbie Hancock.
ROBERT IRVING III
Robert Irving III completes a distinguished lineage of post-bop pianists who collaborated with the legendary Miles Davis. Irving’s composition “Space” inspired Davis’ comeback in 1979. He soon evolved into the roles of Davis’ producer, musical director and film composer to become the jazz icon’s longest collaborator (1979-1988).
During this time Irving scored music for the film Street Smart, which starred Morgan Freeman in his first Oscar-nominated performance. The score featured the trumpet of Miles Davis. As a musician and as producer of three Grammy award nominated projects, Irving worked closely with music greats such as Sting, Wayne Shorter, Ramsey Lewis, Billy Joel, Sister Sledge, Terri Lyne Carrington, Diane Reeves, David Murray, Doudou N’Diaye Rose, Regina Carter, Wallace Roney, John Scofield, Kirk Whalum, Markus Klinko, Grover Washington Jr. and many others.
MUNYUNGO JACKSON
From Congas and Timbales, Djembes and Jun Juns, Surdos and Timbaos, Bongos and Cajons, (and many other hand instruments related), to samplers and computers, seasoned percussionist Munyungo Jackson possesses an ever-increasing collection of instruments with which to execute his craft. In his over 40 years of playing, he has performed with Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Karen Briggs, Kenny Loggins, the Zawinal Syndicate, George Howard, Ronnie Laws, The Temptations, Four Tops, The Supremes, and dozens of others, including numerous ethnic music and dance troupes.
DARRYL JONES
Darryl Jones was born in Chicago. At age 7 he began studying drums with his father. Two years later, after seeing a neighbor play bass guitar in an elementary school talent show, he switched to bass.
Darryl emerged onto the international music scene in 1983 after auditioning for and being hired by music giant Miles Davis.
In 1985 Darryl joined Sting, along with Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Omar Hakim, Janice Pendarvis and Dolette McDonald to record “The Dream Of the Blue Turtles.” This band also appeared in the full feature length film “Bring on the Night” as well as a world tour and live recording of the same name. During the next ten years Darryl toured and recorded with Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Joan Armatrading and many others.
In 1993 he recorded “Voodoo Lounge” with the Rolling Stones and joined them on the subsequent world tour. Darryl has been recording and touring with the Stones since then.
BLACKBYRD MCKNIGHT
Blackbyrd Mcknight encompasses many styles of music to make up what he calls “Progressive Funk-Rock”. Blackbyrd was grooved in the cradle by his father’s broad collection of jazz recordings as an infant, brainwashed by Jimi Hendrix in his teens, entered the University of Funk in his twenties, and has never stopped evolving and rocking people ever since. In the early stages of his career, Blackbyrd mainly worked with Jazz musicians, such as Charles Lloyd, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters, and more. He then redirected his path towards funk when he joined the Parliament Funkadelic Camp in 1978 and has been funking people up ever since. He was the musical director of George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic from 1980 to 2008.
Other than working with P-Funk artists such as George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell, Blackbyrd has also worked with Miles Davis, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ron Wood & Bernard Fowler of the Rolling Stones, Bill Laswell, HR of Bad Brains, Macy Gray, Fishbone and Wyzard of Mothers Finest to name but a few.
JOHN BEASLEY
Pianist/composer and Miles Davis alumni John Beasley’s playing and music is best described by Bill Kohlhassee, LA Times critic: “Beasley, the onetime keyboardist for Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, reflects a variety of generational influences, incorporating the emphatic chordal clusters of Herbie Hancock, the rhythmic quirkiness of Monk and the lush intelligence of Art Tatum into a highly refined personal voice.”
Beasley’s album Positootly! earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. For his most recent album 3 Brave Souls, he reunites with fellow Miles Davis alumni bassist Darryl Jones and master drummer Ndugu Chancler for a rousing brand of jazz inspired by funk, soul and their shared Louisiana roots. He was former Music Director for tours with A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire), Queen Latifah, Steely Dan, including Artistic Director for the 25th anniversary Gala event for the Thelonius Monk Institute.
ANTOINE RONEY
Born April 1, 1963 Antoine is an American jazz tenor, soprano saxophonist and brother to trumpeter Wallace Roney. Born in Philadelphia, he graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts of the D. C. Public Schools and attended college at The Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, where he studied with alto saxophonist, Jackie McLean. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s he worked with Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Clifford Jordan, Ted Curson, John Patton, Rashied Ali, Arthur Taylor, Jesse Davis, Ravi Coltrane, Michael Carvin, Freddie Hubard, Elvin Jones and Wallace Roney and has released five albums as a leader. Antoine Roney has extensively travelled throughout the world for performances and cultural studies.
CHRISTIAN SCOTT
Christian Scott, also known as Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (born March 31, 1983, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a two-time Edison Award winning (2010 and 2012) and Grammy Award nominated trumpeter, composer, producer and music executive. Christian’s Grammy nominated international recording debut, Rewind That was called “arguably the most remarkable premiere the genre has seen in the last decade” by Billboard Magazine, earning Christian two prominent features on their cover and inclusion in their list of “Ones to Watch in 2006.”
Christian has released seven critically acclaimed studio recordings and two live albums. According to NPR, “Christian Scott ushers in new era of jazz”. He has been heralded by JazzTimes magazine as “the Architect of a new commercially viable fusion” and “Jazz’s young style God.” Since 2006, Christian has worked with McCoy Tyner, Prince, Marcus Miller, Eddie Palmieri, Mos Def (Yasin Bey), Thom Yorke and Solange Knowles, among other notable talents.
Christian, is a scion of New Orleans’ first family of art and culture, nephew of Saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. and the grandson of the legendary Big Chief, Donald Harrison Sr., the only man to be Chief of four Black Indian tribes of New Orleans. Christian is half the inspiration for HBO’s Tremé series character Delmond Lambreaux. Lambreaux is a hybrid of both Harrison Jr. and Christian.
DJ LOGIC
Using jazz as his foundation DJ Logic has become a wax innovator, crossing genres and sprinkling his sound across the map. As one of the world’s most accomplished turntablists, he is widely credited for introducing jazz into the hip hop realms and is a highly respected session musician and innovative bandleader. He has collaborated with artists including Carly Simon, Jack Johnson, Vernon Reid, John Mayer, Ben Harper, Mos Def and The Roots. With a growing catalogue of recordings under his belt, DJ Logic’s supreme musicianship and eclectic taste will allow him to journey wherever an infectious groove may take him.
DEBASISH CHAUDHAURI
Debasish Chaudhauri is one of the world’s most acclaimed tabla players. Originally from Kolkata India, he started playing when he was just five years old, guided by tabla guru Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. He now resides in Los Angeles where he works with artists from around the globe.
BUY TICKETS: http://www.bluesfesttouring.com.au/events/?EventGroupID=210
