Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire’s star has been rising steadily in the jazz world since the release earlier this year of his debut disc on the Blue Note label, When the Heart Emerges Glistening. With that in mind, it’s hardly shocking that Akinmusire (pictured above) has been tapped to for the lead role of sorts in a soon-to-be-touring multi-media production titled The Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959.

A collaborative effort between CAMI Music, Miles Davis Properties and Blue Note Records, The Miles Davis Experience will chronologically cover Miles’ career from the release of Birth of the Cool in 1949 to the release of Kind of Blue a decade later. The show will feature iconic images from that decade brought together by Beat poet-style narrator and actor Donald Lacy. Akinmusire will be joined by his working quintet: tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, pianist Sam Harris, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Justin Brown. The U.S. tour will run from September 28 to November 20, 2011 (see itinerary below). If all goes as planned, these performances will reintroduce Miles to old fans and give a new generation a more complete understanding of jazz and Miles’ influence on today’s popular music.

Tour dates for Miles Davis Experience: 1949-1959

September 28 Englert Theatre Iowa City, IA

September 30 Yardley Hall – Carlsen Center Overland Park, KS

October 1 Tryon Festival Theatre Urbana, IL

October 2 Mcaninch Arts Center /College Of Du Page Glen Ellyn, IL

October 4 Stem Concert Hall New Albany, IN

October 5 Templeton – Blackburn Alumni Memorial Aud. Athen, OH

October 6 Midland Theatre Newark, OH

October 7 Emens Auditorium Muncie, IN

October 8 Kuttemperoor Auditorium Brookfield, WI

October 9 Stephens Auditorium Ames, IA

October 11 Capitol Theater Madison, WI

October 14 Mesa Arts Center Repertory Theater Mesa, AZ

October 16 Poway Center For The Performing Arts Poway, CA

October 17 Centennial Hall Tucson, AZ

October 18 Folsom Lake College Performing Arts Center Theater Folsom, CA

October 19 Uptown Theatre Napa, CA

October 20 Lancaster Performing Arts Center Lancaster, CA

October 21 Samueli Theater Costa Mesa, CA

October 23 Valley Performing Arts Center – Great Hall Northridge, CA

October 25 Sunset Theatre Carmel, CA

October 26 Craterian Theater Medford, OR

October 27 Tower Theatre Bend, OR

October 28 Washington Center For The Performing Arts Olympia, WA

October 29 Mount Baker Theatre Bellingham, WA

October 30 Columbia Theater Longview, WA

November 1 Bass Concert Hall – University Of Texas @Austin Austin, TX

November 3 Miller Outdoor Theatre Houston, TX

November 4 Hammerson Hall Mississauga, ON

November 5 Community Theatre Morristown, NJ

November 6 Strand Theatre York, PA

November 8 American Theatre Hampton, VA

November 10 Grand Opera House Wilmington, DE

November 11 Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts Fairfield, CT

November 12 Pollak Theatre West Long Brach,NJ

November 13 Center For The Arts Concert Hall Fairfax, VA

November 15 Western Carolina University Pac – Concert Hall Cullowhee, NC

November 16 MSU Riley Center Grand Opera House Meridian, MS

November 17 Hodgson Hall – University Of Georgia Athens, GA

November 18 Curtis M. Phillips Performing Arts Center Gainesville, FL

November 19 Ferguson Hall Tampa, FL

November 20 Lyric Theatre Stuart, FL

(Editor’s note: Frequent JAZZIZ contributor Steve Futterman spent the 4th of July weekend at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. We asked him to share his thoughts and experiences. Here they are.)

Whoever coined the phrase “wither into truth” was definitely on to something. On July 4th, Marianne Faithfull demonstrated that with the proper emotional force and theatrical gravitas, a singer can triumph using the barest of vocal tools. There’s not much of a voice left — in fact, Faithfull was never really much of a singer to begin with. She was always all about style, even from the early “As Tears Go By” era. By now, you can hear every second of her up-and-down-and-up life in her raw-toned voice and the result is devastating in its unaffected power. Faithfull isn’t a jazz singer and never has claimed to be, but it’s impossible to not to be reminded of Billie Holliday in her “Lady in Satin” late period when the British songstress sings. A similar naked force can be heard from both classic vocalists, both at a point when their vocal equipment was at best serviceable. For me, a similar cut-to-the-bone strength can be felt in the final work of saxophonists Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. It’s not always pretty, but it is always real. And when you’re confronted with true artistry, that’s as real as it gets.

The B-52s (pictured above) were given pride of place on the final night of the festivities, putting a sweet ribbon on the gift box that was the 2011 Montreal International Jazz Festival. Never much a fan, I was delighted by the sheer intensity and frivolity of their free performance on the main Place des Arts stage. After 30-plus years of music making, these New Wave pioneers know just how to work a crowd. I had little doubt they could whip up some fun, but I had no idea how distinctive and inventive they were as a vocal unit and how, with the support of a superb touring drummer and bassist, they could turn in a smashingly tight and rocking performance. After an encore of “Planet Claire” and — you guessed it — “Rock Lobster,” the band exited to tumultuous cheers and fireworks.

