Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91167 in Books
• Published on: 1990-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

Stellar, honest...musical
Miles Davis, with all his faults, flaws and laughable quirks, was still one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. It takes a book like this where he leaves no stone unturned to make clear the debt we all owe him and his contemporaries, as well as the restless spirit that lead him beyond what he helped to establish as modern jazz. In many ways he shows himself to be, ironically, the archetypal and sterotypical artist simultaneously. Yet his telling of the profound friendships he had with Max Roach and Coltrane, his deep awe and respect but dispassionate eye for the genius and addictions of Charlie Parker, the loves of his life- and what he put them through, and his brutal, courageous hoonesty in general, gives us a gift of his haunting humanity.

But above all, this about the music. His own telling of his style, the true creators of the form in total and the actual environment where it was produced, and how he created so many styles of his own is enough to make this book worth having.

You will never find another human being who can make curse words sound so beautiful!

If you love jazz, or are a jazz musician, this book will remind you why. And why you love Miles. Everybody does.

A Great Musician
I am disappointed so many reviewers seem to regard Miles as a racist. Personally it seems to me he was born into a wealthy black family, son of intelligent and cultured parents, and wasn't prepared, as he often says, to take s--- from anyone particularly if they were white and doing it because he was black. That doesn't make him a racist, it makes him brave.

And contrary to one reviewer's comments, the book is full of stuff about the music, much of which I didn't understand because it was too technical. For anyone who knows anything about music, or who has studied it I should think this book would be fascinating.

For me too it was fascinating as a fine documenting of the history of jazz, and gives good insights into the character of many musicians, especially Parker and Coltrane. It also says a lot about the nature of racism in the USA much of which no doubt still holds.

Davis was an incredibly strong character, had to be to survive so many generations of jazz when so many didn't. He had to be decisive, I don't think this makes him unpleasant in itself although to me his attitudes to women were frankly primitive.

Despite this I found this an inspiring book and probably the best book I have read about jazz.

Uncompromisingly Brilliant
Those who know of Miles will expect will probably expect his harsh and aggressive nature to come through in his autobiography, and you'd be right to assume this. Miles writes directly and honestly about his creative relationships with all of the people he worked with over an incredibly diverse musical career. For those just getting into jazz music, this book presents you with pretty much a who's who of jazz from the 40's onwards, basically because virtually anyone of any importance has played with Miles.

As a person, Miles comes across as a very unsavourary character to say the least, however by the end of the book I still found myself utterly facinated by him. His uncompromising hard work ethic towards his art is very admirable, and very inspriring to any musicians. However, his white rasism, (although intrigingly this didn't apply to white musicians who's style he liked) abuse of his various wives, various drug addictions, abuse of band mates, (although sometimes with jusifyable reasons) continuous swearing and materialism were the more unpleasant aspects of his personality.

In conclusion, if you want an honest, uncompromising, and historical account of one of the most interesting musicians to ever pick up a horn then READ THIS BOOK. However if your the sort of person who gets offended by the harsh realities of life or by the word "Moth******er" then i'd advise not bothering, cos well he'll probably describe you as the kind of person he hates, I know he did with me a few times...