Miles on Monday: Newport box set wins awards, Miles Ahead film news, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* The 1957 Louis Malle film Elevator to the Gallows, which features a score composed and played by Davis, will get a St. Louis screening this spring courtesy of Cinema St. Louis’ Robert Classic French Film Festival. The movie, which is in French with English subtitles and stars Jeanne Moreau (pictured, with Davis), will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5 at Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium.

* According to a story in the Alton Telegraph, the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau last week recognized Pat Ackman for her work on the Miles Davis Memorial Project, presenting her with both the Spirit of Tourism award and a Chairman’s Award from the association for her efforts. The bureau also recognized Karen Wilson for her contributions to the effort to place a statue of Davis to downtown Alton.

* Producer Teo Macero's work on Davis' landmark album Bitches Brew was the subject of a New Music Box article by George Grella, who recently wrote a book about the album for the 33 1/3 series.

* The box set Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975 has won the award for "Best Historical/Vault/Reissue" in Jazz Times magazine's 2015 Readers Poll for 2015, as well as "Reissues/Archive Album of the Year" in Jazzwise magazine's Albums of the Year Critics Poll.

* The screening of Don Cheadle's film Miles Ahead last month at the Sundance Film Festival continues to inspire media coverage, including interviews with Cheadle by The Root, Variety, Business Insider, and Uptown, plus reviews of the movie from Consequence of Sound, Park City Record, and Guff.com.

* As part of a series of essays about albums originally issued on the Prestige label, blogger Tad Richards considered a 1956 recording session marking the end of Davis' time with the label in "Listening to Prestige Part 166: Miles Davis".

Edited to correct the date of the Elevator to the Gallows screening.

Miles on Monday: Alton's Miles Davis memorial statue unveiled, and more

After more than three years of planning and fundraising, a statue honoring Miles Davis was unveiled this past Saturday, September 12 on Third Street in downtown Alton, IL.

Created by sculptor Preston Jackson, who was one of several speakers at the unveiling, the statue served as the centerpiece of a celebration that began with a dedication ceremony attended by hundreds, followed by an evening of live jazz played in various bars and restaurants in the surrounding area.

The unveiling also attracted media coverage including previews of the event from St. Louis Public Radio and Riverbender.com, as well as  accounts of the actual ceremony from the Associated Press (seen here on the website of local Fox affiliate KTVI), KPLR, the Alton Telegraph, Riverbender.com, and Advantage News. Riverbender.com also produced a short video about the ceremony, which you can see at the end of this post.

The Miles Davis Memorial Project has posted much of this content to their Facebook page, along with other items like some photos taken and collected by committee member Ken Whiteside (who also took the pic that adorns this post) and some impressions from writer Gene Baldwin.

Meanwhile, in other Miles Davis-related news from this past week:

* While the statue honoring Davis was going up in Alton, another public artwork paying tribute to the trumpeter - an outdoor mural in Washington DC - was getting painted over.

* Last week was the 30th anniversary of the release of Davis' album You're Under Arrest.

* The New Yorker's Richard Brody mused about how missing one of Davis' concerts 40 years ago changed his life in "Rosh Hashanah with Miles Davis."

You can see the Riverbender.com video of the unveiling ceremony after the jump...

Jazz this week: Monty Alexander, Antonio Figura, the Miles Davis statue unveiled, Dave Dickey Big Band, and more

While jazz fans from all over the world will be taking note of the long-awaited unveiling of the Miles Davis statue Saturday in Alton, IL, there also will be plenty of other interesting jazz and creative music events happening all around the St. Louis area. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 9
In his first St. Louis show in more than a decade, pianist Monty Alexander (pictured, top left) and his trio will perform for the first of two evenings at Jazz at the Bistro.

Alexander, who was born in Jamaica and came to the US as a child, began his jazz career in the mid-1960s, working as a sideman for musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Benny Golson, Jimmy Griffin and Frank Morgan. He began leading his own bands in the 1970s, and past editions of his trios have included highly-regarded players such as John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.

