Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings are headed to Newport with Miles Davis.  The Friday, July 17 release of Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 chronicles the evolution of Davis' style as it treks from 1955 to 1975 with live performances from the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island as well as New York City, Berlin, and Switzerland.  The set arrives sixty years to the day of the first performance it includes (July 17, 1955) and just before this summer's annual Fest, to be held on July 31-August 2.

Miles Davis at Newport follows the 2014 Bootleg Series release of Miles at the Fillmore, and is the first volume in the series to stretch back to the 1950s.  It features 296 minutes of music, nearly four hours of which is previously unreleased, and spans the period between the trumpet legend's Newport Jazz Festival debut to his final public performance of the 1970s (at New York's Lincoln Center).  The Kind of Blue-era sextet and Second Great Quintet line-ups are both represented.

Davis tackles familiar compositions including "Round Midnight," "Straight No Chaser," "Bye Bye Blackbird," "Footprints," "So What," "Seven Steps to Heaven," "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down." "Bitches Brew" and "It's About That Time," along with later, untitled and more free-form musical explorations.  Davis was joined at these various performances by a "Who's Who" of jazz including Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk and Zoot Sims (1955); Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb (1958); Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams (1966, 1967); Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette (1969);  and Keith Jarrett and  Gary Bartz (1971) as well as by R&B/jazz greats like Michael Henderson and James Mtume (1971, 1973, 1975) and Reggie Lucas (1973, 1975).  You'll find full personnel below.  The complete Miles Davis at Newport 1958, first released by Columbia in 1964, is of course included in its entirety.

This year's Newport Jazz Festival will reflect on the Miles Davis legacy via a number of panel discussions held in conjunction with Davis' estate and curated by historian Ashley Kahn.  There will be a playback session of music from this upcoming collection; in addition, artists Chris Botti, Peter Evans, Jon Faddis, Tom Harrell, Arturo Sandoval and Bria Skonberg will all include one Miles Davis number in their sets.

Produced by Richard Seidel and Michael Cuscuna with co-producer Steve Berkowitz, this set features all original recordings produced by George Wein of the Newport Jazz Festival as mastered by Mark Wilder and Maria Triana at Sony's Battery Studios.   (An interview with Wein, who at the age of 89 still runs the Newport Jazz Festival, can be viewed here.)

Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 arrives in stores from Columbia and Legacy on July 17!  It can be pre-ordered at the links below!

Miles Davis, Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy 88875081952, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

1. Spoken Introductions by Duke Ellington and Gerry Mulligan
2. Hackensack
3. 'Round Midnight (previously released)
4. Now's the Time
5. Spoken Introduction by Willis Conover (previously released)
6. Ah-Leu-Cha (previously released)
7. Straight No Chaser (previously released)
8. Fran-Dance (previously released)
9. Two Bass Hit (previously released)
10. Bye Bye Blackbird (previously released)
11. The Theme (previously released)

Tracks 1-4 from July 17, 1955, Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI
Featuring Davis (trumpet), Zoot Sims (tenor saxophone), Gerry Mulligan (baritone saxophone), Thelonious Monk (piano), Percy Heath (bass), Connie Kay (drums)

Tracks 5-11 from July 3, 1958, Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI previously released on At Newport 1958, Columbia, 1964
Featuring Davis (trumpet), Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone), John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums)

CD 2

1. Gingerbread Boy
2. All Blues
3. Stella by Starlight
4. J.
5. Seven Steps to Heaven
6. The Theme/Closing Announcement by Leonard Feather
7. Spoken Introduction by Del Shields
8. Gingerbread Boy
9. Footprints
10. 'Round Midnight
11. So What
12. The Theme
13. Closing Announcement by Del Shields

Tracks 1-6 from July 4, 1966, Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI
Tracks 7-13 from July 2, 1967, Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI

All selections featuring Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums)

CD 3

1. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (previously released)
2. Sanctuary (previously released)
3. It's About That Time/The Theme (previously released)
4. Band Warming Up/Voiceover Introduction
5. Turnaroundphrase
6. Tune In
7. Ife
8. Untitled Original
9. Tune In 5
10. Mtume

Tracks 1-3 from July 5, 1969, Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI
Featuring Davis (trumpet), Chick Corea (electric piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums)

Tracks 4-9 from November 1, 1973, Newport Jazz Festival in Europe, Berlin
Featuring Davis (trumpet/organ), Dave Liebman (soprano and tenor saxophones), Pete Cosey (guitar/percussion), Reggie Lucas (guitar), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Al Foster (drums), James Mtume Forman (percussion)

Track 10 from July 1, 1975, Newport Jazz Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY
Featuring Davis (trumpet/organ), Sam Morrison (soprano and tenor saxophones), Pete Cosey (guitar/percussion), Reggie Lucas (guitar), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Al Foster (drums), James Mtume Forman (percussion)

CD 4

1. Directions
2. What I Say
3. Sanctuary
4. It's About the Time
5. Bitches Brew
6. Funky Tonk
7. Sanctuary

All tracks from October 22, 1971, Newport Jazz Festival in Europe, Neue Stadthalle, Dietikon, Switzerland
Featuring Davis (trumpet), Gary Bartz (soprano and alto saxophones), Keith Jarrett (electric piano/organ), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Ndugu Leon Chancler (drums), Don Alias (percussion), James Mtume Forman (percussion)