Merci Miles! Live at Vienne

2021 live album by Miles Davis
Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
Live album by
Miles Davis
ReleasedJune 25, 2021
RecordedJuly 1, 1991
VenueJazz à Vienne, Vienne, France
GenreJazz
Length80:21
Label
  • Rhino
  • Warner
Producer
  • Ashley Kahn
  • Florence Joelle Halfon
  • Vince Wilburn, Jr.
Miles Davis chronology
Rubberband
(2019) 		Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
(2021) 		Turnaround
(2023)
Miles Davis live chronology
Miles in Paris
(1989) 		Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
(1991) 		Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux
(1991)

Merci Miles! Live at Vienne is a live album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, released on Rhino and Warner Records in 2021. It was recorded in 1991 at the Jazz à Vienne festival.[1]

The album was released as part of Rhino's celebration of Black Music Month.[2][3]

Recording

The album was recorded at the Théâtre antique de Vienne on July 1, 1991, the opening night of the Jazz à Vienne festival.[4] The set included interpretations of songs by pop musicians Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and Prince. Davis died less than three months later, making this one of his final live performances.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
All About Jazz[1]

Reviews for the album have been largely positive. Writing for AllMusic, Thom Jurek noted "While none of this music is revelatory, it is intuitive and energetic," and described Davis's playing as "surprisingly muscular" despite the proximity to his death.[5] Tom Moon considered it a quality late-era performance in Davis's career, writing "Where some late Davis performances tended to wander, this one is all show-biz discipline" in his JazzTimes review.[6] In All About Jazz, Ian Patterson noted problems with the sound quality and mixing, but compared Davis's "brooding, melancholy and quite gorgeous" phrasing positively to his performance on Ascenseur pour l'échafaud.[1]

Track listing

Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hannibal"Marcus Miller15:58
2."Human Nature"18:10
3."Time After Time"10:16
4."Penetration"Prince9:10
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wrinkle"
8:35
2."Amandla"Marcus Miller6:08
3."Jailbait"Prince5:55
4."Finale (Band Only)"Ricky Wellman6:09

Personnel

Credits taken from the album's liner notes.[7]

  • Miles Davis – trumpet
  • Kenny Garrett – saxophone
  • Deron Johnson – keyboard
  • Foley – lead bass
  • Richard Patterson – bass
  • Ricky Wellman – drums

Charts

Chart performance for Merci Miles! Live at Vienne
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8] 131
French Albums (SNEP)[9] 99
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 72
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[11] 34
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 25

References

  1. ^ a b c Patterson, Ian (28 October 2021). "Miles Davis: Merci Miles! Live At Vienne". All About Jazz. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  2. ^ Yoo, Noah. "One of Miles Davis' Final Live Performances Is Being Released for the First Time". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Album of the Day: Merci Miles! Live at Vienne!". Rhino. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Programmation Jazz à Vienne de 1980 à 2019" (PDF). Jazz à Vienne. p. 22. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Jurek, Thom. "Merci Miles! [Live at Vienne]". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  6. ^ Moon, Tom. "Miles Davis: Merci Miles! Live at Vienne (Rhino)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  7. ^ Merci Miles! Live at Vienne (Media notes). Warner Records/Rhino. 603497844616/R2 653962.
  8. ^ "Ultratop.be – Miles Davis – Merci Miles! Live at Vienne" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Lescharts.com – Miles Davis – Merci Miles! Live at Vienne". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Miles Davis – Merci Miles! Live at Vienne" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Miles Davis – Merci Miles! Live at Vienne". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Miles Davis – Merci Miles! Live at Vienne". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
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