Podcast with CJ Shearn: featuring the Miles Davis Estate
For this podcast with the Miles Davis Estate, I sat down with Vince Wilburn Jr, nephew of Miles Davis, and Davis’ son Erin Davis, of Miles Davis Properties, LLC where we discussed the July 17th release of the forthcoming Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series, Volume 4, the activities at Newport this year, and future Miles Davis Bootleg Series installments. The set does include some previously released performances released on albums before, such as the 1958 Miles Davis Sextet set released previously on Miles and Monk At Newport (Columbia, 1964) and At Newport 1958 (Columbia, 2001). Also previously available have been the 1969 quartet performance (as saxophonist Wayne Shorter was stuck in traffic) released for the first time on Bitches Brew Live (Columbia/Legacy, 2011). Many performances are released here officially for the first time in stunning sound such as the 1973 Berlin concert, and the first show of the 1971 concert in Switzerland presented in it’s entirety on disc 4.
My sincere thanks to Vince Wilburn Jr, and Erin Davis for the incredible privilege of interviewing them, and for being fantastic human beings. Extra special thanks goes out to Karen Sundell of Rogers and Cowan for setting up this interview.
I have been the staff writer for the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music blog in midtown Manhattan since 2014, and that has broadened my freelance writing skills considerably. In addition to writing artist bios, and articles of interest that pertain to the mission of the school, I have interviewed (in print on the site) legendary guitarist and NEA Jazz Master Pat Metheny, trumpeter Cuong Vu, and in 2015 embarked on producing a podcast for the school where I have achieved my dream and interviewed jazz giants such as Dave Liebman, Lenny White, rising talents like Thana Alexa, Logan Richardson, guitarist and bassist Brian Kastan, among others. I also work on SEO optimization for the blog. In 2015 I started my blog Jazz Views with CJ Shearn, and have written liner notes for 5 time Grammy winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Antonio Sanchez (for his latest recording “Channels of Energy”) and guitarist Gene Ess for his latest recording, scheduled to be released in November 2018.
My passion for jazz music is what drives me, which is an interest I’ve had since I can remember. I initially began writing about jazz at the age of 13 for my high school newspaper, and in my late teens contributed occasionally to jazzreview.com. In college I was member of the Harpur Jazz Project which brought jazz acts to campus. I’ve also contributed in the past to AllAboutJazz where I was mentored by John Kelman. I decided to focus on my passion for jazz music journalism after a job in the social services field as a caseworker went south, and as a person with a physical disability I work on going against the odds, living independently and having accomplished things people had said I’d never do.