More recently, Alexander has become known for making music specifically connected to his Caribbean roots, recording several times with Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin and also issuing several albums of his own mixing jazz with reggae and other regional sounds.

Also on Wednesday, singer Eve Seltzer returns to Nathalie's.

Thursday, September 10
Italian pianist Antonio Figura returns to St. Louis to play a free concert kicking off this semester's Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, September 11
There's no jazz at the Bistro until Sunday this weekend, as Friday is the folk/bluegrass installment of Grand Center's "Music at the Intersection" series, and a Saturday show that was set to feature bassist Jahmal Nichols got scrubbed a while back due to Nichols' tour schedule with singer Gregory Porter.

However, this year's St. Louis Art Fair, which runs through Sunday, will have a dedicated jazz stage, with   Friday's offerings including sets from singer/pianists Jesse Gannon and Anita Rosamond plus a set from the Bosman Twins. Also at the Art Fair, the Funky Butt Brass Band will take an early evening turn over on the main stage.

Elsewhere on Friday, guitarist Dave Black and band will play a free outdoor concert at Ferguson CityWalk; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to Nathalie's; and the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, September 12
After more than a year of anticipation, the Miles Davis Memorial Project will unveil the statue of the legendary trumpeter created by sculptor Preston Jackson, which finally will be installed in its permanent location on Third St. in downtown Alton.

The unveiling ceremony will be preceded and followed by live music from trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet on an outdoor stage near the statue, and several bars and restaurants nearby will feature live jazz on Saturday evening. Most notably, the veteran trumpeter Bobby Shew (pictured, center left) will be as a guest performer with drummer Montez Coleman's band at Elijah P's, with gigs featuring trumpeters Jim Manley and Dan Smith, guitarist Tom Byrne with singer Erika Johnson, and others happening at various other downtown spots.

Back on the west bank of the Mississippi, Miss Jubilee will be performing in a free outdoor concert at Lafayette Park, and the Art Fair's lineup for the day will include sets from the Jazz Edge Big Band, singer Denise Thimes, pianist Ptah Williams, Good 4 the Soul, and more.

Sunday,
September 13
If you're looking for something to do during the day, the early fall edition of the St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will take place at the American Czech Hall, while the Art Fair will feature performances from singer Wendy Gordon, trumpeter Dawn Weber, and Animal Children on the jazz stage and singer Tony Viviano on the main stage.

That evening, the Dave Dickey Big Band (pictured, lower left) will resume their monthly residency at Jazz at the Bistro, with the University of Missouri's jazz band, directed by saxophonist Arthur White, as the intermission performers.

Monday, September 14
Guitarist Daryl Darden will be back home to headline a show at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, and Dizzy Atmosphere plays at The Shaved Duck.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Miles on Monday: Schedule set for Saturday's unveiling of memorial statue, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project has released the schedule of activities for the unveiling of the statue of Davis in downtown Alton this coming Saturday, September 12.

The event, which is free and open to the public, gets underway at 5:00 p.m. near the statue's site on Third St with music from trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet.

The unveiling ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m., with remarks from various persons associated with the project ending with the actual unveiling of the statue at approximately 6:00 p.m. Taylor's group will play again after the ceremony, wrapping up at 7:00 p.m..

Various bars and restaurants in downtown Alton then will feature live jazz starting at 7:00 p.m. that evening, with trumpeter Bobby Shew guesting with drummer Montez Coleman's quintet at Elijah P's; trumpeter Jim Manley at Bossanova; trumpeter Dan Smith at Catdaddy's;, and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne at Tony's.

For more information, call the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau at 618-465-6676.

* The photo exhibit "A Day In The Life of Miles Davis" by Glen Craig continues to be shown around the country, with an opening coming up on September 25 at the Leica Gallery in Miami. The exhibit will continue on display there until the end of November.

