MILES DAVIS THE COMPLETE ON THE CORNER SESSIONS DELUXE 6-CD ‘METAL-SPINE’ BOX SET CONTAINS MORE THAN 6 HOURS OF MUSIC – COVERING 16 SESSIONS FROM ON THE CORNER (1972), BIG FUN, AND GET UP WITH IT (1974) 12 PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED TRACKS PLUS FIVE TRACKS PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED IN FULL – MORE THAN TWO HOURS OF “NEW” MUSIC Musicians joining Miles in ever-changing session lineups include: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Mtume, Michael Henderson, Al Foster, Dave Liebman, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Hart, Carlos Garnett, Bennie Maupin, Lonnie Liston Smith, Reggie Lucas, Pete Cosey, Sonny Fortune, and many others 120-page full-color booklet includes liner notes essays by Grammy-winning producer Bob Belden, journalist Tom Terrell, and acclaimed arranger and composer Paul Buckmaster, close friend and collaborator with Miles Plus: Dozens of rare photographs, and new illustrations by original On The Corner LP cover artist Cortez ‘Corky’ McCoy Final entry in 8-time Grammy-winning Miles Davis Series of ‘metal-spine’ multi-CD box sets, arrives in stores September 25, 2007, on Columbia/Legacy “…it was the Stockhausen which so totally caught his attention that he placed that disc on the auto-changer, and, since he had had speakers installed throughout his house, had Gruppen playing, loud, over and over again. At one point, he had me turn the record over and play, repeatedly, Mixtur. This music filled his house for the better part of the day, and also on other subsequent days. He obtained a cassette copy of Stockhausen’s Hymnen, and found that piece most intriguing. I saw in fact that he had that cassette in his Lamborghini Miura…” – from the liner notes written by Paul Buckmaster “A dense, shape-shifting matrix of wah-wah trumpet, distorted electric guitars, pixilated sitar drones, boombapping drums/tic-tic-tic-ticking hi- hat, congas/tablas stuttering in 3/4-to-4/4-to-7/4-15/8 time, handclaps- bells, squirrelly-chirpy woodwinds, sci-fi keyboards, bubbling/burbling funk bass and a very tenacious whistler (‘woooo-woo-woo-woo-woo’) aurally manipulated ’n’ trombipulated by Teo Macero to a near- hallucinogenic state of rhythm trance satori, On The Corner was so one- giant-step-for-mankind future perfect, it was its own genre.” – from the liner notes written by Tom Terrell “Teo would change the shape of the music with simple things; starting the edit early, giving the impression of some odd-metered phrase; looping solo phrases so that one would feel the presence of melody; and creating a 45- rpm single that was edited from the master differently from the LP. That so many important remix producers consider this recording to be ahead of its time speaks well for the enduring charm of Miles Davis, but more for the innovative production methods of Teo Macero.” – from the liner notes written by Bob Belden For Miles Davis (1926-1991), the period of musical development that took place in his career from 1972 to 1975 represented a profound new direction – his immersion into the improvisational funk that virtually dominated his music for the rest of his life. The band that he assembled and the music that he created over the course those four springs and four summers were a revolution in thought and sound, played out over the course of three back-to-back albums on Columbia Records: the clarion call-to-arms of On The Corner (October 1972), followed by the expanded-length double-LP sets Big Fun (April 1974) and Get Up With It (November 1974). As with every phase of Miles’ tenure at Columbia for the previous two decades (since his signing to the company and first recordings for the label in 1955), the music contained on those three albums was a small fraction of his total output at Studio B on West 52nd Street. For the first time, the full panorama of sessions that took place from 1972 to ’75 – including over six and a half hours of music with 12 previously unissued tracks and another five tracks that are previously unissued in full – has been gathered together on MILES DAVIS: THE COMPLETE ON THE CORNER SESSIONS. The deluxe 6-CD ‘metal-spine’ box set is housed in a slipcase featuring the familiar playful street-scene cover illustration – with sculpted, embossed characters – by original artist Cortez ‘Corky’ McCoy, who has also rendered new illustrations for the package. Containing a 120-page full-color booklet, THE COMPLETE ON THE CORNER SESSIONS will arrive in stores September 25th as the final entry in the critically acclaimed Miles Davis Series on Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. In addition to the usual painstakingly annotated sessionographies, discographic and personnel data compiled by box set producers Bob Belden and Michael Cuscuna, the booklet features three liner notes writers. The focal 2,200-word historic essay was written by Washington, D.C.