Legacy Recordings Set to Release Digital and CD Editions of That You Not Dare To Forget, the Eagerly-Awaited Debut Studio Album from All-Star Social Music Ensemble M.E.B., on Friday, April 21
Special 12″ Hot Pink Vinyl Edition of M.E.B. – That You Not Dare To Forget Available as Record Store Day 2023 Exclusive on Saturday, April 22
Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, is pleased to announce the release of That You Not Dare To Forget, the first full-length studio album of new compositions and performances from M.E.B. (formerly known as Miles Electric Band), an all-star ensemble of Miles Davis alumni and contemporary hip-hop/jazz disruptors inspired and influenced by Miles and his music. Digital and CD editions of the M.E.B. album will be available Friday, April 21. Independent record stores will offer a 12″ hot pink vinyl pressing of M.E.B. – That You Not Dare To Forget as a Record Store Day 2023 exclusive on Saturday, April 22.
M.E.B. – That You Not Dare To Forget may be pre-ordered HERE
M.E.B. – That You Not Dare To Forget is produced by Grammy Award-winners Lenny White (whose early gigs included playing drums, at age 19, on Miles’ revolutionary electric breakout album Bitches Brew) and Vince Wilburn, Jr. (who grew up listening to music with his uncle Miles and cut his chops playing drums on many Davis albums including 1981’s The Man with the Horn, 1985’s Human Nature and You’re Under Arrest, 1989’s Aura and others; Wilburn toured with Miles and served as co-producer on a variety of Miles Davis projects including the Grammy Award-winning album Aura).
“Bitches Are Back,” a key track from the album, is being released today and can be heard HERE
The track is built around a found Miles trumpet recording combined with new playing by legendary bassist Ron Carter and drummers Wilburn and White. It features a sample of the song “Bridging The Gap” by Nas as well as a new rap by Blu and scratches by DJ Arkitek.
In 2010, Wilburn, as bandleader and drummer, brought together an all-star ensemble of musicians — each a leader in his own right –to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bitches Brew at the Sunset Junction Festival in Los Angeles. Rather than perform a track-by-track tribute to Miles’ genre-bending electric masterpiece, the group reimagined Miles, based on their own direct perceptions of his music, and created a fresh listening experience for a new generation.
When unreleased takes of Miles Davis studio performances from the 1980s came to their attention, Vince Wilburn Jr. and Lenny White joined forces to see what new music they might develop from these newly discovered pristine and unmistakable sounds from Miles’ horn. Produced by Lenny and Vince, “Hail to the Real Chief,” seamlessly blended Miles’ unreleased horn parts with new music written by Lenny performed by an all-star assembly of Miles band alumni and acolytes including Lenny (synthesizer), Vince (drums), Marcus Miller (bass), Emilio Modeste (tenor saxophone), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Antoine Roney (tenor saxophone), John Scofield (guitar), Bernard Wright (keyboards), and Quintin Zoto (guitar). The original version of “Hail to the Real Chief” was one of the musical highlights of Emmy Award-winning documentary Miles Davis – Music From and Inspired by “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” a Film by Stanley Nelson, released February 2020. The previously unreleased “Hail to the Real Chief (Long Version)” is the dynamic opener for That You Not Dare To Forget, a multi-generational sonic exploration, tracking the ongoing influence and inspiration Miles gave to the world through music, attitude, style and community.
Two of the album’s five tracks–“Hail to the Real Chief (Long Version)” and “Bitches Are Back”–include unreleased Miles performances and you can hear the transcendent electricity flowing between the musicians as they achieve collective lift-off throughout the album. That You Not Dare To Forget showcases an all-star lineup of music legends including Ron Carter (bass), Stanley Clarke (tenor bass) and others. The album, which includes some of their final recordings, is dedicated to the memory of Wallace Roney (trumpet) and Bernard Wright (keyboards). The album’s cover is an original work by Afrofuturist painter Mikel Elam, who worked as Miles’ personal assistant from October 1987 until Miles’ passing in September 1991.
Tracks on That You Not Dare To Forget include “Hail to the Real Chief (Long Version),” “Bitches Are Back” (featuring “Bridging the Gap” with Nas and Olu Dara), “Over My Shoulder” (featuring new voice in hip-hop Adrien Lamont),”Mellow Kisses” and “That You Not Dare To Forget” spotlighting Rashae Reeves delivering a powerful spoken word performance.
That You Not Dare To Forget mixes the spirit of neighborhood block parties with the mystical elixir fueling Bitches Brew to disrupt the worlds of hip-hop and jazz with a new full-on musical adventure starring a who’s who of legends inventing new social music for the 21st century.
M.E.B.
That You Not Dare To Forget
“Hail to the Real Chief” (Long Version)
“Bitches Are Back”
“Over My Shoulder”
“Mellow Kisses”
“That You Not Dare To Forget”
