Jul 27, 2015
Grammy-Award Winning Music Historian Ashley Kahn will curate four panel discussions during this coming weekend’s Newport Jazz Festival, commemorating the 60th anniversary of Miles Davis’ debut performance at the venerable jazz festival. The event will allow listeners to here selections from Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4, the most recent release in a series of archival recordings.
Among those joining Mr. Kahn on the "Storyville Stage" will be Newport Jazz Festival founder/creator George Wein; New York Times critic Nate Chinen; Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke; Author/critic Bill Milkowski; festival performer's Jon Faddis, Randy Sandke and Mike Stern; Grammy-Award winning producer Steve Berkowitz; and veteran music consultant/packager Nell Mulderry.
It looks like the highlight of the four discussions will come on Sunday, August 2, with Miles & The Electric Guitar. Fricke, Miles alum guitarist Mike Stern and Milkowski will join moderator Ashley Kahn to discuss and play examples of Miles' long romance and infatuation with the sound of the electric guitar. This first began in the mid-1960s when Miles asked George Benson to sit in a recording session and went into high gear when the rock revolution hit. One of many highlights on Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975 comes from guitarists Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey’s work in Davis’ mid-seventies electric band.