HO– — USED IN AN ACTUAL TRUMPET CASE!

AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY at GeniusOfMilesDavis.com for $1199.00; pre-order now for September 14, 2010 delivery date

NEW YORK, July 27 /PRNewswire/ — The consummate artistry of Miles Davis and the scope of his musical vision at Columbia Records is paid the ultimate tribute on The Genius of Miles Davis.
 For the first time, this new collection brings together the eight
deluxe multi-CD box sets that were known as The Miles Davis Series.
 Each volume – seven of which have collectible “metal spines” – explored
a major phase of the artist’s development from 1955 (Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961) through 1975 (The Complete On The Corner Sessions).
 Each volume presented the music from  various LPs, plus a wealth of
previously unissued session material.  The eight box sets, totaling 43
CDs of music, were originally released on Columbia/Legacy between 1996 and 2007, and won a total of eight Grammy Awards.  

Several of the original
box sets have sold out over the years, and have now been
re-manufactured especially for this strictly limited-edition run of
2,000 copies of The Genius of Miles Davis.  Presented in a replica of Miles’ own trumpet case (21½” x 11″ x 8″), a collectible objet d’art
in and of itself, each package will include a number of extras: an
exact replica of Miles’ custom-made ‘Gustat’ Heim model 2 trumpet
mouthpiece, a previously unseen and unavailable fine art lithograph by
Miles, and a boutique quality t-shirt designed and manufactured
exclusively by Trunk Ltd. for this package.

Weighing in at 21 pounds and individually numbered, The Genius of Miles Davis  is destined to be a treasure in the hands of true Miles Davis aficionados.  A D2C (Direct to Consumer) exclusive via GeniusOfMilesDavis.com, it is now available for pre-order at $1199.00 in advance of its September 14th release through Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

[Note: The Genius of Miles Davis
includes the eight studio session box sets that encompass the bulk of
his original studio albums from the ’50s to the ’70s.  It does not
include the various Columbia/Legacy live performance multi-CD box sets, for example The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, released in 1995; or The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, released in 2005.]

The signing of Miles Davis
to Columbia Records made musical history in 1955.  He continued to make
musical history for decades to come, changing the course of jazz (and
in the process, popular and avant garde music) “four or five
times,” as he himself once quipped.  There were important albums under
his name in the late-1940s and ’50s before his arrival at Columbia, and there were also notable albums after his years at Columbia, from 1986 until his death in 1991.  

But Columbia Records
became the repository of the overwhelming majority of the signature
albums recorded by Miles in his lifetime, many of them with long-time
producer and collaborator Teo Macero.  These individual albums were gathered together in their entirety for the first time last year as The Complete Miles Davis Columbia Album Collection.
 A functional chest with removable lid housed the 52 single and double
album titles (70 CDs of music in total), each packaged in a mini-LP CD
cardboard replica of the original jacket, with original artwork and
spine.

The Genius of Miles Davis
is also the result of a unique collaborative partnership effort between
the Miles Davis Estate and Sony Music, which includes the redesign of
the MilesDavis.com
website.  It is now the first unified and regularly updated site
highlighting all aspects of his life.  The dynamic web environment is
not specific to Columbia/Legacy and
Sony Music, in that it will cover product releases by other companies as
well.  The website, featuring news and vital information, video
content, merchandise, and exclusive photography, will also offer special
daily and weekly deals.  

The Genius of Miles Davis
draws together more than a decade of studio archival research by jazz
scholars, annotators, and reissue producers.  Each of the box sets in
The Miles Davis Series was anxiously greeted with raves by the critical
establishment upon their release, and more than half of the box sets
received at least one Grammy Award, some winning multiple Grammys.  They
are summarized as follows (in chronological order of the original
music, not the Columbia/Legacy release dates):

Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961:
This 6-CD box set (released in 2000) won two Grammy Awards, Best Boxed
Recording Package and Best Album Notes.  Focus is on the evolution of
Miles’ so-called “first great quintet,” comprising John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums), with important contributions by Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone), Bill Evans (piano), Wynton Kelly (piano), and Jimmy Cobb‘Round About Midnight, Milestones, Jazz Track, Kind Of Blue, Someday My Prince Will Come, Miles & Monk At Newport, Jazz At the Plaza, and much more.   (drums) – these sessions encompass the music for the LPs

Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings: The inaugural entry in The Miles Davis Series,
this 6-CD box set (released in 1996) won three Grammy Awards, Best
Historical Album, Best Album Notes, and Best Recording Package (Boxed),
only the second time in Grammy history that was ever achieved.  The
partnership with Gil Evans spanned 1957 to 1968, and encompassed the music for the LPs Miles Ahead, Porgy And Bess, Sketches Of Spain, and Quiet Nights, but there is much more to be heard here.

Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis (1963-1964):
This 7-CD box set (released in 2004) explores Miles’ slow and careful
development of his so-called “second great quintet,” whose rhythm
section comprised Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums).  Saxophonist George Coleman is heard on most of the music for the LPs Seven Steps To Heaven, Quiet Nights, Miles Davis In Europe, My Funny Valentine, and Four & More; and Sam Rivers joined for Miles In Tokyo.  But it is not until the final CD’s Miles In Berlin that Wayne Shorter enters the picture and the classic quintet’s lineup was finalized.

Miles Davis Quintet 1965-’68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings: Actually the second entry in The Miles Davis Series,
this 6-CD box set (released in 1998) won the Grammy Award for Best
Album Notes.  The “second great quintet” of Shorter, Hancock, Carter,
and Williams remains an all-time jazz standard, as heard on the music
for the LPs E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and Miles in the Sky, plus about half of Filles De Kilimanjaro and Water Babies.

The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions: This 3-CD box set (released in 2001) covers less than six months from September 1968 to February 1969.
 But it is one of the most critical periods in Miles’ career, as he
transitions away from the “second great quintet” of Shorter, Hancock,
Carter, and Williams.  They are all here, to be sure, on the rest of the
music from Filles De Kilimanjaro and Water Babies recorded in September and November.  But by the time the In A Silent Way LP came into being, the picture had changed to include Chick Corea (electric piano), Joe Zawinul (organ and electric piano), Dave Holland (bass), and most significantly, John McLaughlin (electric guitar).

The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions: The third entry in The Miles Davis Series,
this 4-CD box set (released in 1998) won the Grammy Award for Best
Boxed Recording Package, as it reprised the memorable cover art of the
late Mati Klarwein.  Again covering less than six months time – from August 1969 (the week after Woodstock) through February 1970 – this is when the influence of Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, James Brown, Santana, and Marvin Gaye,
as well as the Beatles’ post-production editing pyrotechnics all came
together for Miles.  To his new quintet lineup of Shorter, Corea,
Holland and Jack DeJohnette (drums), Miles often augmented the sessions with a dozen other players, among them: McLaughlin, Zawinul, Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), Harvey Brooks (electric bass), Lenny White (drums), Don Alias
(congas), and so on. The result was one of the greatest albums of
Miles’ career, and one of the most influential records in post-modern
jazz and rock.

The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions: This 5-CD box set (released in 2003) won the Grammy Award for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package.  The Bitches Brew dates ended on February 6, 1970;
these dates continue 12 days later and span less than four months
through June.  The difference is the greater role of McLaughlin (joined
by ‘free jazz’ guitarist Sonny Sharrock), and the fiercer edginess of the music.  The back-story was the contention for Muhammad Ali‘s heavyweight boxing title, and actor James Earl Jones‘ portrayal of turn-of-the-century black boxing champ Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope (on Broadway and on film).  All this was on Miles’ mind in 1970, a year before Shaft ushered in a new breed of African-American hero.

The Complete On The Corner Sessions: This 6-CD box set (released in 2007) is the final entry in The Miles Davis Series
and is also the latest chronologically.  It jumps ahead two years to
1972, by which time the quintet lineups were a thing of the past, and
Miles had transitioned into the funk-rock-influenced large-group that
would define his style for the next two decades.  The sessions are
chronicled through mid-1975, and encompass the music of the LPs On The Corner (1972), Big Fun (1974), and Get Up With It (1974), although more than half the music on the box set was previously unissued at the time of its release three years ago.

Printed on the t-shirt included inside THE GENIUS OF MILES DAVIS
is this quotation: “I can’t play like anyone else, I can’t fight like
anyone else, I can’t do ANYTHING like anyone else. I’m just myself.” – MILES DAVIS.
 Over the course of these eight box sets and 43 remarkable CDs, his
music is, indeed, like nothing else – but its haunting, turbulent,
fearless, visionary, multi-faceted self.

Legacy Recordings