MUMBAI: In a startlingly original recreation of music associated with jazz legend Miles Davis, producer-archivist Bob Belden, renowned for his Grammy Award-winning reissue work on a series of Miles Davis boxed sets for Sony/Columbia, along with co-arranger Louiz Banks (celebrated keyboardist from India), has recast familiar themes from such landmark recordings as “Bitches Brew”, “In A Silent Way”, and “Kind of Blue” with an East Meets West sensibility on Miles…From India. An incredible project involving two dozen musicians from two separate continents recording in studios around the world, Miles…From India is a cross-cultural summit meeting that puts a provocative pan-global spin on such Miles classics as “All Blues”, “Spanish Key”, “So What”, “It s About That Time” and “Jean Pierre”. Sitar and tablas, ghatam and khanjira, mridangam and Carnatic violin blend seamlessly with muted trumpet and saxophones, screaming electric guitar and grooving electric bass lines, piano, upright bass and drums on this profound fusion of Indian classical and American jazz. Recorded in Mumbai and Madras, India and New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the music on Miles…From India was performed by classical and jazz musicians from India with the addition of musicians who have recorded or performed with Miles Davis over the span of five decades.
ARTISTS
The Miles Davis alumni included on the sessions are saxophonists Dave Liebman (1972-74) and Gary Bartz (1970-71), guitarists Mike Stern (1981-84), Pete Cosey (1973-76) and John McLaughlin (1969-72), bassists Ron Carter (1963-69), Michael Henderson- His 2ND Grammy Nomination to date (1970-76), Marcus Miller (1981-1984), Benny Rietveld (1987-91), keyboardists Chick Corea (1968-72), Adam Holzman (1985-87) and Robert Irving III (1980-88), drummers Jimmy Cobb (1958-63), Leon ‘Ndugu’ Chancler (1971), Lenny White (1969) and Vince Wilburn (1981, 1984-1987) and tabla player Badal Roy (1972-3).
Related Post
The Indian contingent is represented by keyboardist Louiz Banks, drummer Gino Banks, American-born alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, sitarist Ravi Chari, Vikku Vinayakram (a charter member of Shakti) on ghatam, V. Selvaganesh (a member of Shakti and Remember Shakti) on khanjira, U. Shrinivas (from Remember Shakti) on electric mandolin, Brij Narain on sarod, Dilshad Khan on sarangi, Sridhar Parthasarathy on mridangam, Taufiq Qureshi and A. Sivamani on percussion, Kala Ramnath on Carnatic violin, Rakesh Chaurasia on flute and Shankar Mahadevan & Sikkil Gurucharan on Indian classical vocals.
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards are scheduled for a “LIVE” Broadcast, on CBS Sunday February 8th, 2009 at The Staples Center, Los Angeles California Check your local listing!
TRACKS
Spanish Key
All Blues
IFE (Fast)
In A Silent Way
It’s About That Time
Jean Pierre
So What
Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
Blue In Green
Great Expectations
IFE (Slow)
Miles From India