-based journalist-photographer Tom Terrell, a frequent contributor to Global Rhythm, Vibe, Essence, Jazziz, and other publications, and annotator of more than 60 albums. A second essay of 2,300 words, “Remembering Miles And On The Corner,” was written by acclaimed British arranger-conductor and cellist Paul Buckmaster, and is his first foray into album liner notes. Best known for his work with Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Carly Simon, and literally hundreds of other artists over the past four decades, it was Buckmaster who turned-on Miles in 1969 to the tape manipulation of post-war avant-garde electronic composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. The seismic effect that this had on Miles’ studio creativity, starting with Bitches Brew, cannot be over-emphasized. Box set co-producer Bob Belden, who has won three Grammy Awards for his work on the Miles Davis Series, has written the introduction to the booklet. He also closes the booklet with an appreciation of Miles’ long-time producer Teo Macero. “He brought to jazz a higher standard of what sounded good and what didn’t,” Belden writes of Teo. “Columbia meant ‘first class’ and Teo delivered the goods with an uncanny sense of daring and the belief that whatever he thinks is right, is right. Years from now, students of music will be able to take courses on the productions of Teo Macero.” In the context of the great Miles Davis discography on Columbia Records, the creation of On The Corner in 1972 follows the February-June 1970 sessions that produced 1971’s A Tribute To Jack Johnson and Live-Evil LPs. Though some 18 musicians participated in those sessions, the core lineup consisted of Miles on trumpet, Keith Jarrett on electric piano, a saxophonist (Dave Liebman or Gary Bartz), a guitarist (Sonny Sharrock or guest John McLaughlin), electric bassist Dave Holland (replaced in April by 19-year old Michael Henderson, straight out of Detroit, and Stevie Wonder’s Motown backup group), drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionist Airto Moreira. It was that lineup (with Henderson and McLaughlin) which can be heard on the revelatory 6-CD box set of 2005, The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, recorded at the Washington, D.C. club the week before Christmas. Constant touring occupied Miles through most of 1971 as his performances “moved closer and closer to the funk based sound of James Brown and Sly Stone,” Belden writes. “The musical continuity that had begun with Coltrane ended with Jarrett and David Liebman. There would no longer be a majority of musicians within the band who had strong musical ties to the Davis tradition.” With Henderson at his side, Miles undertook a great deal of experimentation as 1972 began. On June 1st, the first session took place yielding music that would be used for On The Corner, the four-part 20-minute variation-on-a-theme of “On The Corner/ New York Girl/Thinkin’ One Thing And Doin’ Another/Vote For Miles” and take 2 of “Black Satin.” Session records list 12 players at the date: Miles Davis (trumpet), Dave Liebman (soprano sax), Chick Corea (synthesizer), Herbie Hancock (electric piano), Harold Ivory Williams (organ), John McLaughlin (guitar), Colin Walcott (electric sitar), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Don Alias (congas), Badal Roy (tablas), Billy Hart (wood block, cowbell, percussion). The session also produced two versions of “On The Corner” that have been previously unissued in full until now. The next session took place quickly, on June 6th, with small variations in the lineup: Carlos Garnett (tenor sax, soprano sax) and Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), and McLaughlin replaced by Dave Creamer. This session produced the other two tracks that would be used for On The Corner, “One And One” and the 23-minute “Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X.” The session also produced versions of both that have been previously unissued in full until now. The On The Corner LP was released with “On The Corner/New York Girl/Thinkin’ One Thing And Doin’ Another/Vote For Miles” and “Black Satin” on side one; and “One And One” and “Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X” on side two. It was the beginning of a three-year campaign that encompassed another 13 sessions, and (along with the aforementioned June 1972 crew) a kaleidoscopic array of musicians: young James ‘Mtume’ Heath (son of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and nephew of Modern Jazz Quartet bassist Percy Heath), guitarists Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey (who also played drums!), Lonnie Liston Smith (electric piano), Al Foster (drums), Cedric Lawson (organ and electric piano), Khalil Balakrishna (electric sitar), and saxophonists Sonny Fortune and John Stubblefield. Critical reaction to Miles’ new direction was never unanimous at the time – “newly converted Davis fans” (as Belden describes the younger rock audience) and the black music audience that had been following Miles both accepted every move of his favorably.