Miles Davis & Coltrane Centennials at Jazz Fest

The Festival international de jazz de Montréal begins June 25, with a centennial celebration of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, two giants born the same year who reshaped jazz forever.

Marcus Miller, the last great collaborator with Miles Davis, will open the 46th edition at the Maison symphonique with "We Want Miles!" — a reunion concert drawn from the 1981 tour that produced the landmark 1982 album of the same name. Miller was 22 when that tour began; he's since worked as composer and producer on Davis's final albums, Tutu (1986) and Amandla (1989).

"Miles wasn't performing like a legend — he was a real person," Miller said by phone. "He just responded to his emotions, his musical tastes. That taught me I could do extraordinary things too." Miller played alongside original band members Bill Evans (saxophone), Mino Cinelu (percussion), and Mike Stern (guitar).

On the Coltrane side, saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen will lead her sextet in a tribute concert.

Both Davis and Coltrane emerged from the same postwar jazz generation — one that, in Miller's words, "first knew freedom" and created in the midst of profound social change. Davis's restlessness became his signature: by 1961, just two years after Kind of Blue, he had completely transformed his sound with his new quintette, which featured Coltrane.

The full lineup and schedule are available at the festival website.