* And there's one last bit of Newport Jazz Festival-related content, as Legacy Recordings talked with an artist inspired by Davis at this year's Newport fest to record a video about how Davis has inspired his art.

Miles on Monday: The latest on the Miles Davis memorial statue, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* In anticipation of the unveiling of the Miles Davis memorial statue in downtown Alton, IL - now less than two weeks away - the statue's sculptor Preston Jackson was the subject of a feature story in the Alton Telegraph.

* Meanwhile, Alton's Miles Davis Jazz Festival has posted to Facebook some new photos from the memorial statue site on Third Street.

* After a recent gig with singer D'Angelo at the FYF Festival in Los Angeles, St. Louis-born trumpeter Keyon Harrold got a chance to hang out with actor/director Don Cheadle and Miles Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr (pictured). Harrold performs on the soundtrack of Cheadle's upcoming film Miles Ahead, for which Wilburn is a co-producer.

* In an interview recorded earlier this month at the Newport Jazz Festival, popular trumpeter Chris Botti talks about Miles Davis and his influence on subsequent generations of musicians.

* The recently unearthed "unofficial release" Miles Davis Live in Tokyo 1975 was reviewed by Tim Niland at his blog Music and More.

* Does Miles Davis belong in the St. Louis Classic Rock Hall of Fame? If you think so, you can cast your ballot for Davis (and various other St. Louis musicians of note) here. Voting ends on September 15.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Trumpeter Bobby Shew was interviewed by the Alton Telegraph about his upcoming appearance in Alton on Saturday, September 12 in conjunction with the unveiling of the Miles Davis memorial statue.

* You can take a look back at last Saturday's Hermann Wine and Jazz Festival via a short video posted on Facebook this week by the Hermann Advertiser-Courier.

* Also on Facebook, some photos of saxophonist Oliver Lake's big band's performance at last weekend's Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in NYC.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby has a new entry up on his blog, offering some back story and a reappraisal of  his 1998 album Banned in New York, which began as a Mini-Disc field recording and wound up being issued as an "official bootleg" by Blue Note .

* The Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University has announced their schedule for Fall 2015, starting with a return appearance from Italian pianist Antonio Figura (pictured) on Thursday, September 10. The series continues most Thursdays until the semester finale on December 10, featuring students from Wash U's jazz performance program. You can see the whole schedule here.

* Pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness and The 442s will be among the featured performers at the "Soul of Ferguson Community Festival" on Sunday, September 6 on the grounds of Ferguson Heights Church of Christ.

* The St. Louis Low Brass Collective is organizing a fund-raising "trivia night" on Saturday, September 12 at Shrewsbury City Center. For details or to reserve a spot, visit http://www.stllbc.org/trivia.

Miles on Monday: Performances set around statue unveiling, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project last week announced several live performances that will take place in conjunction with the unveiling of the statue of Davis on Saturday, September 12 in downtown Alton, IL.

Along with trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's previously announced set outdoors near the statue site on Third St., several Alton nightspots will feature jazz music that evening after the ceremony.

Veteran big-band trumpeter Bobby Shew (pictured), who's played with Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, and other top bands, will visit Alton to perform with drummer Montez Coleman's quintet in a post-unveiling gig at Elijah P's, 401 Piasa St.. Also that evening, trumpeter Jim Manley will lead a trio at Bossanova Restaurant and Lounge, and trumpeter Dan Smith will be playing at Catdaddy’s Tavern.

* The 2015 Newport Jazz Festival may be in the history books, but the fest's celebration of Davis' historic performances there is still reverberating, as fans attending this year's event shared their memories of Davis for a short video posted on the Miles Davis Facebook page.

* Meanwhile, writer Ashley Kahn, who among other things penned the definitive account of the recording of Davis' historic album Kind of Blue, was interviewed about the trumpeter's history at Newport on Boston radio station WBGO.

