Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #160293 in Books
• Published on: 1990-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

Annoying read
Miles in his own words? Above all, Miles from his own - almost ridiculously limited - point of view.
I have two problems with this book: One is Davis' incapability of giving himself a critical look; which kind of renders an autobiography futile. The other one is use of language. Let's start with the latter:
Disclaimer first: I do not have a problem with four-letter words. As a linguist, I simply consider them a part of the vocabulary, as (un-)necessary as any other part. The problem is, when EVERYTHING is "mother..." it gets tiring first, then annoying. Then you start to wonder why. Obviously Miles is so concerned with his so called street credibility, he will go to any extreme to conceal the fact that he is literate. As far as use of language goes, this is a truly sorry read!
The second matter is more complex. Miles apparently is convinced (or trying to continually convince himself and his readers) that ultimately everything bad in life is somebody else's fault. He'll beat his women, neglect and offend his children, and shrug it all off. They asked for it. Whatever hardships and setbacks he encounters, someone is against him, usually because they are racists.
Along the way, everyone who is not Miles Davis gets it, and good: Yes, Bird was great, but always on drugs and a pig with women. Yes, Trane was sweet, but always stoned and picking his nose. Yes, classical music influenced Bill Evans and him, but classical musicians can't really play. How sad, how truly sad, to hear a supposed grown up finding unforgivable fault in almost everything and everybody, and then forgive themselves the most outrageous offences in the wink of an eye.
In a way, it is these shortcomings, which, on a higher level, offer insight into the psychological disposition of Miles Davis, and make this a worthwhile read. At an immediate level, though, this is sad proof of how easy it is to publish pretty much anything at all, if only your name guarantees sales figures.

To this day, the most interesting book on Miles Davis and his music that I know is Ashley Kahn's "Kind of Blue". Highly recommended - which is much, much more than I can say for this pamphlet.

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.