Ten years ago, Warner Bros was set to release a Miles Davis boxed set, The Last Word, which chronicled the music recorded by Miles during the last six years of his life. But The Last Word – planned as a 6-CD and then a 4-CD release – never appeared, and this 5-CD set is the nearest thing yet to that abandoned project – although with some major differences in musical content. Inside this stylish package, put together by Warner Music France, are the albums Tutu, Amandla, Doo-Bop, Miles And Quincy Live at Montreux, and Live Around The World in their entirety, plus selected tracks from Dingo and Siesta. The fifth disc, “Rarities And Studio Guest Appearances,” includes Miles’ musical collaborations with Cameo, Chaka Khan, Scritti Politti, Shirley Horn, Marcus Miller and others, although two of the best collaborations – with Toto and Paolo Rustichelli – are missing.

Miles fans who already own the albums will be disappointed by the rarities content, which consists of just four studio tracks, two of which have previously appeared on the superb Warner UK originated Perfect Way 2-CD anthology – The Last Word had more than a dozen new tracks from a much wider range of sources. ‘Rubberband’ and ‘See I See’ are from the fabled Rubberband sessions, while ‘Maze’ is a 9-minute funk workout with a band that includes guitarist Mike Stern and saxophonist Bob Berg. The fourth track, ‘Digg That’ is an outtake from the Amandla period. One suspects that the lack of rarities is due to issues around clearance rights, because so much more material is available, such as: additional studio recordings (including more Rubberband tracks); 12-inch remixes (like ‘Full Nelson’ and ‘Blow’), a handful of tunes composed by Prince, plus numerous live concerts, including the memorable 1991 Paris show, which saw Miles reunited with old musical associates like, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin and Herbie Hancock. As writer Ashley Kahn says in his liner notes, this is an overdue look at the unfairly overlooked final chapter of Miles’ music. But let’s hope it’s not the last word on Miles’ association with Warner Bros.