Starting this Friday, April 30th and running through August 29th, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is innovating once again with the presentation of the first major North American multimedia retrospective dedicated to Miles Davis. “We Want Miles”: Miles Davis vs. Jazz will combine image and sound to offer visitors a sensory experience inspired by Miles Davis himself.

The exhibition-performance, which ran in France until last January, is divided into eight thematic and chronological periods, each covering in the life and work of Miles Davis and highlighting his strong influence on other art forms. Each period, from his birth to his last majoe concert in Paris shortly before his death in 1991, is presented by a wide array of forms: previously unscreened or rare film footage, handwritten scores, instruments, original documents relating to his records, costumes and vintage pressings of his records. In addition, twenty listening stations will permit visitors to immerse themselves, as though in a recording studio, in the multiple musical currents reinvented by Miles Davis: jazz, funk, rock, bebop, etc.

Many photographs taken by the big names in photography will be shown publicly for the first time, along with drawings and paintings by Miles Davis and works by painters Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mati Klarwein, and sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle.

For more information about the exhibit, please visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.