The Cal Poly Humboldt Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre presents Milestones: The Music of Miles Davis, a concert by the Cal Poly Humboldt Jazz Orchestra. Celebrate the legacy of Miles Davis on the occasion of the centennial of his birth on May 9 at 7:30 pm at the Fulkerson Recital Hall. The Jazz Orchestra will perform music from all stages of Miles' lengthy and varied career. Miles Davis is widely considered to be the most important figure in jazz in the second half of the 20th century, having been a part of the bebop revolution in the mid and late 1940s, and playing vital roles in virtually all styles of jazz to emerge since then, including cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, post-bop and fusion.

The program for the evening includes performances from every stage of Miles’ career.

"Donna Lee" was one of Miles' first compositions, written while he was performing in the band of bebop giant Charlie Parker. The Jazz Orchestra is playing the arrangement of "Donna Lee" that Gil Evans wrote in 1947 for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. When Evans asked Davis for permission to arrange "Donna Lee", it was the beginning of a relationship that would last for over 40 years and result in such classic albums as Miles Ahead, Porgy & Bess, and Sketches of Spain. All of those albums were arranged by Evans and featured Davis as soloist. As was typical of the Thornhill band, Evans' arrangement of "Donna Lee" utilized such unconventional (for jazz) instruments as French horn and tuba.

"Boplicity" was composed by Miles and arranged by Evans for the Miles Davis Nonet, aka "The Birth of the Cool Band." The recordings made by the Miles Davis Nonet in 1949 and 1950 were little-noticed at the time of their release but are recognized today as the foundational documents of cool jazz. Soloists on this are Angelo Bernardi on trumpet and Hance Tietjens on bari sax.

"Walkin'" was recorded by Miles in a sextet version in 1954 and is considered to be one of the first recordings in the hard bop style, which brought the influence of blues, R&B, and gospel back to jazz after the intellectual complexities of bebop and cool jazz. The Jazz Orchestra will perform a big band arrangement of "Walkin'" written by band leader Dan Aldag. It will feature solos by Matt Bellistri on trumpet, Raymond Endert on trombone, and Mathias Severn on tenor sax.

Miles Davis's group of the mid and late 1950s is known today as the First Great Miles Davis Quintet. They were inspired in part by the Ahmad Jamal Trio's unique approach to small-group jazz, and Miles during this era recorded several tunes written by or associated with Jamal, including "Ahmad's Blues". The Jazz Orchestra is playing a big band arrangement of it written by Tom Garling and it will feature solos by Silas Bohen on piano, Tyler Endsley on bass, Nate Heron on trombone and Mathias Severn on tenor sax.

In 1957, Davis renewed his partnership with the arranger Gil Evans on the album MIles Ahead, which featured large jazz ensemble arrangements by Evans with Miles as the only soloist. From that recording, the Jazz Orchestra will play "My Ship". It will feature Jazz Orchestra alum Andrew Henderson on flugelhorn.

The next year, Davis added alto saxist Cannonball Adderley to his First Great Quintet and they became the Miles Davis Sextet. With that group, Miles wrote and recorded one of the first modal jazz tunes, "Milestones." Modal jazz tunes are based on a small number of modes, or scales, rather than a rapidly changing series of chords, which was the norm in jazz up to that point. The composer, arranger, and bandleader Gerald Wilson wrote a big band arrangement of "Milestones" in the early 1960s, which the Jazz Orchestra will play, featuring solos by Silas Bohen, Riley Baker on trumpet, True Laboissonniere on alto sax, Lily Storseth on trombone, and Dylan Westfall on guitar.

In 1959, the Sextet recorded the landmark album Kind of Blue, one of the most influential and beloved recordings in the history of jazz. From that album, the Jazz Orchestra will play "All Blues", in an arrangement by Chuck Israels. It has orchestrations of both MIles' and Bill Evans' solos on the recording and will also include solos by True Laboissonniere and Mathias Severn.

The early 1960s is an-often ignored period of Miles' career because it came in between his First Great Quintet of the late 1950s and the Second Great Quintet of the second half of the 1960s, but there is some great music and performances from this era, including "Seven Steps To Heaven", credited to Davis and Victor Feldman. Mike Tomaro wrote the big band arrangement that the Jazz Orchestra will play. It features solos by Via Storms on drums, Hayden Hickcox on trumpet, and Mathias Severn.

The Second Great Miles Davis Quintet featured several young jazz innovators of the era, including Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. Much of the music for that group was written by the tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, including "Footprints", performed by the Jazz Orchestra in another Mike Tomaro arrangement. It will feature solos by Matt Bellistri, Mathias Severn, and Raymond Endert.

Miles revolutionized jazz once more in the late 1960s and 70s with his turn to electric instruments and music influenced by blues, funk, and rock, a style which became known as fusion. From the ground-breaking album Bitches Brew, the Jazz Orchestra will play "Spanish Key", arranged for big band by Charles Pillow. It will include solos by True Laboissonniere and Angelo Bernardi.

Health issues caused Miles Davis to take a hiatus from performing and recording for several years in the late 70s, but he made a much-heralded comeback in 1980. Ever artistically restless, Miles was now recording music influenced by the pop music of the time. In 1986, bassist and producer Marcus Miller wrote an entire album for Davis entitled Tutu, which found Miles working with new technologies of the era like sampling and drum loops. The Jazz Orchestra will perform the title track from that album in an arrangement by Michael Philip Mossman. It will feature trumpeter Andrew Reynolds and True Laboissonniere.

Whether you are a jazz enthusiast or just want to experience a lifetime of work from one of America’s greatest composers and performers, you will be sure to love this evening of music by Miles Davis performed by the Cal Poly Humboldt Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dan Aldag.

When: May 9th at 7:30pm

Where: Fulkerson Recital Hall

Price: $15 General, $5 Children and FREE for Humboldt Students w/ID

Ticket Purchase: tickets.humboldt.edu/dance-music-and-theatre

Contact: Cal Poly Humboldt School of Dance, Music, and Theatre, 707-826-3566, mus@humboldt.edu