Miles Davis performed at the Jazz à Vienne Festival in France in July of 1991, just a few months before he died. That set is now being released as an album for the first time.
That month, France celebrated the jazz legend by making him a Knight of its Legion of Honour. The country’s culture minister Jack Lang described Davis as “the Picasso of Jazz.”
The Miles Davis Group then played a concert at Jazz à Vienne, which was captured and is finally being released as Merci Miles! Live at Vienne on June 25 via Rhino Records.
The recording includes some of Davis’s original compositions — two of them taken from his 1989 studio album Amandla — along with renditions of songs by Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper and Davis’s longtime friend Prince.
The collection features liner notes by music historian, journalist and producer Ashley Kahn, along with art designed by Bruno Tilley.
See the full track listing below.
- Hannibal
- Human Nature
- Time After Time
- Penetration
- Wrinkle
- Amandla
- Jailbait
- Untitled Finale