Miles

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Summary: A straight forward look into Miles Davis life and opinions
Review: I listened to Miles Davis's recordings for about a year before I purchased this book. I wanted to find out more about this gifted musician and found alot of insight into Miles Davis. While I don't agree with some of his opinions, I admire him for his bluntness of his beliefs. I especially enjoyed reading about his collaboration with Gil Evans and how such immortal classics as "Sketches of Spain", "Miles Ahead", and "Porgy and Bess" were developed and made into classics of Jazz. His opinions about fellow Jazz musicians are not sugar coated in any degree, either Miles liked you or he didn't, no middle ground. Yet, he admits his flaws and weaknesses, but makes no apologies for his past and the way he lived. His views of music critics and race relations are bitter, yet those were his experiences as he saw it. This biography of Miles in my opinion is the best insight into the musician and the man printed so far.

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Summary: A must-read for jazz listeners
Review: I stayed up all night reading this, riveted to my chair -- it was like sitting in a hotel room with Miles, listening to him rap about his life. You begin to understand the man, and what it was like to be black in 1940s and 50s America, and why he almost hated white people (he didn't, really, but he remained deeply suspicious of them throughout his life, and after you read this book you'll understand why). You also dig the presence of Charlier Parker, Sonny Rollins, and take an armchair ride on their musical quests.

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Summary: A Great Book For Jazz Lovers
Review: I was skepeticalat first to read it, but once I started I couldn't put it down. It tells about all the people he played with, and of all the trouble he went through. It has some mild language, but is still a great book. If you don't like this book then I got two words for you ---- --!

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Summary: Miles Davis was a music legend, but not a honorable person
Review: I've been listening to Miles Davis' music for quite sometime. His music made me respect him but reading this book made me hate him a bit. First off, Miles Davis' was a little spoiled bastard, self destructive, and disrespectful to women. He wasn't a good father. He was a drug fiend. He contradicts himself a lot. Despite the negatives this is a deep and engaging read for not just jazz fans but fans of music.

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Summary: A Great Memoir
Review: If I were to describe Miles Davis in one word it was the one he used most often in his autobiography.... Between his drinking, drug use, womanizing, and belligerent attitude, Miles Davis had an interesting life, though a rough and volatile one. His contribution to the world of jazz was great and his love for it was unmatched. Unfortunately Davis' personality resembled that of an undisciplined rock star, which in the end hindered what could have been a spectacular career; a career that might have even surpassed Satchmo himself. Nonetheless, Miles Davis was a "cool cat," and his career is worth reading about. Thus, I highly recommend Miles, not just to the jazz connoisseur, but to anyone who enjoys reading about one of America's greatest artists.

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Summary: A Milestone
Review: If you really want to understand a fundamental chapter in the history of jazz you ought to read the Miles Davis' Autobiography. The book brings light into the life of The Prince of Darkness.

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Summary: An education in music
Review: If you want to know about the true history of Jazz and the life and music of Miles Davis,you need to look no further than this book.Miles tells it like it is.A true education in Jazz,music in general and the life of Miles.I have gotten much deeper into his music since I read this book and I'm glad I did.

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Summary: Honest and Open
Review: In Miles Davis' autobiography Miles tells everything in an open and honest manner, maybe to some degree too open and honest, some of his information in this book makes other musicians look bad. He talks openly about which guys did heroin, and who he had aruguments with and much, much more. What is even better is that Miles speaks candidly about his own problems in life, he covers his coke addiction (which was one of the reasons he retired for about 6 years), his heroin addiction, his sex life, ect. Miles also openly displays his opinions about everything, reading this book makes me feel like I've had a deep conversation with Miles. His writing is vulgar (this book has about a million cuss words), which adds to the feeling that he's telling his life story naturally without any interference from his editor. In this autobiography Miles Davis' entire life is covered in a well detailed fashion, with many great stories thrown in for entertainment. This is the best autobiography I've read, and I throughly recommend it to all Miles Davis fans.

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Summary: long on gossip
Review: It's a shame to hear Miles talk about the women and drugs of his life more than his landmark recording sessions.

Rating:
Summary: engrossing
Review: It's an understatement to call this glib, but there's a lot of interesting biographical information here (concerning musicians other than Miles too), if very little analysis. As a denizen of Saint Louis, I loved the bit about the Veiled Prophet Parade, and I laughed long and hard at Miles's cruel trick on Bill Evans--cruel of me, I know.

Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.