* On another related note, reviews of the box set of Davis' performances at Newport released last month are still coming in. Writing for Jazz Times, Colin Fleming calls the box "enough to get you pacing in excitement," while dual reviews in The Guardian (UK) found it to be "a real prize" and "coolly swinging".

* Want a free copy of the Davis/Newport box set? Vote in Jazz Times' "Anniversary Edition" Readers' Poll before Tuesday, September 1, and you can enter a drawing to win one.

Miles on Monday: Miles Ahead film gets a distributor; Agharta turns 40; and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* It was announced last week that the motion picture Miles Ahead, directed by and starring Don Cheadle as Davis (pictured), finally has found a US distributor in Sony Pictures Classics. Embarrassingly, though, the film company's press release about the acquisition referred to Davis as an "iconic singer," prompting considerable mockery of their apparent cluelessness.

* Davis' so-called "Lost Quintet" of the 1960s will be the subject of The Miles Davis Lost Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles, an upcoming book by Bob Gluck that will be published next year by the University of Chicago Press.

* An article last week in the Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger noted that "Two of the Most Divisive LPs of All Time—Miles Davis's Agharta and Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music—Are Now 40 Years Old" and reviews both albums again with the benefit of some historical perspective.

* The unveiling ceremony for the commemorative statue of Davis in downtown Alton, IL is a little more than a month away, and the Miles Davis Memorial Project committee wants everyone to know that the event on Saturday, September 12 will be free and open to the public. As a reminder, they've produced a flyer, which you can see after the jump.

Miles on Monday: Miles Ahead to close New York Film Festival, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* Miles Ahead, the film about Davis directed by and starring Don Cheadle, finally has a US premiere date. The movie will be shown on Sunday, October 11 in New York City as part of the closing night of the New York Film Festival, though Cheadle still is seeking a distributor for a wider release.

* The Newport Jazz Festival this coming weekend will include a number of events and performances celebrating the 60th anniversary of Davis' historic debut at the event, and the Associated Press has an overview. (And speaking of Newport, many more reviews of the Miles Davis at Newport box set released on July 17 have been published over the past week, and we'll have a look at some of those next week.)

* Meanwhile, Davis' fashion sense and visual style during the 1950s was the subject of an article at Ivy Style

* On a much more serious note, David Hoppe of the Indianapolis alt-weekly Nuvo compares a well-known encounter Davis had with NYC police in 1959 with the case of Sandra Bland, the African-American woman who recently died in a Texas jail while being held on charges stemming from a traffic stop.

* Lastly, the photo above and the three after the jump offer the latest look at the site of the Miles Davis Memorial Project in Alton. The plaza designed by architect Barry Moyer to resemble a musical staff has now been completed, with a pedestal styled after an eighth-note awaiting installation of the statue of Davis by sculptor Preston Jackson before the unveiling on Saturday, September 12. You can see the Davis family's commemorative block right next to the eighth note.

The pix come to StLJN courtesy of Ken Whiteside, who works with both the Memorial Project and the Miles Davis Jazz Festival. You can see the rest of the photos after the jump...

Miles on Monday: Another Memorial Project update, plus reviews of Newport box set

Miles Davis at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival

This week in Miles Davis-related news, there's another update from the Miles Davis Memorial Project, plus a bunch of reviews of the newly released box set Miles Davis at Newport: 1955-1975:

* The Memorial Project reports that work has been completed on the plaza on Third St. in downtown Alton, IL where a statue of Davis will be installed in September. You can see pictures of the site on Facebook.

* Keying on the release of the Miles Davis at Newport box set, Minnesota Public Radio highlighted what proved to be an important comeback performance for Davis with Thelonious Monk at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival.

Meanwhile, at the Newport Jazz Festival's home in Rhode Island, Zeke Wright of the Newport Mercury offered an overview of the plans to celebrate Davis at this year's event with special events and musical tributes.

* As for the reviews of the Newport box set, which officialy came out last Friday, they're largely positive so far. The Seattle Times' Paul de Barros calls the set "a delight," while John Fordham of The Guardian (UK) says it's "coolly swinging" and "typically classy."

