Jazz fans, brace yourselves – a new record from Miles Davis is coming. Well, it's not exactly new; it was recorded over 30 years ago. The year was 1985, Davis had established himself as jazz royalty following his 1959 release Kind Of Blue and he made the rogue decision to move from Columbia Records to Warner Bros. One of his first compositions under the new label was Rubberband. The cultural shift in the Eighties had a mega impact on his writing process and this recording supposedly introduced funk and soul grooves to his music. Sounds pretty pioneering, right? So why on earth has it taken over 30 years for it to be scheduled for release?
The reason is simple: the album was shelved. The demand for Davis was high and he became more occupied with a new recording, Tutu. So Rubberband was put to one side, as were the plans to feature powerhouse vocalists Al Jarreau and Chaka Khan across the record. But every composition from Miles Davis was a pure piece of art, so this session had to be salvaged. His producers at the time – Randy Hall and Attala Zane Giles – are the men who have made that happen, recently finishing the record with Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, who played drums on the initial creations in 1985. Together, they're making sure that the legendary composer is remembered and lauded for his work.
The album, comprising 12 tracks in total, has been injected with some modern touches. Vocals from acclaimed US singers Lalah Hathaway (daughter of soul legend Donny Hathaway) and the 12-time Grammy-nominated Ledisi have been layered over Davis' trumpet and keyboard sessions. A few songs were actually teased last year on Record Store Day, and even then it was safe to say that the EP boasted some seriously radical material. With the full length LP now looming, intriguing titles such as "Paradise", "Maze" and "I Love What We Make Together" have got us raring for this long overdue release.
It might be 28 years since the death of Miles Davis, but he's still blessing us with damn good music. We predict, anyway. The cover art for Rubberband is actually one of Davis' original paintings, a striking mixture of burning hues that sits somewhere in the middle of African tribal art and Picasso's "Guernica". Often referenced as "the lost Miles Davis album", Rubberband's imminent release is set to fill the ears of jazz enthusiasts with some fresh melodic juice. We're kicking off the countdown now.
Rubberband is out on 6 September.
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