There are comebacks, and then there are comebacks. Thirty-four years ago, in June 1981, Miles Davis staged a memorable comeback performance in Boston that ended five years of self-imposed silence. The four-night barrage stood the jazz world on its ear, and although the music was formidable, what made it all so head-turning was that it was such an event.
We Want Miles, Columbia LP C2 38005; Miles Davis, 1981, photo by Paul Natkin
Miles had been out of the public eye for five years, enduring physical maladies and having little desire to play. But he was ready to go again in 1981, and his group had just recorded a new album, The Man With the Horn, and he was going to play at the Kool Jazz Festival in New York in early July. But Davis wanted a tune-up first, and he wanted to do it in a club. So Davis contacted Fred Taylor, for whom he had worked more than ten times at the Jazz Workshop or Paul’s Mall between 1967 and 1977. Simply put, Miles Davis trusted Taylor.
Although Taylor was out of the nightclub business—he was running the Harvard Square Theater at the time—he knew of a 400-seat club that might work for Davis, on the edge of Kenmore Square, called Kix. It was a disco in a converted garage that formerly housed a rock venue called the Psychedelic Supermarket. Taylor booked it for four nights in June, the 26th through the 29th.
Taylor hired Sue Auclair to manage the publicity, and news of the upcoming shows was made public in mid June… Miles Davis in Boston for four nights… two shows per night… ticket price $12.50. The news created a tidal wave of interest, and media people from as far away as Japan turned up in Boston for the opening. Meanwhile, Auclair recruited Boston mayor Kevin White to issue a proclamation declaring the four days in June to be Miles Davis Weekend.
On opening night, Miles drove to the club in his yellow Ferrari, accompanied by his wife-to-be, actress Cicely Tyson. There was Miles, now with a mustache and beard, stylish as always in a black jump suit… and the place went crazy, with chants of “We want Miles!”
Inside, Kix was electric with anticipation, and Miles stepped on stage to a sustained standing ovation. These were the first public performances for this new band, some of whom were virtual unknowns. With Miles were Bill Evans, soprano saxophone; Marcus Miller, electric bass; Mike Stern, electric guitar; Al Foster, drums; and Mino Cinelu, percussion. Miles chose to work without a keyboardist this time around.
The Boston Globe review the next day was unabashedly positive. “Last night Miles Davis gave solid evidence that he was back to stay, that the chops are still as impressive as ever and the famed mystique has not dimmed an iota… Davis alternated brooding, elongated lines with brief, swinging interludes. Evans, on soprano, was superb and the group interplay seemed contagious, taking its lead from Davis who, despite five years of inactivity, was playing with seasoned assuredness as he continually inserted pauses like a nervous suitor.”
Mike Stern was the sideman best known to Boston. He studied at Berklee and worked around town in the mid-1970s; he was a regular at Michael’s Jazz Club, and a member of Tiger Okoshi’s group, Tiger’s Baku. Stern told writer George Cole for his book, The Last Miles: “Kix was perfect and the audience was just ready to enjoy it and they did! It was the kind of band where we got off on the energy of it.”
It was Boston’s good fortune that Miles Davis played his comeback engagement here. A lengthy interview by Ernie Santosuosso was published in the Globe on July 5. Santuosso asked why Davis chose Boston. Said Davis, “’Cause I love Boston. I just happen to have a thing with Boston. Every time I have a new band and a good band, I just come to Boston. Also, I wouldn’t do it for anybody else but Freddie Taylor. I like Boston people. It isn’t a question of how many jazz clubs you have here. It’s the attitude of the students. The students are thinking, you know what I mean? They are not afraid to look beyond today’s music or anything else.”
The double album We Want Miles includes music recorded at Kix and in Japan in October 1981. “Back Seat Betty” was one of the tunes played at Kix, and here is a version of it recorded in London in 1982 with the same band.
Another tune played at Kix was a reworking of “My Man’s Gone Now,” which Miles Davis first recorded with Gil Evans on the Porgy and Bess album. Here it is, played in London.
My husband and I were at one of the shows. I took photos from the stairs at the side of the stage. Miles was wearing a white jumpsuit. The show was amazing!
It’s great that you got in close enough to take some photos. Are any of them viewable online anywhere?
The first London show, however, had the band in great form but Miles was ailing. Apparently with the third show Miles was in great form but his band not quite so much.
Just came across this great piece. I was also at the Miles show at Kix! Pretty sure it was the first night. Our tix were for the first show. But we just didn’t want to leave, so my husband and I snuck in to the respective rest rooms, and got perfect seats for the second show. It was a night to remember!
I like it. I wonder if your hide-in-the-closet method would work at the Regattabar…assuming that one of these weeks they’ll reopen the Regattabar…
I worked at Kix as well during that time with Cosmo the DJ, Sid at the bar, Marie the waitress, and Rodney, Richie, Danny the Owner, Luis, etc….. It was a really cool time. I worked the door and the bar and wherever else I was needed. Lots of fun….
I attended the Saturday June 27th show, the only time I ever saw him. The atmosphere standing in line on that beautiful summer evening was absolutely electric, one of joyous anticipation. Everyone realized what a happening this was, and that fans throughout the world would love to be in our position, about to witness the comeback of the great Miles Davis after a five-year hiatus. How lucky were we?
