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| "Miles from India: Celebrating the Works of Miles Davis" The Town Hall, Times Square's landmark concert venue, continues its 2008 season with the World Premiere of Miles From India: Celebrating the Works of Miles Davis on Friday, May 9 at 8:00PM. The show features many of the musicians on the new groundbreaking 2-CD set, Miles From India, available April 15 from Times Square Records. The Town Hall's “Miles From India..." show features some of the jazz world's greatest musicians from the US and India, including, Sridhar Parthasarathy (mridangam/kanjira), Kala Ramnath (violin), Ravi Chary (sitar), Gino Banks (percussion), Bob Belden (conductor/arranger) - and the previously announced Ron Carter (bassist), Lenny White (drummer), Wallace Roney (trumpet), Pete Cosey (saxophone), Badal Roy (tabla), Rudresh Mahanthappa (saxophone), Benny Reitveld (electric bass) and Louiz Banks (keyboards). The evening offers audiences a wonderful “passage to India," featuring many Miles Davis alumni and renowned Indian classical and jazz musicians performing stunning reinterpretations of some of his “classics," including: “All Blues," “Spanish Key," “So What," “It's All About Time," and “Jean Pierre." In what's being called a “labor of love," and taking nearly 10 years to complete, this music project comes from the visionary head of Times Square Records, Yusef Gandhi and producer Bob Belden. “Jazz musicians have always listened to Indian music and Indian musicians know jazz," said Gandhi. “Miles Davis incorporated tabla and sitar in (his) recordings, so this seemed like a perfect fit." This kind of East-meets-West, cross-cultural fusion has been going on since the mid- 60s when George Harrison played sitar on The Beatles' “Norwegian Wood," and Brian Jones added the instrument to the Rolling Stones hit, “Paint In Black." In 1971 John McLaughlin investigated South Indian classical music forms on the Mahavishnu Orchestra's debut The Inner Mounting Flame, and Miles Davis did in turn on 1972's On The Corner. Now in this all new concert and CD-set celebrating the music of Miles Davis, both cultures come together for an unforgettable and legendary experience. Called the “Picasso of Jazz," the late Grammy Award winning musician Miles Davis was one of the greatest visionaries and important figures in jazz history. His illustrious career included touring with Billy Eckstine's band, playing trumpet for Charlie Parker's group, credited with creating the “cool jazz" sound, and later fusing rock and jazz to create the “fusion revolution." During his lifetime Davis collaborated with many of the top musicians in the field, including: John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, John McLaughlin, Cannonball Adderly, Chick Corea, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Max Roach, Joe Zawinul, and others. “We're extremely pleased to present the world premiere of this exciting & innovative jazz show celebrating Miles Davis," said Lawrence C. Zucker, The Town Hall Executive & Artistic Director. “As an artist that has performed on The Town Hall stage, it's truly amazing to see the influence he's had and continues to have on jazz musicians and music fans of all ages from all around the world. “ “Miles From India: Celebrating the works of Miles Davis" show is part of The Town Hall Presents 2008 season, a program that includes East Village Opera Company, Tamango's Urban Tap, Klezmatics, The Nuyorican Poets Caf Third Millennium Celebration, Judy Collins and the Broadway By The Year series. Built in 1921 by a group of suffragettes, The Town Hall began as a lecture hall and public forum for debates. Over the decades, the stage has been graced by Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger, Billie Holiday, Igor Stravinsky, Bob Dylan and Miles Davis. Today the hall flourishes as a popular, affordable venue, boasting the hottest acts in rock, pop, folk, cabaret, world music, comedy and dance, including Billy Joel, Blondie, Elvis Costello, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, Liza Minnelli, Cyndi Lauper, Norah Jones, Andre Watts, Henry Rollins, Joe Jackson, Pink Martini, Regina Spector, Bryan Adams, Aimee Mann and Dawn Upshaw. For over a decade, The Town Hall has hosted live broadcasts of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. Over the past two-and-a-half decades, The Town Hall has produced a number of new and critically acclaimed musical series, which include The Century of Change, Not Just Jazz, Broadway By The Year and The Broadway Cabaret Festival. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |