Qobuz Live & Rhino Present: MERCI, MILES!: A Discussion Celebrating The Music of Miles Davis from His Final Tour 1991

RSVP HERE to Watch Live at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT on Thursday, 9/23

 

On Thursday, September 23 at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT, Qobuz Live, Qobuz’ weekly livestream series, and Rhino Records will present a panel discussion on the recently released recording of Miles Davis, called Merci, Miles! Live at Vienne, from his final tour in France, on July 1, 1991. Celebrating one of the more overlooked chapters of his legendary career, Merci Miles! Live at Vienne was released this past June from Rhino thirty years after its recording to widespread critical acclaim, and is on sale now. The album features Miles still in top form only three months before his death, drawing on pop and funk music of the day (two originals written for him by Prince!) and leading a youthful, high-powered band.

The panel will focus on Miles’s stellar career, his relationship with France, and the exciting, vital music he was still delivering in the last year of his life. It will include sidemen from that band (keyboardist Deron Johnson and bassist Richard Patterson), current bandleader/drummer of Miles Electric Band and Miles’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr., and French music historians/producers Vincent Bessieres and Florence Joelle. Jazz author Ashley Kahn will moderate. Listen to Merci Miles! Live at Vienne, on Qobuz, the music lovers’ Hi-Res streaming and download platform, HERE.

This in-depth conversation will be streamed live across multiple channels, including Facebook Live, YouTube, and LinkedIn, and be available afterward for on-demand viewing.

RSVP HERE: https://fb.me/e/NssVlXqJ

The discussion will cover how Miles’ journey of musical exploration was still alive and vital in ’91, as well as his lifelong love for France (only days after this concert, Davis received the Legion of Honor award from French culture minister Jack Lang, the highest honor possible in France). The livestream will also incorporate video excerpts from this special concert so viewers can experience it firsthand.

“This Qobuz Live discussion offers a rare opportunity to closely examine a treasure of a performance that helps shine a light on the last chapter of the Miles Davis story,” says Kahn. “That it will include musicians who were on stage that night, and play video excerpts, means we’ll be able to recreate the flavor and spirit of that special evening. Miles was a musical force and an African American icon of strength and authentic expression; this concert shows he still had much to share before he left us.”

“The 1991 Vienne concert can be regarded as a vital and emotional farewell—a final valentine—from Miles to the country that first welcomed him for the free-thinking, creative spirit he was,” writes Kahn in the liner notes to Merci, Miles! He adds that when Miles passed away that September: “In France, he received a hero’s sendoff, his death covered in depth by national and local news outlets alike. ‘Le roi du jazz…’ the newscasters called him. ‘Le roi est mort.’”

  

Stream and download Merci Miles! Live at Vienne on in Hi-Res at Qobuz:

https://open.qobuz.com/album/ioougrwo4adwc

 

About Merci, Miles! Live at Vienne

Produced for release by Florence Joelle Halfon, Ashley Kahn, and Vince Wilburn, Jr.

Executive Producers: Erin Davis, Cheryl Davis, Vince Wilburn, Jr., and Darryl Porter for Miles Davis Properties LLC. Available now from Rhino Records.

By 1991, the world’s most celebrated trumpeter could look back on five decades of musical evolution – his own and that of the world around him. Davis had found ways to marry jazz with classical ideas, then later R&B, rock, and funk, to produce hybrid offspring that shaped the course of popular music and had come to define his legend. Merci, Miles!marks the first release ever of the trumpeter’s performance at Jazz a Vienne on July 1 that year; this previously unreleased set includes two songs written by Prince, “Penetration” and “Jailbait.” The package was co-produced by Miles’ nephew, drummer Vince Wilburn, Jr., and features liner notes from music historian, journalist, and producer Ashley Kahn, with art designed by Bruno Tilley.

 

About Qobuz

Founded in 2007, a pioneer of high-quality sound, Qobuz is the French music streaming and download service that meets the needs of demanding music lovers and audiophiles. Available in 18 countries around the world, in Europe, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Qobuz offers an exceptional range of exclusive editorial content written by a team of experts. With its catalog of more than 70 million tracks, Qobuz also has the richest choice of high-resolution (hi-res) references on the market. Qobuz is the only multi-genre platform to achieve Hi-Res certification – a label awarded by the Japan Audio Society (JAS). For more information, visit www.qobuz.com.

 

About Rhino:

Rhino Entertainment is the catalog development and marketing division of Warner Music Group. Founded in 1978, Rhino continues to set the standard for excellence in the reissue business it pioneered in both the physical and digital worlds with an emphasis on flawless sound quality, bonus tracks, informative liner notes, award-winning creative packaging, and a strong social conscience. Rhino has also expanded the definition of what a catalog music company is, as evidenced by the label’s name and likeness representation deal with Frank Sinatra, its multi-faceted relationship with the Grateful Dead, and releasing new albums by heritage artists such as Jeff Beck and Cyndi Lauper. The catalog of more than 5,000 releases includes material by Led Zeppelin, Eagles, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, The Doors, Chicago, Ray Charles, Black Sabbath, John Coltrane, Yes, Phil Collins, The Ramones, and The Monkees, among many others. www.rhino.com