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The huge range of his music, from acoustic small groups to electronic ensembles, and the overwhelming passion of his playing, has inspired generations of players. On Sunday (October 26), trumpeter Toby Brazier brought his quartet to Lichfield arts centre The Hub at St Mary’s for an evening celebrating the extraordinary achievements of Davis, who died in 1991 after a series of illnesses. Brazier’s group - Will Powell on guitar, Jose Canha on bass, Matt Home on drums - clearly have a great love for Miles’s music and are dedicated to recreating his classic works. Davis's career was built around a series of masterpiece albums, and the Brazier group opened with a sprightly version of the standard song, Love For Sale, from the disc Somethin’ Else, released under the leadership of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. Other highlights included the gorgeous ballad Blue In Green, from the Kind Of Blue album, which Brazier played quite beautifully, On Green Dolphin Street - with its mix of latin and swing rhythms - So What, again from Kind Of Blue, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s triple-time composition Footprints, from the album Miles Smiles. Powell’s guitar was outstanding on this last work, moving block chords around the fretboard to great effect. The group concluded the concert with the technically tricky piece Seven Steps To Heaven, from the album of the same name, and - driven by some very fine drumming - really nailed it. It’s quite difficult to convincingly recreate Davis's music without a pianist in the group, as brilliant keyboard players - including Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea - played such a major role in his bands before guitarists and bass guitarists took a prominent role in his late-era electric groups, however, there was much enjoyable music at the Hub from Brazier and his men, and the packed audience clearly loved it.
