Miles Electric:
The Miles Davis Connection

May 21, 2020 | by Rusty Aceves

Miles Davis

This week's Fridays at Five streaming concert features the Miles Electric project, devoted to the electric music of Miles Davis from the late 60s to the 80s. Here's a preview from the archives that shines a light on the Miles band alumni who performed with the band on that night in June 2016.

The life and music of Miles Davis has never left the popular consciousness, and certainly some part of Davis’ massive influence and pioneering spirit informs the music of every jazz artist who has followed him. With the 2016 release of director and star Don Cheadle’s film Miles Ahead, the mystique of Davis returned, full force, into mainstream pop culture. One of the film’s producers, along with Cheadle himself, is Miles’ nephew and drummer Vincent Wilburn Jr., who appeared as drummer and/or producer on Davis’ 1980s albums The Man with the Horn, Decoy, You’re Under Arrest, and Aura. Wilburn played drums in Davis’ touring band from 1984 through 1987, and formed the Miles Electric project as a tribute to the lasting legacy of his uncle. In addition to trumpeter Sean Jones, saxophonist Antoine Roney, and others, Miles Electric features several former Davis band members and collaborators. Here's a closer look at them.

Keyboardist Robert Irving III was brought to Davis’ attention through Wilburn, and beginning with Davis’ 1981 comeback release The Man with the Horn, became one of the trumpeter’s trusted collaborators. He co-wrote and arranged the album’s title cut, and returned to contribute compositions, arrange, and co-produce Davis’ 1984 follow-up Decoy and 1985’s You’re Under Arrest. Irving toured with Davis as Musical Director for five years, and remained close with him until his death in 1991.

Like Irving, Darryl Jones joined Davis’ band in 1983 on recommendation from Wilburn, and played bass onDecoy and You’re Under Arrest, touring extensively with Davis before leaving in 1985 to work with Sting for his Dream of the Blue Turtles album and tour. Jones returned to play with Davis the following year, performing with him until 1988. Jones has collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Madonna, and Eric Clapton, and since 1994 has been a member of the Rolling Stones. 

Darryl “Munyungo” Jackson is one of the most prolific percussionists in contemporary music. He toured the world with Davis’ band in 1989, appearing on the live records Live Around the World and The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux, and performed with him on the The Arsenio Hall Show. Jackson has gone on to work with Quincy Jones, the Pointer Sisters, and Stevie Wonder. 

Guitarist Dewayne “BlackByrd” McKnight toured and recorded with Herbie Hancock, and was a member of the legendary jazz/funk Headhunters band when they split from Hancock to work as an independent group. McKnight toured with Davis in 1986, and has long been associated with George Clinton’s Parliament/Funkadelic project.

Originally posted June 3, 2016