Miles Davis 100th Celebration with the Eddie Henderson Quintet feat. Gary Bartz and Billy Hart

Wed, May 27

*PLEASE NOTE: All 6PM and 8PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows Wed, Thu, Fri & Sun – $25.00 / $50.00 / $60.00 / $65.00 Sat –$25.00 / $60.00 / $70.00 / $75.00 Eddie Henderson – trumpet Gary Bartz – alto saxophone Billy Hart – drums “Miles Davis was the artist who defined jazz for me, and who, in his own way, defined American music in the 20th century.” – Quincy Jones A very special group—with numerous connections to the great Miles Davis—convenes for the 2026 edition of our Miles Davis Festival, celebrating his life and music, as well as his May 26th birthday. And this year also marks the centennial of his 1926 birth. The five-night festival features a powerhouse acoustic quintet featuring trumpeter Eddie Henderson—praised by DownBeat as “a masterful improviser with a deeply expressive voice”—and alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, whom Connecticut Public Radio hailed as “one of the music’s all-time great alto saxophonists,” and drum legend Billy Hart, described by The Guardian as “one of the great modern jazz drummers.” Each also has personal connections to Miles: NEA Jazz Masters Bartz and Hart appeared, in the 1970s, on his groundbreaking albums Live-Evil and On the Corner, respectively, while Henderson often credits his remarkable career in music to advice and encouragement from Miles, a close friend of his parents. In fact, Davis stayed with the Hendersons in 1958 and took a young Eddie Henderson, still in high school, with him to the gig where he heard Miles’ sextet with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. It was a decisive moment for Henderson, and the rest is history.