Writing for the New York Daily News, Jim Farber says the set "does more than most such boxes to prove the planetary breadth of Miles’ work," while Will Layman of PopMatters contrasts Davis' music with a half-dozen recent releases showing his influence, stating that "the legacy of Miles’s late period is not a single style or a subset of musicians. Miles Davis was simply too big for that...Jazz, a beautiful living thing that evolves, will carry Davis in its DNA forever."

In other reviews, Greg Tate of Rolling Stone noted, "'I'll play it first and tell you what it is later,' Davis used to say. Well, then, how soon is now?"; and Peter Jones of London Jazz News says that "even completists will surely be satiated by the Bootleg series as a whole," while observing that "the long gap between 1958 and 1966 means no Gil Evans and no Kind Of Blue, which for many will mean there is nothing to represent Miles’ most melodic period."

Lastly, while noting that "like many such releases involving a titanically influential heritage act, the music is basically unassailable," Chris Barton of Los Angeles Times wonders if the Davis estate has hit the point of diminishing returns in an article headlined "'Miles Davis at Newport: 1955-1975': How many Miles do we have left?"

Miles on Monday: Miles Davis Memorial Project completes fundraising, and more

This week's news from the world of Miles Davis:

* Columbia/Legacy Recordings, the Miles Davis estate, and JazzTimes magazine are giving away a free copy of the forthcoming box set Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4. (To enter, you must have or create a JazzTimes account, which is free but requires registering with your email address.)

* The Miles Davis Jazz Festival held a week ago Saturday in Alton was the subject of a feature story by Joey Wagner of the Alton Telegraph.

* Also in Alton, the Miles Davis Memorial Project announced last week that they have successfully completed their fundraising efforts and now have in hand the money necessary to complete the installation of a statue of Davis on Third St. downtown. The site is currently under construction, with the unveiling ceremony set for Saturday, September 12.

* Nielsen Music's mid-year report tracking music sales show that vinyl records are still enjoying a comeback, with sales up 38% compared to a year ago, and the fifth best-selling album on the vinyl chart is Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, which has sold 23,200 copies so far in 2015. (KoB trails only recordings by pop/country singer Taylor Swift, and rock acts Sufjan Stevens, Arctic Monkeys, and Alabama Shakes.)

* During a recent interview with the website VladTV.com, hip-hop producer and emcee Easy Mo Bee (pictured) spoke about working with Miles Davis on the trumpeter's final album Doo-Bop, calling it "the greatest feat of my career." You can check out the whole interview here.

Miles on Monday: 33 1/3 does Bitches Brew, another Memorial Project update, and more

This week in Miles Davis-related news:

* The "33 1/3" series of books, each of which examines an important or historic music album via an extended essay from a single author, is taking on Miles Davis later this year with a volume about Davis' Bitches Brew. The book (pictured), written by George Grella Jr., comes out in October.

* The latest update from the Miles Davis Memorial Project features photos of tradespeople from Walker Masonry placing commemorative bricks and blocks at the statue site on 3rd Street in Alton. Check out the pix on Facebook here.

* As the July 17 release date approaches for the box set collecting Davis' performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport organizers announced that this year's fest on August 1 and 2 will include a series of four seminars about the trumpeter. The fourth and final session on Sunday, August 2 will feature trumpeters Jon Faddis and Randy Sandke and moderator Ashley Kahn celebrating "Miles, Clark Terry & St. Louis Trumpeters" with music and video.

* Impresario and pianist George Wein, who founded the Newport festival and ran it for many years, talked with writer Mike Ragogna of the Huffington Post about his experiences working with Davis.

* Last but not least on the Miles-at-Newport front, the Columbia/Legacy label has released another advance preview track from the upcoming box set, a performance of "Directions" recorded on October 22, 1971 at the festival's iteration in Switzerland. You can hear the track online here.

