The centenary of the birth of Miles Davis will be on 26 May 2026, and Columbia/Legacy Recordings/Sony are making some of the first manoeuvres – others listed below.
The label will be releasing “The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965” on vinyl (10 LPs) and CD (8 CDs) For First Time in 30 Years on 30 January 2026 “Seven hours of music, new packaging, liner notes, and archival photos”
Quoting the release: “The most requested Miles Davis reissue arrives for his centennial in spectacular style. What began as a holiday residency at Chicago’s Plugged Nickel Café became the crucible where the Second Great Quintet forged its identity. Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams delivered a masterclass in risk and invention, dismantling familiar tunes and rebuilding them on the fly.
“Producer Teo Macero captured every note across seven sets on December 22 and 23, 1965. Portions trickled out in the ’70s and ’80s, but only in the early ’90s did Legacy reveal the full scope across seven and half hours of revelatory music—instantly hailed as one of the greatest live jazz recordings ever and earning the Penguin Jazz Guide’s coveted “Crown.”
“Now, 30 years later and six decades after the shows themselves, veteran fans finally get the reissue they’ve demanded, and new fans get a chance to own one of the most mythologized live engagements in jazz history. This new 8CD edition mirrors the original sequence. Each CD comes in its own newly-designed mini gatefold jacket, housed in a gold foil-embossed slipcase box. The 44 page perfect bound book includes rare Plugged Nickel photos and extensive new liner notes and track-by-track commentary by Syd Schwartz alongside Bob Blumenthal’s original essay.”
There is also an early pre-release of a section of the set next month (awaiting link) “As a preview of the larger collection, a standalone 2LP set, Live At The Plugged Nickel: December 23, 1965 – Second Set, will be released for Record Store Day Black Friday on November 28.” (CD6 below)
OTHER ACTIVITIES ANNOUNCED FOR THE CENTENNIAL
(please add more in the comments)
- “Sketches of Miles” at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May – (LINK)
- Touring by the Miles Electric Band led by Vince Wilburn Jr. (Davis’s nephew)
- “100-years-of-Miles” – a project by the Miles Davis Festival in East St. Louis – LINK
- A feature film “Miles and Juliette” (Directed by Bill Pohlad Miles Davis played by Damson Idris / Juliette Gréco played by Anamaria Vartolomei – in pre-production)
TRACK LISTING (CD version)
CD1 – December 22, 1965 – 1st Set If I Were A Bell 16:42 Stella By Starlight 13:09 Walkin’ 11:01 I Fall In Love Too Easily 11:43 The Theme 10:19
CD2 -December 22, 1965 – 2nd Set My Funny Valentine 16:33 Four 15:05 When I Fall In Love 10:44
CD3 – December 22, 1965 – 2nd Set (cont’d) Agitation 13:03 ‘Round Midnight 8:42 Milestones 14:04 The Theme 0:38
CD4 – December 22, 1965 – 3rd Set All Of You 14:38 Oleo 6:05 I Fall In Love Too Easily 11:53 No Blues 17:35 I Thought About You 11:03 The Theme 8:05
CD5 – December 23, 1965 – 1st Set If I Were A Bell 13:29 Stella By Starlight 13:09 Walkin’ 11:01 I Fall In Love Too Easily 12:07 The Theme 2:50
CD6 – December 23, 1965 – 2nd Set All Of You 10:39 Agitation 10:48 My Funny Valentine 13:52 On Green Dolphin Street 12:48 So What 13:36 The Theme 3:28
CD7 – December 23, 1965 – 3rd Set When I Fall In Love 13:39 Milestones 11:49 Autumn Leaves 11:56 I Fall In Love Too Easily 11:43 No Blues 20:06 The Theme 0:22
CD8 – December 23, 1965 – 4th Set Stella By Starlight 14:16 All Blues 12:18 Yesterdays 15:00 The Theme 4:51
