Vince Wilburn, Jr., nephew of late jazz icon Miles Davis, oversees Miles Davis Properties, LLC, along with Erin Davis (son of Miles) and Cheryl Davis (daughter of Miles). Wilburn, Jr. is a highly accomplished drummer, producer and radio host, who has both toured and recorded with Miles on many legendary recordings from 1984 through 1987, including: The GRAMMY-Award winning album “AURA” – which he co-produced; “Decoy” – which he also co-produced; “You’re Under Arrest“, and the 2008 GRAMMY nominated “Miles From India” – which hit #8 on the Billboard jazz charts. Wilburn, Jr. also toured internationally with the All-Star “Miles From India” ensemble to sell-out crowds.
More recently, Wilburn, Jr. performed with the Miles Electric Band to sold-out crowds at SF Jazz Center (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018), Billboard Live in Osaka and Tokyo, and at Australia’s Blues Fest (2017), Lotos Jazz Festival (2014), and at the Hollywood Bowl (2012) and Playboy Jazz Festival (2018). The 2012 Bowl event celebrated the launch of the USPS and La Post (France) issued Miles Davis/Edith Piaf Forever stamps. To date, the stamp has sold more than 23 million units and is by far the top selling celebrity stamp.
Wilburn, Jr. is also a key participant on industry panels taking place at the GRAMMY Museum, GRAMMY Career Day, SXSW, SF MusicTech Summit, MondoNYC, CMJ and CBGB’s in addition to partnering with Apple for their “Meet The Musicians” series at Apple SoHo. He is also a co-host of Miles Davis House at SXSW with Erin Davis, an annual day party featuring a wide cross section of multi-genre, emerging talent.
In 1989, he founded Nefdrum Productions and has been busy with numerous projects, featuring all-star performances by music icons Billy Preston, Ray Parker, Jr., Bernard Fowler, Darryl Jones, Charley Drayton, Ivan Neville, Wah Wah Watson, Freddie Washington, Randy Hall and Phil Upchurch among others.
He was highly influential in putting together the record-breaking cross-genre release entitled “Everything Is Beautiful,” a reimagined project, produced by GRAMMY winning artist Robert Glasper, which features contemporary artists paying tribute to the classic work of Miles Davis. “Everything Is Beautiful” scored impressive first week chart numbers including: #1 Jazz; #10 R&B/Hip Hop; #152 Top 200, and #5 Top current R&B. The project was influenced by the great success of a re-mix EP that Wilburn, Jr. co-produced with Nas and Santana called “Evolution of the Groove.”
Wilburn, Jr. served as producer of the feature film “Miles Ahead” starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor. The “Miles Ahead” soundtrack won a GRAMMY for “Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.” He’s an active member of NARAS.
