APPLETON, WIS. — The Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble (LUJE) and Jazz Band present “Miles Ahead: 50th Anniversary Celebration” at 8:00 p.m. Friday, March 2 in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.
Under the direction of Fred Sturm, director of jazz and improvisational music at Lawrence, the Jazz Ensemble recreates the historic 1957 Miles Davis recording Miles Ahead: Miles + 19, regaled as one of the landmark large ensemble recordings of the 20th century. Lawrence trumpet professor John Daniel appears as guest soloist and performs the Davis solo role on the 10 selections from the album. Nick Keelan, associate professor of music at Lawrence, conducts the Jazz Band’s opening set of six renowned Davis compositions.
“Jazz historians point to three great collaborations between jazz and popular music artists and arrangers: Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle, and Miles Davis and Gil Evans,” Sturm noted. “Between 1957 and 1960, trumpeter Davis and arranger Evans collaborated in the creation of three remarkable jazz recordings, and Miles Ahead is the finest.”
“Evans was Davis’ closest friend and musical mentor, and Davis was the ideal artistic interpreter of Evans’ finest works,” said Sturm. “Though Ellington had composed works to feature specific soloists, Miles Ahead was the first concept album developed around the sound and character of the soloist, not the composer.”
“The colors in this music are extraordinary,” Sturm explained. “In contrast to the five-saxophone front line of the swing era big band, Evans employed a mixture of flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet in the reed section. Two French horns and tuba were added to the brass section. The two-piece rhythm section of drums and bass eliminated piano and guitar from the arrangements. New York’s finest jazz studio players were engaged to record the original sessions, providing us with great performance models.”
“I’ve conducted Miles Ahead with pro bands in New York, Germany, and Denmark,” said Sturm, “and every occasion has generated new discoveries in these magnificent scores. Miles Ahead represents the pinnacle in the art of jazz composition and arranging.”
The two-set performance is free and open to the public.
