Will Calhoun celebrates 100th anniversary of MILES DAVIS
Wiggins Water Front Park
Camden, New Jersey
Aug. 24, 2026
Miles Davis is one of the few musicians whose personal stylistic shifts can be directly credited to multiple revolutionary upheavals in jazz. While Davis didn’t single-handedly invent the cool jazz subgenre, his landmark 1957 album Birth of the Cool led an entire generation of musicians toward a smoother, urbane approach to the music. Three years later, 1960’s Sketches Of Spain expanded jazz’s cultural palette by applying orchestral arrangements to a set of tunes deeply influenced by Spanish classical and folk music. By the time 1968’s Bitches Brew sparked the electrified movement that would become known as “fusion,” it was clear that when Miles Davis changed his mind, a new genre was born.
Today, a century after Davis’ birth, we live in a musical world that is richer having had him in it. Not only has his restrained, emotive soloing style been imitated by trumpet players for generations, the new styles and concepts he introduced continue to inspire artists around the world. Drummer Will Calhoun is one such musician whose work has been shaped by the adventurousness and relentless exploration that Davis kept as the active ingredient in his music. As a member of the popular late ‘80s/early ‘90s rock mavericks Living Colour, Calhoun made a name for himself keeping time for the band’s combustible mixture of punk, metal, funk and jazz. Calhoun also stayed close to his improvisational roots by playing with jazz royalty like Wayne Shorter, Marcus Miller and Jack DeJohnette. On Monday night, Calhoun’s jazz pedigree and love for Davis’ work were on full display for the event "Will Calhoun celebrates 100th Anniversary of Miles Davis" at Wiggins Water Front Park.
There was standing room only as waves of music fans gathered in front of the Roland Traynor River Stage. With the Philadelphia skyline in front of us and a cool breeze in the air, Calhoun took to the stage with an all-star band of veteran musicians including Jean-Paul Bourelly on guitar, Marc Cary on keys, Jamaladeen Tacuma on bass and Emilio Modeste playing saxophone. The set was a mixture of original compositions, long improvised jams and classic Davis tunes that captured the breadth and depth of both Davis’ genius and Calhoun’s. The first set of the evening was a long, groovy funk jam. Cary’s electric piano solo shined brightly with its snaking melodic lines interspersed with rich chords. The entire band dropped back for a bit while Bourelly stepped to the forefront with a virtuosic electric guitar solo. In between songs, Calhoun introduced the band and briefly spoke about how music has afforded him the privilege of traveling the world and learning about the sounds of different cultures. He then played a short piece on an electronic hand drum before Taccuma and the rest of the band joined him in a slow, mystifying jazz-funk groove. At one point, the band launched into Davis’ complex, odd-metered post-bop piece “Petits Machins,” providing ample evidence of their mastery of Davis’ material. At times throughout the evening Calhoun would take a dynamic, extended drum solo. At a moment’s notice, his playing would shift from a thunderous roar to fills that landed as soft as a whisper. Throughout the night, Calhoun’s ensemble proved equally adept at playing dreamy sounds reminiscent of “In A Silent Way” or “He Loved Him Madly” as they were at playing sounds that stretched fusion to its noisiest, most violent conclusions. Abstract but not arbitrary, open-ended but purposeful, Will Calhoun’s tribute to Miles Davis was not only fitting and respectful, it took the experiments laid down by Davis and continued to run off into the future with them.
