I’ve had the good fortune to witness Miles Davis at various stages in live performance beginning in 1963 at the Brown Theater in Louisville, Kentucky with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Hank Mobley; 1964 Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, George Coleman, Ron Carter; 1971 at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto – Bitches Brew era with Chick Corea/Keith Jarrett keys, Miroslav Vitous bass, Jack DeJohnette drums, John McLaughlin guitar and a final performance in 1987 at Roy Thomson Hall with Bob Berg, Robert Irving lll, Rodney Jones and company. Each appearance registered as a statement of possibilities. Where can we go from here?

Davis, when asked why he did not repeat the early glory days, those Prestige recordings with John Coltrane, he reminded the questioner he had already done that.

A Miles record was unlike all others. You had the right to like or dislike but not the authority to question the motive behind each transitional project. It was producer Teo Macero who guided Miles into the realm of electronics during the Bitches Brew sessions. It was Miles who listened intently to the outside world - rhythm and blues bands like The Electric Flag and married the underlying pulse with future explorations.
Miles to Go is not a tribute but an organic creation beginning with a rhythm loop crafted and passed my way by Jesse King, who also plays bass, drums, guitar and percussion. I added keyboard Rhodes, clarinet, strings and scripted a melody. Then it hit me, Miles 1985.

1985 - I am beginning my first days of radio at Q-107 – Sunday mornings - Q-Jazz in Toronto. All kinds of music are flying my way, from Montreal’s UZEB, Vancouver’s Shadowfax, John Scofield, Kenny Garrett, and others, then Miles covers of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature’ arrive. Where did this come from, I asked myself? I then got it. Miles had big listening ears and recognized radio-friendly songs that had character and a lasting vibe of which he could toy with the melody in much the same manner as the 1937 Rogers & Hart jazz standard “My Funny Valentine” recorded in concert 1964. That breathy Harmon mute, the empathy and his melodic pace.

The mind began spinning, and I remembered how much I appreciated and admired Cuban-born Alexis Baro’s extensive knowledge of music eras from bop to pop. 2001 was the first time the two of us teamed up for a rousing rendition of Chuck Higgin’s “Pachuko Hop” with the Saturday Nite Fish Fry. Alexis brought those soaring high notes you hear on so many Cuban salsa and son recordings. Fast-forward 19 years later, its 2020, and Miles to Go is about reaching deep into African American jazz history and the muted tenderness of Miles Davis. Baro scores!