This summer George Duke, Marcus Miller and David Sanborn will be performing together as one band under the name DMS, taken from the first initials of their last names. The three contemporary jazz artists have worked together and collaborated in various configurations over the years, in the studio and on the road, but this is the first time that all three will be playing together in one band, aside from some performances on the Smooth Jazz Cruise.
The sponsor of that cruise, Jazz Cruises, Inc. will be sponsoring this tour and the group cites Jazz Cruises executive director Michael Lazaroff as the “spark” behind the tour. “Jazz Cruises has enjoyed and is honored by its relationship with George, Marcus and David,” Lazaroff told JT in an e-mail. “They performed together on our recent cruise and I thought that they should continue as a touring group and that Jazz Cruises should sponsor the tour. Doing so is both a marketing initiative and provided an incentive to make this tour happen so that we could all enjoy their magic and music.”
The three jazz and funk masters certainly aren’t strangers to each other and their music. Miller first worked with Duke in the studio in 1980, when the keyboardist produced the Brecker Brothers’ album Détente on which Miller played bass. In turn, Miller performed with and produced Sanborn back in the ’70s and ’80s and of course they worked together on the short-lived yet innovative music television show, Night Music. Miller was the music director for the first season and Duke for the second season. Miller and Duke also worked together on Miles Davis’ landmark Tutu album.
“Dave and I already had plans to reunite after being away from each other for a while,” Miller explained in a press release received at JT. “When we were thinking of adding a third person and our booking agent suggested George Duke, Dave and I looked at each other like, ‘Is that possible? Is he available? Let’s do it!’ The three of us had the chance to play together in January on The Smooth Jazz Cruise and the vibe was great. Now we’re looking forward to seeing where else we can take the music.”
In the same press release, Duke said: “The amazing thing is that we have not done this before. Each one of us in some way has changed the musical landscape. Now we are bringing this mountain of experience together to move and change it again. For me, the great thing is that we have such a wealth of musical knowledge, experience and history to choose from. More important is for us to take that wealth and formulate a fresh identity of who we are now – as a band – from this time forward. Accomplishing that will be the stuff of legend!”
Performing with DMS will be drummer Louis Cato and keyboardist Federico Gonzalez Pena.
Here are the dates for the tour:
MAY:
May 28 Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), FL – House of Blues
May 29 Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville Jazz Festival
May 30 Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Jazz Festival, Chastain Park
JUNE:
June 1 Buffalo, NY – Kleinhans Auditorium
June 2 Glenside (Philadelphia), PA – Keswick Theater
June 3 Columbia, MD – Capital Jazz Festival
June 23 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
June 24 Kettering (Dayton), OH – Fraze Pavilion
June 25 Charlotte, NC – Roadrunner Mobile Amphitheatre
June 26 Hampton, VA – Hampton Jazz Festival
AUGUST:
August 5 Apple Valley (Minneapolis), MN – Weesner Amphitheater
August 6 Chicago, IL – Park West
August 7 St. Louis, MO – Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center
August 8 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre
August 9 Denver, CO – Denver Botanic Gardens
August 12 Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall
August 13 Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre
August 14 San Jose, CA – San Jose Jazz Festival
August 26 Santa Barbara, CA – Granada Theatre
August 27 Brooks (Sacramento), CA – Cache Creek Resort
August 28 San Diego, CA – Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay
August 31 Hollywood, CA – Hollywood Bowl