Miles certainly was into performing that night. I was surprised at how animated he was, playing and moving around the stage with a vigorous energy that was contrary to everything I’d ever heard about him. In his dark jumpsuit and unabashed energetic demeanor, I found it impossible to take my eyes off him. He was transfixing… absolutely transfixing. He left no doubt that he was happy to be there and the audience responded in kind. It all went by in a flash and I soon found myself back in the warm night air. There was a dream-like quality to the whole experience: had I really just seen Miles Davis… THE Miles Davis?
Thanks for contributing this great eyewitness account. It really was an event to remember.
As a Berklee student in 80-82 I attended a Miles concert in Boston. I believe it was a hotel near or in Government Center. I am curious when that was and what the venue was called. It was a huge ballroom and I recall speaking with the sound engineer at the board in the back regarding how he was running FX on Bill Evan’s soprano sax. Thanks in advance!
Skip
Skip, the show was in the ballroom at the Hotel Bradford on Tremont Street. Miles, Evans, and co. were there twice, in Nov 1981 and in April 1982. Coincidentally, I’m working on a blog post about the jazz history of the Bradford — not much there lately, but it was a busy place from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Thank you Mr. Vacca for providing a perfect forum to share my Fred Taylor/Miles Davis
tome ????
My pleasure! Love to hear about your days at WILD some time.
My friend Riv invited me to the opening show. Miles moved slowly around the stage, but his horn alternated between thick potent streams of energy, and more meditative strings that faded off. The time passed quickly, and I couldn’t believe when it was over. Became a lifelong fan thanks to the trance Miles laid down that night.
I was personally invited to attend the Miles Davis performance at the Kix Club on Saturday night (June 27th) by Lady Cicely Tyson herself. Exactly seven years prior, give or take a month or two, I had been honored to conduct an in-person interview for my radio show (Open I’m verse) on WILD with Lady Tyson at Harvard University.
Having lived literally around the corner from Paul’s Mall and The Jazz Workshop on Hereford Street, the great maestro Fred Taylor had been party to arranging interviews with numerous musical artists during my run as a radio magazine talk show host, Les McCann, Johnny Nash, Donald Byrd, Bobby Blue Bland, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Herbie Hancock, to name a few.
After experiencing the amazing virtuoso genius of The Prince of Darkness on stage, the Kix Club had transformed into a virtual chamber of electricity and pandemonium.
Then,to create an unimaginable lifetime memory, Lady Tyson orchestrated a personal introduction back stage with Mr. Davis only moments before she and Miles peeled off in a flash in a gleaming metallic yellow Ferrari.
Two national treasures, two mega-stars, two completely different personalities, WOW! The whole evening that glorious summer night was psychedelic soul to the extreme, I WILL NEVER FORGET !!!
What a great story! Thanks for stopping by to share it.
An unforgettable experience attending those shows. I was 19, studying at the conservatory, and happened to work weekends at the Nickelodeon movie theater next door to Kix. That was how I scored the tickets…two single tickets, two nights in a row. I went alone. It was packed; Miles played most of the first show with his back to the audience and Cicely Tyson was sitting in the front row. Mike Stern on guitar, Marcus Miller on bass, Al Foster on drums. A beautiful version of my “My Man’s Gone Now”. What a glorious memory.
And yes, I also remember the yellow Ferrari in the parking lot!
I was the owner of Kix at the time of Miles performed.
It was outrageous!! The place was packed. Shortly after Boston University bought the building and my lease not renewed. The good ole days.
Definitely like to hear more about the Miles gig from your perspective!
It was a yellow Ferrari!
Sue would know — she was the publicist for the event at Kix. Thanks for dropping by!
I was at Miles’ Central Park show in September 1975, his last public appearance before the five year hiatus. Are you aware of any reviews of this show? I would love to compare them to my recollection of this event. The story I have been telling for years is that Miles barely played at all, just doodled a few notes into the floor at the back of the stage and then walked off. Even the guys in the band didn’t know what was happening and, when it became apparent that Miles wasn’t coming back, they too left the stage one by one — except the drummer who saw his moment and seized it! I have never been big on extended drum solos and I suspect a lot of others feel the same but under the circumstances this drummer (who???) played to a very appreciative audience and left to a standing ovation! The whole set only lasted maybe 20 minutes. At least that is the way I remember it. II would be curious to see if any published reviews bear out that this happened more or less as I’ve described it.
Thanks for your comment, Doug. I’m not a Miles scholar, so I don’t know of much being written about that Central Park show. John S Wilson wrote a short review on Sep 7, 1975 in the NY Times, “Miles Davis Leaves Them Limp, Waiting for More at Park.” But I don’t find anything among the usual suspects—Whitney Balliett in the New Yorker or Down Beat’s “Caught in the Act” section.
I was there too! What I also remember as well as the music was Miles’ silver two seat convertible parked out front. Not sure of the make or model, French or Italian Sports car. Jaguar maybe ? It drew as big a crowd outside as Miles and the band did inside!
It was a Ferrari, Steve. According to George Cole, in The Last Miles, Davis bought the car to celebrate his comeback. He made a point of driving it to Kix every night even though he was staying at the hotel across the street on Comm Ave, the one where the Starlight Roof was. “A little showbiz don’t hurt sometimes,” Davis said.