The name Miles Davis is inseparably linked to albums like "Bitches Brew" or "Kind Of Blue". In his highly innovative oeuvre, the stylistically open jazz trumpeter reinvented himself time and again. Naturally, he did not always meet the expectations placed in him. 34 years after the recording and 28 years after Davis' death his album "Rubberband" is now released, which stylistically sits between all chairs and to which you can dance damn well.
Miles Davis was obsessed with success. In 1968 at the latest, the world of jazz became too small for him. With his album classic "Bitches Brew" he emulated Sly & The Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin in 1970. But that wasn't enough for him either. After a creative break from 1975 to 1981 he returned with a much more pop sound. Michael Jackson set the tone in the meantime, and his 1982 album "Thriller" also set new standards for Miles Davis. In 1985, after decades of collaboration with the label CBS, the trumpet player moved to Warner, where he hoped for more acceptance on the pop market.
"I lived with Uncle Miles in Malibu," recalls Vince Wilburn Jr., nephew, drummer and executor of Miles Davis. "At the time, he had MTV all the time, but mostly without sound. Only when he was interested in a band did he turn on the sound. Usually he then asked the respective record company to send him the record in question. This happened with Scritti Politti, Cameo, Toto, Mr. Mister - this kind of groups with typical 80s sound. And he loved Prince. I played in a band with Randy Hall. Uncle Miles called Randy and said he wanted a pop hit like the bands on MTV. That's how the Rubber Band sessions came about. I was hired to buy electronic drums for it. He loved that sound."
Apparently, everything went wonderfully well during the recordings. According to producer Randy Hall, Miles Davis was in a great mood: "We had a lot of fun. It was a creative explosion. Miles had just married Cicely Tyson, he was physically in good shape and played incredibly. In 1980 I had recorded his comeback album 'The Man With The Horn'. The title song successfully brought Miles to local radio for the first time. I had written the song for him together with Bobby Irving. When he switched from CBS to Warner, he asked me to produce it because he was hoping for similar results. He just wanted to sell records. That's how the recording of 'Rubberband' started."