It’s difficult not to over-praise the whole Montreal shebang. It features an unpretentious vibe, spectacular music — much of it free of charge — and precision organization that might take on a fascistic tinge in other cities yet was just another case of service with a smile here. I miss it all already.

(Editor’s note: Frequent JAZZIZ contributor Steve Futterman spent the 4th of July weekend at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. We asked him to share his thoughts and experiences. Here they are.)

What is it about the sight of a beautifully designed and meticulously constructed guitar that makes a man’s heart beat faster? Maybe it’s a guy thing. Or at least a guy like me, raised on rock ’n’ roll and blues-rock, whose earliest musical heroes were Clapton and Hendrix.

For that kind of guy, entering a room with hundreds of stunning instruments can be plenty exciting. And judging from the many six-string aficionados similarly drooling at the Salon de Guitare de Montreal, I knew fellow brothers surrounded me. A prized adjunct to the jazz festival, The Salon, now in its fifth year, is a three-day
affair that brings together scores of luthiers from around the world, each displaying prize examples of their work. Marvelous electric and acoustic instruments (with a smattering of basses) are there to be played or merely gawked at. All of these devoted craftspeople are obviously phenomenally skilled and highly imaginative, but some stars stand out in the crowd. It’s hard to miss the work of Linda Manzer, the genius who designed and built the 42-string Pikasso guitar, most famously employed by Pat Metheny. There was a lovely sense of reverence for both the instruments and their makers that permeated the two exhibition rooms. Truly, it was an amazing display of expertise and vision in the service of music.

By nightfall I needed to hear some serious axe grinding, and I found it in the form of Nina Attal (pictured above), a comely 19-year old Canadian singer and guitarist previously unknown to me. Moving like Madonna, singing like a soul diva and playing like Robin Trower, Attal won over the crowd with two sets of original tunes that freely blended pop, rock, R&B and blues. With energy borne of age and ambition, she relentlessly pushed herself and her tight five-piece unit, yet the result appeared as if she was having nothing but fun in the process. Ah, youth …

Attal and Gizelle Smith, a young British R&B singer with an old-school vibe who took firm control of the huge Place de Arts performance space, were just two examples of the loose stylistic parameters of this “jazz” festival. In truth, it’s a proudly eclectic affair that finds room for a welcome variety of sounds. More power to its inclusive nature. —Steve Futterman

(Editor’s note: Frequent JAZZIZ contributor Steve Futterman spent the 4th of July weekend at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. We asked him to share his thoughts and experiences. Here they are.)

At the Montreal International Jazz Festival, you enter an alternate universe where music is free, the food is great, and the sets start exactly on time. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. If I exaggerate about the costs (yes, there’s plenty of excellent free shows, but the A-list events can be costly), the grub and the organizational skills behind this mammoth festival are first-rate.

This is my third time here, which makes me a mere novice — most writers I know register their visits in the double digits. And who could blame them for wanting to spend quality time in this lovely city, basking in the pleasures of a truly civilized musical extravaganza. On my first day here, the festival is so far living up to all my memories and expectations.

Not that I had time to catch much after a day of travel. But what I did catch was pretty grand. I didn’t know much about the singer Susie Arioli (pictured above) except that for all the respect that she garners in Canada, she hasn’t caught on below the border. At the first set of her free performance in front of a huge and enthusiastic crowd who had gathered at the Place des Festivals area, Arioli came prepared to swing and she did.

If the fare was comfortably familiar (“Blue Skies,” “Out of Nowhere,” “The Way You Look Tonight”), Arioli nonetheless dug in deep, her rhythm as steady as her tone was sweet. She also made sure that variety was introduced through changes in the instrumental configuration of her accompanying septet. On a few numbers she handled the percussive end, keeping a swinging beat on a standup snare which she played while singing (ever see another jazz chanteuse do that?); on a few intimate songs she was supported by just bass and the agile guitar of longtime partner Jordan Officer; on others, the full contingent of three horns, two guitars, bass and drums kicked her joyfully into overdrive. Smart and fun, Arioli won me over. —Steve Futterman

In the next few weeks, saxophonist Steve Wilson will be firmly set in tribute mode. On December 10, he’ll join Jon Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble as a guest artist in the Windy City’s Harris Hall for a concert honoring the 50th anniversaries of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps and Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come. A day before that show, along with Faddis and fellow guest artist David Sánchez, Wilson will conduct a workshop at Columbia College of Chicago.A week after his Chicago gig, Wilson, recently nominated as “Alto Player of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association, will convene with his Steve Wilson Ensemble at Manhattan’s Jazz Standard for a four-night stand, during which the group will reprise last year’s one-off tribute to Joe Zawinul. From December 17-20, the saxman and his cohorts – Jeremy Pelt, Danny Grissett, Ugonna Okegwo and Lewis Nash – will showcase music from early Zawinul records The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream (1965) and Money In the Pocket (1966), along with a few hits from the late pianist’s days with Cannonball Adderley.

For more information, go to www.stevewilsonmusic.com and www.jazzstandard.net.