New York, NY- September 12, 2011– Miles Davis. The name alone has become synonymous with jazz music and its place in popular culture, notably the prolific years of 1949-1959, starting with Birth of the Cool. To commemorate these momentous years in jazz and Davis’ career, CAMI Music has joined forces with Miles Davis Properties, LLC and Blue Note Records for an innovative music and historical production, The Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959.
Through the lens of jazz music and one of its most iconic innovators, The Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959 will recapture this critical period of American history through a historical and cultural context. Led by Blue Note Records artist and trumpeter, Ambrose Akinmusire, the immersive performance will follow Miles’ musical development in linear chronology, telling of the challenges and optimism in post-war America, civil rights struggle, historical milestones and the creative cauldron of new music that Miles pioneered and nurtured.
“Miles Davis played a crucial and inevitably controversial role in every major development in jazz since the mid-’40s, and no other jazz musician has had so profound an effect on rock. Miles Davis was the most widely recognized jazz musician of his era, an outspoken social critic and an arbiter of style-in attitude and fashion-as well as music.”– The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll
From Birth of the Cool to 1959’s enormously influential masterpiece Kind of Blue, Miles secured his legendary status in music history. Kind of Blue stands as the best selling jazz album of all time with over 4 million copies sold and in December 2009 the US House of Representatives recognized Miles’ musical influence, passing a resolution honoring the album as a national treasure.
More than just a musical performance, the show will feature iconic era images brought together by beat poet-style narrator and actor, Donald Lacy. Akinmusire will be joined by the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, featuring Walter Smith III (tenor sax), Sam Harris (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass) and Justin Brown (drums.) The US tour will run from September 28-November 20, 2011. These special performances will reintroduce Miles to fans and give a new generation of music lovers a more complete understanding of jazz and Miles’ influence on today’s popular music.
MILES DAVIS EXPERIENCE: 1949-1959 TOUR DATES:
September 28 Englert Theatre Iowa City, IA
September 30 Yardley Hall – Carlsen Center Overland Park,KS
October 1 Tryon Festival Theatre Urbana, IL
October 2 Mcaninch Arts Center /College Of Du Page Glen Ellyn, IL
October 4 Stem Concert Hall New Albany, IN
October 5 Templeton – Blackburn Alumni Memorial Aud. Athen, OH
October 6 Midland Theatre Newark, OH
October 7 Emens Auditorium Muncie, IN
October 8 Kuttemperoor Auditorium Brookfield, WI
October 9 Stephens Auditorium Ames, IA
October 11 Capitol Theater Madison, WI
October 14 Mesa Arts Center Repertory Theater Mesa, AZ
October 16 Poway Center For The Performing Arts Poway, CA
October 17 Centennial Hall Tucson, AZ
October 18 Folsom Lake College Performing Arts Center Theater Folsom, CA
October 19 Uptown Theatre Napa, CA
October 20 Lancaster Performing Arts Center Lancaster, CA
October 21 Samueli Theater Costa Mesa, CA
October 23 Valley Performing Arts Center – Great Hall Northridge, CA
October 25 Sunset Theatre Carmel, CA
October 26 Craterian Theater Medford, OR
October 27 Tower Theatre Bend, OR
October 28 Washington Center For The Performing Arts Olympia, WA
October 29 Mount Baker Theatre Bellingham, WA
October 30 Columbia Theater Longview, WA
November 1 Bass Concert Hall – University Of Texas @Austin Austin, TX
November 3 Miller Outdoor Theatre Houston, TX
November 4 Hammerson Hall Mississauga, ON
November 5 Community Theatre Morristown, NJ
November 6 Strand Theatre York, PA
November 8 American Theatre Hampton, VA
November 10 Grand Opera House Wilmington, DE
November 11 Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts Fairfield, CT
November 12 Pollak Theatre West Long Brach,NJ
November 13 Center For The Arts Concert Hall Fairfax, VA
November 15 Western Carolina University Pac – Concert Hall Cullowhee, NC
November 16 MSU Riley Center Grand Opera House Meridian, MS
November 17 Hodgson Hall – University Of Georgia Athens, GA
November 18 Curtis M. Phillips Performing Arts Center Gainesville, FL
November 19 Ferguson Hall Tampa, FL
November 20 Lyric Theatre Stuart, FL