Miles on Monday: Newport box set, 2015 Miles Davis Jazz Festival previewed, and more

This week for "Miles on Monday," here's the latest in Miles Davis-related news:

* To promote the forthcoming box set of Davis' performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, Legacy Records put out a previously unreleased version of "Stella by Starlight" recorded by the trumpeter's quintet at the 1966 Newport fest. You can hear the track in the YouTube audio embed below.

* In a related development, the release of that 1966 track prompted the ReviveMusic website to compile some other classic Davis performances of “Stella By Starlight.”

* Closer to home, Ken Whiteside, who's involved with both the Miles Davis Jazz Festival and the Miles Davis Memorial Project in Alton, discussed recent developments and previewed this year's festival on an episode of WBGZ's "Let's Talk" program.

* The transitional state of Davis' music at the beginning of the 1960s was examined in the most recent episode of Indiana Public Media's "Night Lights" program, "Miles Between: Miles Davis 1961-1963."

* The effect of racism on Davis' romance with French actress Juliette Greco (pictured, with Davis) was the subject of a story on a recent episode of "Rhythm Planet" from Santa Monica BPR affiliate KCRW.

* In an interview with Los Angeles public TV station KCET, Herbie Hancock spoke briefly about his involvement in Miles Ahead, the upcoming feature film about Davis directed by and starring Don Cheadle.

After the jump, you can hear the Miles Davis Quintet performing "Stella By Starlight" at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival...

Miles on Monday: Memorial Project gets $5,000 gift, Prestige vinyl box set reviewed, and more

For this week's "Miles on Monday," a roundup of recent news items about the legendary trumpeter:

* Miles Davis' use of electric instruments in his band during the late 1960s and early 70s helped spur their adoption by a lot of jazz musicians, and now one might say that electricity is returning the favor.

That's because the Miles Davis Memorial Project announced last week that they've received a $5,000 grant from Ameren Illinois to support their  construction of a plaza and sculpture honoring Miles Davis in downtown Alton. The statue of Davis by sculptor Preston Jackson will be unveiled on September 12.

*  Davis' visit to Scotland in 1990 was recalled by Jim Smith, former director of the Glasgow Jazz Festival.

* The vinyl reissue box set (pictured) of Davis' Prestige 10” LP Collection Volume Two was reviewed at SoundStage! Hi-Fi.

* New England Public Radio spotlighted an infrequently seen video of Davis performing a blues in 1963 on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen.

* A blogger takes another look at bassist/producer Bill Laswell's re-imagining of Davis' music on the remix album Panthalassa.

Miles on Monday: An update from the Miles Davis Memorial Project, vinyl reissue news, and more

This week for "Miles on Monday," another progress report from the Miles Davis Memorial Project, plus some other recent Davis-related news: 

* A new version of the official Miles Davis website, revamped in both appearance and content, debuted last week with "stunning photos, special sections curated by the Miles Davis estate, and many other new features."

* In honor of Davis' birthday last Tuesday and the upcoming release of a box set of his performances from the Newport Jazz Festival, NPR featured a free audio stream of a live version of Davis' quintet playing "Gingerbread Boy," recorded at the 1967 Newport fest.

* Davis' 1986 album Tutu is being reissued on 180 gram vinyl by Rhino Records. The two-LP set (pictured) includes the original album, plus a second disc recorded live in 1986 in Nice, France.

* Victor Svorinich's recent book Listen To This: Miles Davis And Bitches Brew, which takes a highly detailed look at one of Davis' most famous and influential albums, was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Ian Patterson.

* A post on the website of the Royal Albert Hall in London highlights some of Davis' paintings and drawings that will be included in the show of his visual art this month at the RAH. The exhibit also was previewed by the British magazine Jazz Journal.

* Meanwhile, Davis' status as an icon of fashion and style was celebrated with a photo essay on the website of Bevel, a maker of men's shaving products.

