Trying to reinterpret the music of Miles Davis is no easy task. Any musician who sets out to cover the revered trumpeter’s repertoire is in for a serious challenge. But that’s exactly what local trumpeter Owuor Arunga (pictured on the left) is doing this evening at Electric Tea Garden as a part of a five week tribute dedicated to Davis.
Tonight’s event is called “Miles Davis Electric” and is focusing on Davis’ much talked about electric period. Even though some jazz purists lambasted Davis for going electric, the legendary trumpeter was always keen to float between jazz sub-genres regardless of what anybody thought, and more often than not, he was onto something. Just last night, I saw Arunga blaring pure hip-hop tunes out of his horn while on stage with the Physics, so he too knows a thing or two about crossing genre lines in the interest of music.
When asked via email what he wants to accomplish this evening, Arunga said: “I want it to feel like Halloween. When you walk in to the room the music should make you feel like having no inhibitions forgetting where you are, being in tune with the moment.”
He’ll have a bevy of young jazz lions joining him this evening including Thaddeus Turner (guitar), Gerald Turner (bass) Mark Cardenas (keyboard), Mark Sampson (keyboard) Andrew Joslyn (horn), Doc Rhodes (sax) Grant Shroff (drums) and a few surprise gifts.
Arunga did give me early word that local hip-hop do-it-all Larry Mizell Jr. is going to be spitting some hip-hop verses over the song “Doowop,” a Davis record that his father, Larry Mizell Sr. is credited with producing. How fresh is that?
The event takes place tonight at Electric Tea Garden (1402 E. Pike St.) from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. and cost $5. It’s 21+ and DJ Sho-Nuff will be DJing as well.
