Vince Wilburn

IYOUWE Universe

Vince Wilburn was always fascinated by Tony Williams, Jack De Johnette, Al Foster, or whomever held the drum throne of his uncle Miles Davis’s group. At the tender age of 9, at the Plugg Nickel in old town Chicago, Miles had Vince sit in on a set with his band… Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, and Dave Holland. Vince founded and played in various Chicago bands through high school. Most notably, he was in a band called AL7, which caught Miles' attention. That band became the catalyst for “The Man with the Horn”, Miles' 1981 comeback album. The album was recorded in NY using AL7's core rhythm section. In 1983, Vince joined Cameo. In 1984, Vince went to Copenhagen to co-produce and record Miles' GRAMMY award-winning album “AURA” for Columbia Records. Vince played additional drums on the album. Later, Vince co-produced “Decoy”, which featured Al Foster on drums. In the summer of 1984, Vince began to live his dream. He co-produced and shared the drum chair with his idol, Al Foster, on Miles's record “You're Under Arrest”. Once the record was completed, Miles added Vince to his band, anointing him to the coveted drum throne. Vince toured the world with Miles while he held the drum chair from 1984 through 1987. In addition to heading his own company, NEFDRUM, Vince and his cousins, Cheryl and Erin, oversee Miles Davis Properties, LLC. In 2007 Vince called me to collaborate with him on “Evolution of a Groove”, a groundbreaking Miles Davis EP that features the likes of hip-hop icon Nas, guitar legend Carlos Santana, along with Victor Bailey, Pat Thrall, Olu Dara, and Charley Drayton. Vince was also Executive Producer of the Miles bio pic featuring Don Cheadle called “Miles Ahead”.