* The latest from the Miles Davis Memorial Project is that they're on schedule for the unveiling of the statue of Davis in downtown Alton on Saturday, September 12.  Workers have finished pouring the concrete walkways and footings; the pedestal where the statue of Davis will stand has been placed; and the site is ready for the laying of the personalized commemorative bricks and blocks purchased by the project's supporters.

After the jump, you can see a couple of recent pictures from the site...

Miles on Monday: Date set for unveiling of Miles Davis memorial statue, and more

This week for "Miles on Monday," we've got links to the most recent news about the legendary trumpeter:

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project has announced that the unveiling ceremony for the statute of Davis in downtown Alton, IL will be held on Saturday, September 12.

Construction began on the site on West Third St last month, while sculptor Preston Jackson (pictured) is finishing his work on the statue. StLJN also has learned that trumpeter Kasimu Taylor will perform live at the ceremony, with other details of the unveiling festivities still in the planning stages.

The project committee also has announced that they'll print a limited number of program booklets for the event, with advertising space available at prices ranging from $50 for a business card ad to $200 for a full page. For information or to purchase an ad, call Pride Inc. at 618-467-2375 or email pride at prideincorporated dot org.

* Davis' soundtrack for Louis Malle's 1958 film Elevator to the Gallows was the subject of a post at Open Culture. You can see a brief behind-the-scenes film of Davis working on the soundtrack in the embedded video window below.



* A recent blog post from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis attempts to set the record straight about a 1986 encounter with Davis.

Miles on Monday: Construction begins on Miles Davis Memorial Project, and more

Glen Craig & Erin Davis

Today for "Miles on Monday, " the latest in Miles Davis-related news:

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project in Alton, IL took another step forward last Thursday, as concrete footings were poured for the plaza in downtown Alton that later this year will be the site for a statue of Davis.

* "A Day In The Life of Miles Davis," a show of photos by Glen Craig, opened last week at the Leica Gallery in Los Angeles, and will continue through May 11. You can read an interview with Glen Craig (pictured, with Davis' son Erin Davis) here.

* Saxophonist, arranger and composer Bob Belden and his group Animation offered a 21st century take on some famous Miles Davis music from 1948 for "Birth Of The Cool Reimagined: Celebrating The Royal Roost and Miles Davis," a concert presented on April 10 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in NYC.

* Even without an official release date, Miles Ahead, the feature film about Davis directed by and starring Don Cheadle, has been identified by Esquire magazine as a potential Academy Award contender.

Miles on Monday: Miles Davis Memorial Project breaks ground, and more

If it's the start of another working week, it must be time to compile the latest Miles Davis-related news items:

* In what conceivably could be described - provided that you enjoy puns as much as we do - as a milestone for the endeavor, the Miles Davis Memorial Project has broken ground on the site in downtown Alton, IL that soon will serve as home to a statue of the legendary trumpeter (artist's conception, pictured).

An article with photos of the groundbreaking in Riverbender.com says the project committee has raised $100,000 to date through donations and the sale of commemorative inscribed bricks and granite blocks, and hopes to raise another $20,000 to enable sculptor Preston Jackson to complete his work.

* Meanwhile, Universal Music Group has announced that 26 tracks that Davis recorded for Blue Note, originally issued on 10" records in the 1950s, will be compiled on a new Blu-ray Audio reissue, Take Off: The Complete Blue Note Albums (1951-53).

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the LA Philharmonic's performance last of music from Davis' collaborations with arranger-composer Gil Evans prompted "multiple standing ovations," according to a report from AXS.com. You can read Blanchard's thoughts from before the show in this interview with LA magazine.

Miles on Monday: Memorial statue sculptor to speak at Lewis and Clark CC, and more

This week for "Miles on Monday," we have some recent news items involving the legendary trumpeter:

* Preston Jackson, the sculptor creating the statue for the Miles Davis Memorial Project that will be placed in downtown Alton, IL later this year, will give a presentation for Lewis and Clark Community College’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series at noon this Wednesday, March 25.

