5 WEEKS FOR MILES - Week 1: "Young Miles" - The Bird Years

100 years after Miles Davis was born -- in 2026, there are 5 Saturdays in May. Every Saturday multi-award winning jazz trumpet iconoclast BROWNMAN ALI will lead 5 different all-star ensembles through 5 historic eras of jazz which Miles Davis catalyzed & immortalized with his presence. This WEEK 1 concert explores Miles at the start of his career and his time with the great Charlie Parker.

"Young Miles" - The Bird Years
At 17 years of age Miles would travel across the river from his home in East St. Louis, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri to hear well-known jazz musicians play in clubs. Mesmerized by their talent and style, he would listen to their all night jam sessions until Charlie "Bird" Parker arrived in St. Louis with the Billy Eckstine Band in 1944. Bird was the creative force behind a new form of jazz later to be dubbed "bebop" and the young Miles would become fascinated with its complex melodic and harmonic structure leading Miles to follow Bird across the country until he was allowed to substitute for his trumpet player at the time - Dizzy Gillespie. His tenure as Bird's sideman would most exemplify this hard-swinging period of his life.

:: Brownman Ali - trumpet (National Jazz Award winner)
:: Tymish Koznarsky - alto sax (24 year old next gen monster)
:: Scott Metcalfe - piano (Jordana Talsky)
:: Ross MacIntyre - upright bass (Matt Dusk)
:: Morgan Childs - drums (Donnybrook)

Saturday May 2, 2026
6:00pm - doors
7:00pm - showtime each Saturday

Dinner reservations at CONTXT are encouraged -- reservations: info@contxtbytrane.com
CONTXT features some of the finest Pan/Caribbean cuisine in Toronto. See MENU HERE.
Table seating will be given preference to those with dinner reservations on a first come first serve basis.
Ticket holders should arrive before 6pm to ensure optimal seating (band is soundchecking until 6pm)

FIVE WEEK FOR MILES -- every Sat in May
5 Saturdays... 5 Quintets... 5 Eras of Miles...
Week 1 - May 02 - "Young Miles" - The Bird Years 
Week 2 - May 09 - "Birth Of The Cool" - Post-Bop Miles [ TIX ]
Week 3 - May 16 - "Plugged Nickel" - The Shorter Years [ TIX ]
Week 4 - May 23 - "Bitches Brew to Tutu" - Electric Miles [ TIX ]
Week 5 - May 30 - "Doo-bop" - Had He Lived… [ TIX ]
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All-Shows Pass (see all 5 shows for one low price!) [ PASS ]
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www.Miles.Brownman.com for detailed show info.
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"Miles Davis, like water, is elemental. His musical output is foundational. Essential. So much of what he's done is in the DNA of jazz today, and so much of what he did required the kind of risk-filled courage and bold irreverence only an artist of deep expressionistic convictions could manifest. There's a reason he occupies a uniquely sacred space in the hearts and minds of jazz evolutionists and improvisers who deliver personal narratives in each solo. And that's the reason I feel it's so deeply important work to trace the depth of his impact on jazz history's timeline with this series."
-- Brownman Ali, March 2026

"Brownman Ali ... one of the greatest interpreters of Miles Davis' work in Canada."
-- Graham Rockingham, Hamilton Spectator

ABOUT BROWNMAN ALI | www.Brownman.com
An internationally acclaimed jazz iconoclast deeply influenced by Miles Davis' output, Brownman Ali is a 2x National Jazz Award winner; 10x Global Music Award winner; 7x Toronto Independent Music Award winner; GRAMMY long-lister; JUNO nominee; and is heralded by the NY Village Voice as "Canada's preeminent jazz trumpet player". He is best known as the last trumpet soloist for legendary jazz-hip-hop outfit Guru's Jazzmatazz (replacing Donald Byrd in this iconic group), now splitting his time between Toronto, ON & Brooklyn, NY, when this Trinidadian-born artist is not leading 8 groups of his own (including the National Jazz Award winning BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO & Montreal Jazz Fest's "Grand Prix du Jazz" winners CRUZAO). He is also a highly in-demand studio session musician having appeared on over 300 recordings to date, and is the CEO of the acclaimed Brooklyn-based record label BROWNTASAURAS RECORDS. His bombastically narrative style as an improviser, often reminiscent of 60's Miles Davis, has made him one of the most sought after soloists today and widely regarded as "a vanguard for the evolution of jazz in Canada".