[Not exactly 'news', but interesting... -Ed.]

I picked up a book from the library a couple of weeks ago called "MILES BEYOND - The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967 - 1991" by Paul Tingen. There are several Prince mentions in the book.

- During a concert in Paris Miles and his band play Prince's song 'Penetration'.

- "Miles was actively seeking out musicians who could write material for him during this period. By the beginning of 1986 Miles was, or had been, in touch with at least four: Prince, Bill Laswell, Paul Buckmaster, and keyboardist George Duke. "Prince wrote me a letter and along with the letter he enclosed a tape of instrumental tracks he'd recorded by himself in the studio," Miles said. "In this letter he wrote, 'Miles, even though we have never met...if this tape is of any use to you, please go ahead and play whatever you feel over it. Because I trust what you hear and play."

- (Tommy) Lipuma (head of the Jazz division of Warner Brothers)...sifting through the variety of material that had emerged, the producer decided that only George Duke's 'Backyard Ritual' and Prince's track "Can I Play With U" showed promise.

- On March 1, Miles and (Adam) Holzman added more overdubs to Prince's track, "Can I Play With U." Miles and Holzman worked on the track again two weeks after that. Later on, when he heard (Marcus) Miller's material, Prince decided that his track didn't fit, and he withdrew it. ("Can I play with U eventually appeared on Prince bootlegs as "Red Riding Hood")

- On June 29 (1988), Miles was involved in the recording of two tracks for Chaka Khan's C.K. "Sticky Wicked" was written and partly performed by Prince, and is a typical frantic throwaway tune of the kind he was able to turn out thirteen to the dozen. Miles, muted on trumpet, seems at a loss on how to contribute.

- In the course of 1991 Miles participated in the sessions for his last solo album, Doo-bop. Miles had a great variety of collaborators in mind for Doo-bop, among them Prince... (John) Bigham had prepared three tracks, while Prince sent Miles eight instrumental tracks, three of which he performed with his live band during his 1991 European tour - "Penetration", "A Girl and her Puppy", and Jail Bait." Miles also unexpaectedly went into a German studio with his live band in the Summer of 1991 to record these three Prince tracks, despite the fact that discussions were still ongoing about whether Prince would be involved in the recordings. Miles' death on September 28 thwarted these Plans.

- There is a mention in the book that lists "Movie Star" as one of the songs in Miles' set list.

- Irving added, "Miles told me that he was hearing the bass more sparse, like Prince's "Kiss", which was a hit at the time, and had almost no bass..."

- Hawaiian-born bassist Benny Rietveld replaced (Darryl) Jones for the next concert, on April 9. Rietveld had played with Shiela E, supporting Prince, and was recommended to Miles by Prince's road manager.

- A memorial service was held in New York City on October 5, 1991. Among the speakers were Quincy Troupe, Herbie Hancock, Bill Cosby, and Jesse Jackson, while a letter from Prince was read.

- The personnel for "Sticky Wicked" is also listed in the book: Miles (trumpet), Atlanta Bliss (trumpet), Eric Leeds (tenor sax), Prince (synth, elec guitar, sampled bass, drums), Chaka Khan (vocal)

I HOPE TO GOD someone hasn't already submitted this. I actually gave up having sex with my girlfriend to type this in.