Jackson’s talk will give an overview of his work, both sculptures and paintings, and will include photos of the Miles Davis statue in progress. Admission to the event, which will take place at the Hatheway Cultural Center Gallery on the Lewis and Clark campus, is free and open to the public.

* The 1991 Australian drama Dingo, which included Davis' only starring role in a feature film, was the subject of a critical rewatch from The Guardian (UK) critic Luke Buckmaster. The film features Davis as a thinly disguised version of himself named Billy Cross, who serves as a musical idol and touchstone to the story's protagonist, an aspiring jazz trumpeter played by Colin Friels (pictured, with Davis). "It is a deeply rewarding work to revisit. The characters are strong, the dramas feel rich and organic and the music is fantastic," writes Buckmaster.

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard will be the featured soloist in "Miles Davis / Gil Evans: Still Ahead," a program featuring original Evans arrangements from the albums Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain and Miles Ahead  to be presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic next Thursday, April 2 in LA.  

* Via the online 'zine Big O, you can download a recording of an unreleased live set of Davis' sextet performing in November 1970 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. Described as a "very good soundboard" of the show, it was recorded seven months after the release of Bitches Brew by a band featuring Davis with Jack DeJohnette on drums, Michael Henderson on electric bass, Keith Jarrett on electric piano and organ, Gary Bartz on alto and soprano sax, and Airto Moreira on percussion.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project has extended the deadline to Thursday, March 19 to purchase commemorative brick and blocks for paving the plaza around the statue of the trumpeter going up later this year in downtown Alton, IL.

Etched memorial bricks are available for $75, and there also are 23 remaining 12" x 12" granite blocks at $400 each. To order a brick or block, call Pride, Incorporated at 618-467-2375 or visit their website. Orders must be received no later than March 19 so that etching can be completed in time for site construction.

* The Miles Electric Band, assembled by Miles Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn, remembered the iconic trumpeter with a performance last week at Poland's Lotos Jazz Festival.

In addition to Wilburn on drums, the all-star ensemble (pictured) includes Davis alumnus Badal Roy on tabla, John Beasley and Robert Irving III on keyboards, guitarist Blackbyrd McKnight, percussionists Munyungo Jackson and Mino Cinelu, saxophonist Antoine Roney, bassist Richard Patterson, turntablist DJ Logic, trumpeter Christian Scott, and programmer/re-mixer Jeremy Ellis of The Roots. You can see photos from the gig here, along a synopsis of a review from the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, which found in its entirety (in Polish) here.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake's new duet album with bassist William Parker, To Roy, was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Glenn Astarita. To Roy, which pays tribute to the late trumpeter Roy Campbell, and Lake's recent organ quartet release What I Heard also were reviewed by Russ Musto in this month's New York City Jazz Record.

* The Nine Network will present City of Music, a two-hour special broadcast exploring St. Louis' musical history and contributions to American music heritage, in two parts at 7:00 p.m on Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17.  The program features performances by Peter Martin, Denise Thimes, Carolbeth True, Kim Massie, Billy Peek, and the St. Louis Ragtimers, as well as new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound playing three new works commissioned for the occasion by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, all recorded live last October at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will present a five-hour retrospective of the music of John Zorn on Saturday, May 2. The program features ten different ensembles performing works composed by Zorn (who attended Webster University here in the mid-1970s).

* Jazz radio update:  This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson will devote the episode of his program “Somethin’ Else” to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, as interpreted by Miles Davis, Cassandra Wilson, Paul Motian, and others.

Then on "The Jazz Collective,"  Jason Church will spin tracks from Nathan East, Cindy Bradley, Lack of Afro, Brother Strut, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Caldwell, Bill Evans, Hugh Masekela, Traffic, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, Jesse Gannon, Jim Manley and Vincent Varvel.

"Somethin' Else" can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by "The Jazz Collective" at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.