Miles Davis: Luciano Viti's photography exhibition "Miles in Italy" is coming

From October 19 to November 8, Noise – Il Cinemino, along Milan's Navigli, will host "Miles in Italy", Luciano Viti's photography exhibition dedicated to Miles Davis. The exhibition, part of the Jazzmi program and organized to mark the centenary of the great trumpeter's birth, will present for the first time in its entirety an extraordinary photo shoot from 1987. It was that very year that Viti managed to secure a rare photo session with Davis, producing in just a few minutes a series of intense portraits destined to become part of music photography history. Nearly forty years on, "Miles in Italy" now offers the chance to rediscover those images in full, along with the eventful story behind their making.

The photographer himself recalls that night: “Roma, 19 novembre 1987, Hotel Sheraton. Notte fonda. Everything is ready in what might loosely be called a photo studio, set up in the little sitting area of his hotel room. Arriva… e… succede di tutto. The backdrop collapses, a flash bulb burns out, a camera jams. Sono in un bagno di sudore. Lui attende con calma i miei cambi di attrezzatura. Riparto, mi asseconda”.
Despite the setbacks, Viti manages to shoot three rolls of 120 film. Then, feeling that time is about to run out, he decides to try an unusual request: “Oso il tutto per tutto. ‘Could you put the tongue on the finger?’, chiedo con sicurezza. Mi guarda un attimo interdetto, chissà cosa pensa? After a few seconds that feel like an eternity... he does it! He sticks out his tongue and touches it with the tip of his index finger... Click." This gives rise to one of the most striking photographs of that session.

Described by Pino Daniele as a "musician of the image", Luciano Viti has worked in music photography since 1977 and has shot over a hundred album and book covers. His lens has captured, among others, Frank Zappa, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Ennio Morricone, Peter Gabriel, David Gilmour, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Jim Hall, Bee Gees, George Benson, Talking Heads, Neil Young and Jeff Beck. His relationship with Pino Daniele was particularly close, with Viti documenting the Neapolitan musician's career consistently from 1980 right up to his final days.
With "Miles in Italy", those 1987 photographs now come back to tell the story not only of Miles Davis's face and charisma, but also of the unrepeatable encounter between one of the towering figures in jazz history and one of Italy's most important photographers working in the world of music.

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