However, that is what we had to deal with many moons ago at London's Hammersmith Odeon. Four concerts with Miles Davis and three with Willie Nelson all in the same week - this was going to be fun!
There were a team of us promoting these concerts - Gerry O'Reilly's people, Brian Theobald and myself - if that seems too many believe me we needed everyone on board.
The shows sold out almost as soon as we went on sale which was exciting, but we had to deal with the artists and that was going to be interesting to say the least. I seem to recall that the reason we had these two giants in their own field of music in the same week was that rather interestingly, they had the same manager - I think his name was Mark Jacobs but I would need to dig through my old files to check this out.
Miles arrived first with his delightful model wife Cicely Tyson, who was charming, personable and very helpful - Miles himself hardly said anything. There were so many questions I would have liked to have asked Miles but I think I was too shy to try and penetrate the aura and power he portrayed at that time - I wanted to talk about the recording of "Kind of Blue" and "Four and More", "Porgy and Bess", "Bitches Brew" and so on - what was it like to work with Gil Evans - Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, the young and inspirational Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, John Coltrane - hundreds of questions - but I never even asked one - looking back, I have often thought to myself did I regret not sitting with Miles and having that long personal chat - the answer is no, not really because I was in seventh heaven being in the presence of the great man and a life long idol of his music - and deeply honoured to be presenting him and his great musicians in concert.
Being a drummer myself - I was thrilled to meet Al Foster and hear him perform - what a great player and a very nice guy - the rest of the band were also great - Bill Evans (soprano) - Miles must have a predilection for players named Evans (Gil Evans arranger, Bill Evans piano) - Mike Stern on guitar, Marcus Miller bass and Mino Cinelu percussion. Miles was in scintillating form - pushing, prodding, cajoling, guiding, thrusting and leading the other musicians to greater heights - the music filled us all (the audience of approximately 3,000 people each night) with a multitude of emotions with Miles trumpet sailing through the air waves - instantly recognisable - you know its Miles - no other player in the world is like him.
I have to confess that I always loved the earlier recordings - which are (for me and millions of others) completely sublime - but the fusion/rock period of Miles playing is also fascinating as he pushed the boundaries of his music - he would never stand still and that was what made Miles so important to the canon of jazz and to all of us who revere him and his playing.
The concerts were superb - all the musicians played at the top of their game and thrilled the audiences - the buzz of expectation and excitement each night was palpable - you could almost touch it.
Whilst these concerts were progressing country star Willie Nelson and his family arrived in London. What a difference to Miles and his merry men (and lady) - Willie was immediately friendly and welcoming and the "family" were boisterous, loud, demanding in a nice way and somehow exactly what you'd expect from this star and musicians of this genre.
You couldn't have two more diametrically opposed personalities - in terms of their demeanour, interaction with people and of course their music - what they did have in common was their professionalism and their ability to attract and wow their audiences.
I can't say that country and western music is high on my list of favourite listening, but I have to say that Willie Nelson gave all he could to make his concerts a success. The shows were great and the fans loved him and rightly so. Applause was deafening and you could see and hear the audiences after each show leaving the theatre in a very happy mood indeed.
I only wish I could list the names of his band but for some reason I can't find the files of this concert - I will keep hunting and maybe it will emerge one day and I will add the names to this blog
Happy days, wonderful memories - the time that MILES DAVIS and WILLIE NELSON strode the stage in London
Thanks for reading cheers Peter
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