“It is hard to go to a pitch in Hollywood and sit across from a guy who says ‘OK, explain Miles Davis to me,” that was Vince Wilburn Jr. , Miles’ nephew, expressing his unconcealed contempt for the movie business.,”So I stopped going to the pitches because it was personal, I took it personally.”
Vince and his cousin, Miles’ son Erin, were at a CBGBs discussion at the Helen Mills Theatre representing the Davis Estate and explaining how they ended with Don Cheadle as the star and director of the ready to film “Mile’s Ahead” movie. Not a biography as such, the way the two explain it, the movie is a sort of fantasia about a time during his life where Davis stopped making music. The duo are being a little cagey about the movie though somebody does mention a chase scene. After randomly claiming Don Cheadle would be playing Miles in the movie seven years ago at the Rock And roll Hall Of Fame Induction without ever having actually met him, it became a self fulfilling prophecy with crowd funded financing.
There will also be a documentary for the Davis fan who feels any messing with the legend is dubious at best.
Erin and Vince have been working on Davis back catalog of unreleased live music (where jazz lives) and extended box sets with the estimable Sony Legacy since the 1995 Complete Gil Evans and Miles Davis box set. Earlier this year, Miles Davis At The Fillmore, every show from the 1970 stand, was released as part of the Bootleg Series. Which means Erin And Vince spend their days baking tapes (it is what you do to old tapes to preserve them before they turn to dust) and visiting the archives of European governments to find old live recordings.
While this might sound like a somewhat dry occupation, as Vince wryly notes they are not re-releasing Kind Of Blue over and over again. Listening to, say, the Bitches Brew complete recordings, is not only its own reward but sounds like nothing but the most alive music you have ever heard.
The duo are also pushing into the future, 2007’s Carlos Santana and Nas collaboration with vince on Evolution Of The Groove, will soon manifest itself as hip hop meets Miles album. Vince went on the record as stating Davis work will not be associated with gangsta rappers-all the bitch and hos stuff neither, and which right this second might mean Vince and Lecrae are the only two left, still there will be something to show for it. Personally, I would love to hear Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar and Chuck D get to work together with some of Dark Magus. Though really, Miles Davis was so many miles ahead, he doesn’t need to be brought into the future, he is already there.
Sadly, the holy grail of Davis, a collaboration with Jimi Hendrix apparently doesn’t exist. Erin compares himself to Sherlock Holmes in his search but he hasn’t found it yet. What does exist is a Prince and Miles recording which Prince won’t release because he thinks the world will be better served by giving it 3RDEYEDGIRL.
Team Davis attention is currently on the Don Cheadle movie and I would have asked them more about it but hey, former Spin and Vibe Editor-In-Chief and current New York Times writer Alan Light is the one asking the question. Cheadle was so great as Sammy Davis Jr a coupla years ago, you have to believe he can pull this off, though you might not know when it’ll happen.
The cousins are personable guys and both have longstanding careers as jazz musicians, Erin joined his father’s band when he was 14 years old, and Vince was already in it. Vince co-produced the Grammy winning Aura. The story continues.
