On the Corner Box Set coming in September

On September 18, 2007, Columbia/Legacy will release the six-disc box set The Complete On the Corner Sessions by Miles Davis. This set will chronicle the creation of music which was made during 1972. Music from these sessions appeared on the Davis albums On the Corner, Big Fun, and Get Up With It.

On the Corner is still highly controversial today, more than thirty years after its release. This music is what eventualy influenced the first turntablists and mixers who created what would become hip-hop music. Jazz critics have always reserved a special hatred for the album. Once the music on this box set was in the can, Miles practially stopped recording, concentrating on bringing his Afro-centric funk/electronic noise to live audiences. While these performances were documented in the Japanese (and evenutally, U.S.) releases Pangea and Agharta, they were sparsely recorded. Davis' live band, consisting of Davis, Michael Henderson, Al Foster, Mtume, Reggie Lucas, and Dominique Gaumont, augmented with Pete Cosey and Sonny Fortune did cut new material for Get Up With It, but overall, the music here was Miles' final grand studio statement of the 1970s.

Disc 1:
1 On the Corner [unedited master]
2 On the Corner [take four]
3 One and One [unedited master]
4 Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X [unedited master]
5 Jabali

Disc 2:
1 Ife
2 Chieftain
3 Rated X
4 Turnaround
5 U-Turnaround

Disc 3:
1 Billy Preston
2 The Hen
3 Big Fun/Holly-wuud [take 2]
4 Big Fun/Holly-wuud [take 3]
5 Peace
6 Mr. Foster

Disc 4:
1 Calypso Frelimo
2 He Loved Him Madly

Disc 5:
1 Maiysha
2 Mtume
3 Mtume [take 11]
4 Hip-Skip
5 What They Do
6 Minnie

Disc 6:
1 Red China Blues
2 On the Corner/New York Girl/Thinkin' of One Thing and Doin' Another/Vote for Miles
3 Black Satin
4 One and One
5 Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X
6 Big Fun
7 Holly-wuud

Bassist Art Davis dies at age 73

Bassist Art Davis has passed away at the age of 73. Davis was perhaps best known as a bassist with John Coltrane on the albums "Ascension," "Africa Brass Sessions" and "Ole Coltrane." Davis also played with many other jazz and popular music greats, including Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Rhasaan Roland Kirk, Judy Garland, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Bob Dylan.

Also a classical bassist, Mr. Davis filed lawsuit in the early 1970s against the New York Philharmonic alleging discrimination in hiring. The lawsuit was unsuccessful, and Davis was effectively blacklisted for nearly 10 years afterward. This prompted Davis to return to school, graduating with a doctorate in clinical psychology from New York University in 1981. Davis continued to work as a musician while practicing psychology.

Davis died of a heart attack in his Long Beach home, according to his son Kimaili Davis.