Jazz breaking news: Unreleased Miles Davis Tracks On New Warner Anthology

Years, to be released on 18 October, compiles key recordings from his studio and live albums and previously unreleased studio and live tracks. Davis signed with Warner Bros in 1985 after being with Columbia since the mid-1950s. He made his Warner debut with Tutu in 1986 and went on to record four studio albums for the label, Music From Siesta, Amandla, Dingo, and Doo-Bop, the latter released after he died in 1991, as well as the live recordings, Live Around The World, Miles And Quincy Live At Montreux, and The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux 1973-1991, also released posthumously.

Alongside tracks from these recordings, except Music From Siesta and the Montreux 1973-1991 box set, the anthology includes the Shirley Horn track, ‘You Won’t Forget Me’ that features Miles, three previously unreleased live tracks, ‘Portia’, ‘Carnival’ and ‘Human Nature’, from the 1986 Nice Jazz Festival and two unreleased tracks, ‘Digg That’ and ‘Rubberband’, from the much talked-about Rubberband sessions in 1985, just after he signed to Warner, that featured keyboardist Adam Holzman, Vince Wilburn Jr on drums and Steve Reid on percussion. These tracks were slated to be on the proposed Warner 4-CD box set The Last Word –The Warner Bros. Years, that was dropped from release schedules in 2002 and has failed to reappear. Vince Wilburn Jr and Marcus Miller have contributed liner notes to Perfect Way which was put together in the UK by Warner Jazz’s Florence Halfon.

– Jon Newey