Last Call celebrates the music of Miles Davis in an new way this month..

Miles from India is not another Miles Davis album.

Jazz fans may presume that the arrival of the two-disc set is reason to anticipate more previously unreleased material from the late legendary trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and jazz pioneer. But that is not the case.

Instead, the disc set is a complete surprise-material composed or performed by Miles Davis during his career, from the 50s to the 80s, given fresh new arrangement and interpretation.

The 2-disc set is billed as “a cross-cultural celebration of the music of Miles Davis by India’s Foremost Musicians collaborating with the legendary musicians who comprised the various Miles Davis bands over the years”.

The Indian subcontinent is represented with many lead players including Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto saxophone, Louiz Banks on keyboards, Gino Banks on drums, Vikku Vinayakram on ghatam, Ravi Chary on sitar, and others.

The record also includes many of the famous Miles Davis band alumni including Gary Bartz on alto saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, David Liebman on flute, Jimmy Cobb on drums, Chick Corea on piano and Adam Holzman on keyboards.

Unlike many recordings where the musicians are in the same studio, the Indian musicians recorded their parts first. Later, Miles Davis alumni musicians responded to these previously recorded tracks with inspired performances.

Bob Belden produced Miles from India. The project was successfully compiled using state of the art computer file sharing technology that allowed Belden and his production staff to avoid the prohibitive costs of flying artists from around the world to one location.

Highlights of the 2-disc set include a remarkable rendition of “So What” given Indian vocal percussion, a poignant reading of “Orange Lady” within a brooding and intense “Great Expectations”, as well as very satisfying renditions of “All Blues”, “So What”, “In A Silent Way”, “Spanish Key”, and the Miles Davis 80s’ gem “Jean Pierre”.

Music from Miles from India will be presented throughout the month of July on the Last Call.

-Chris Cooke

For more information visit the Last Call webpage at kios.org