Miles: The Autobiography: Amazon.ca: Miles Davis, Quincy Troupe: Books

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From Publishers Weekly

Writing with Troupe (editor of James Baldwin: The Legacy ), the brilliant bad man of jazz trumpetry unburdens himself of his hate and anger as well as of his good feelings about life, friendship, sex, drugs, women and cars. Unconstrained by conventional attitudes toward the publication of four- and 12-letter words, Davis delivers opinions about people in general, both white and black, music and musicians. Devoted to the creative work of Bird and Diz, he tells us that he learned phrasing by listening to Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles. Gil Evans, his best friend, was "one of the only ones who could pick up on what I was thinking musically." Separation from Juliette Greco "sent me falling down the pit and into heroin." Later, addicted to alcohol, tobacco and cocaine, he stopped playing for five years--but is now performing again to great acclaim. A student of boxing, Davis regards Sugar Ray Robinson as "the most important thing in my life besides music." On almost any score, this is a remarkable book. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Vanity Fair.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"San Francisco Chronicle"This is not just any book. As with everything else he has done, Davis's work as writer is likely to raise controversy. The book could well be subtitled "Miles Tells All" for this volume is crammed with juicy gossip about most of the key figures in modern jazz. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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First Sentence
The very first thing I remember in my early childhood is a flame, a blue flame jumping off a gas stove somebody lit. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

52 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (52 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A didactic "Must-read" for Jazz lovers and music historians!, Jun 4 2004

By

Wendell A. Betton (St. Louis, MO.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Miles: The Autobiography (Hardcover)

As a Jazz lover, I can't help but consider this book a time machine into the past of jazz. I just finished reading it entirely for the second time (April & May of 2004). The first time I read it was 12 years ago (Spring of 1992). I have collected 3 Miles Davis box sets and a lot of his compact discs
in those 12 years, so reading the autogbiograpy this time around was much more like watching a movie.
I, myself, have also become much more of a musician in the
past 12 years, so I found the book to be very didactic when Mile's shared his thoughts on musical subjects such as the Egyptian mode, the modal conceptualization of songs (all the songs on "Kind of Blue"), using the Fender Rhodes electric piano to cushion his sound, and more.
For those who love John Coltrane, this book makes you feel even the slightest sense of knowing him a little; his extreme dedication to practicing and his repenting reassessment of his own life. Miles became good friends with Coltrane after he hired him into his band, yet they didn't spend much time together where
music was not concerned. Miles describes Trane's death as if it happened yesterday and it's extremely interesting to "hear" Miles
tell where Trane was musically right before he died in relation to the racial & social strife that the United States was experiencing in the 60's (this is even more poigniant when you have heard Trane's music from that period [read my review on "John Coltrane The Classic Quartet-The Complete Impulse Studio Recordings). I find it ironic that later in the book Miles mentions that he couldn't stand Trane's quartet at this period.
This is another major exciting thing about the book; it gives insight on other music greats that Miles knew personally,
like Charlie Parker (especially), Gil Evans, drummer, Philly Joe Jones, Billie Holliday and many others.
The part where Miles tells what he went through as a heroine
junkie is really heart-wrenching, and when he overcame that addiction, you really see and feel his cold-turkey withdrawl; he
overcame it out of self-determination.

The last chapter of the book is a look into Miles' thoughts on life, women, racism, etc. He is quite the activist;
he never hated white people out of racism. He had an aversion to
white people because of all the racism that was enacted upon him.

This book is musically and historically tremendous!!!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Miles lets his beautiful but imperfect soul speak., Oct 9 2003

By

D. Horwat (Emmaus, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Miles (Paperback)

Wow! I recently inhaled this book and felt obliged to review it. It is captivating and unapologetic, even brutal at times... and REAL... I loved it for this.

Great works of art can easily appear larger than life when they are displayed in museums or remastered in handsome packaging for the world to enjoy... It's easy to be rightfully consumed by their beauty and forget the harshness of life that beats down on us all (artists included).

Miles Davis's music for me is the ultimate escape... the ultimate adventure into a relaxing, interesting aural universe. So I must admit it was a quick jolt to the system to read autobiographical tales of neglect, addiction, jealousy, financial stuggle, broken relationships, boastful egos, clashes with authority, poor health, disposable relationships and racial unrest in the United States... the writing here is REAL. The 400+ pages here have potential to "push buttons" and have you shaking your head in disbelief. In today's homogenized Brittany Spears world of image obsession and greed, it's a pleasure to read a book by someone who just "doesn't care".

Miles lets his beautiful but imperfect soul speak. I wouldn't want to read otherwise.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The man: his life and his music, Oct 5 2003

By

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miles (Paperback)

For the uninitiated (like me, a few months back), when you first approach the figure of Miles Davis, only looking at him from a musical standpoint, you can't avoid but be marveled at his brilliance, at how he invented and reinvented himself and jazz at large once and again, something that deserves the uttermost respect. But when you delve into his life, you realize that his was one that was filled with demons: living on the edge, pimping for money to finance his heroin addiction, struggling to get by at times, to come back victorious at others, with his 'act' cleaned up to put together a group of brilliant musicians and turn jazz on its head once more.

I picked up "Miles" a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't been able to put it down. The style of the book is raw, but direct: granted you can't go past a few paragraphs without reading him curse his way through a memory of an episode of his life, but this is his personal account, without a filter, without political correctness, which is good, because that is certainly one thing Miles was not: politically correct.

Complementing in a very balanced way facts about his life with their ups and downs, with very vivid and detailed descriptions about gigs and sessions all through his life, and never skipping the "ugly" parts of the story, this book has given me a deeper respect for a man that could overcome his demons to come out victorious and more creative time and again.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Caveats
Not great literature, and not exceptionally insightful. Miles' public persona was a construct, affecting intentionally coarse language and simplistic, conflicting views. Read more

Published on April 23 2004 by yawuh2002

5.0 out of 5 stars The great Miles Davis.
I first bought this book in 5th Grade and it taught me some new words and catch phrases to say the least. Miles was an interesting man. Read more

Published on Sep 28 2003 by JetTone12