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Summary: At last - a Book about Miles Davis' Electric years.
Review: A rare occasion is when a book appears, that unveils a whole era, which by some reason has been forgotten or disregarded. An even rarer occasion is when the same book manages to prove that this overlooked era is shimmering by magic treasures of purest gold.
To all of us, who for three centuries now have wondered why an appropriate treatment of the most powerful and dynamic period in the career of Miles Davis have been almost completely suppressed, relief has finally became brought. Because it is to us, who spent the late seventies wondering in despair if Miles was dead, and then - when the occultation finally was broken - realised that he was, to all of us Paul Tingen has dedicated this pioneering piece of work.
It is with a feeling of redress and revenge one reads the true story as told by the former sidemen of Miles: Jack de Johnette, Herbie Hancock, John Mc Laughlin, Mtume, Joe Zawinul, Pete Cosey, Michael Henderson and Sonny Fortune. History drives close as everyone confesses his own experience of the sheer magic that adhered to Miles. It is also with deep recognition and satisfaction one reads Tingen's solid and personal analyses of Miles' explorations into what contemporary jazz-authorities regarded as cheap rock-business. And it is with brave new ears you again and again will let the timeless flow of that red trumpet reappear from your speakers during reading. And you will find that that particular kind of energy that still keeps you thunderstruck when you're exposed to Agartha or Pangaea, certainly IS a landmark if not a climax in 20th century western music. Just as you've always felt.
The book is a revelation. Get it!
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Summary: The Dark Prince
Review: Anyone reading this is familiar with the arc of Miles Davis' career and tapestry of milestone recordings. Tingen focuses on the least understood of Davis' output, and the final 24 years of the trumpeter's life: his controversial electric period. Through a detailed narrative of Davis's career from 1967 onwards, in-depth interviews with dozens of musicians, friends and family, session notes and a rigorous analysis of his recordings, the author brings this formerly dark and misunderstood period to life and shows its continuity with Davis' earlier work as well as its linkages to the roiling ferment of America in the '60's and '70's. Tingen actually gets under the skin of Davis, illuminating crucial aspects of his working methods, values and approach to music as life that span the trumpeter's entire career. He nails Davis' approach as one of incorporating the new, while integrating it with the styles of the past: "transcend and include"; Miles always WAS a conservative Midwesterner at heart. The author's energy, creativity and intelligence mirror those of his subject. More than a document of some of the most brilliant and forbidding music of the last 35 years-the best book published about one of the giants of 20th Century music.
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Summary: A CLASSIC BOOK!
Review: I am a trumpet player/performer who has loved Miles work from all his periods, but I especially loved his later electric music. As a trumpet player/composer who has studied every note and nuance of his music, and worn out records listening over and over, I was always wondering how this music came about. What was going on in the studios and how things were communicated and carried out. So many books written about Miles got into his personality and history, and didn't focus as much on the music as I would have liked. This book is different. As I read it, it was as though I was there. Answers and revelations started to pour out of this book and I couldn't put it down. If you were ever curious as to how Miles operated and got things done, and what went on in the background, especially for this period, this book is for you. Paul Tingen did a tremendous job of hunting down the facts and tying everything together so you can chronologically see the association from one session to the next, and see how the music evolved . This book is a landmark and classic. Paul also has a companion website, Miles-Beyond.com that has more information. A Great book, and a stellar work!
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Summary: The definitive work.
Review: I've been waiting for a book that covered this period for ages. All the other Miles related material, although revealing in many areas outside of '67 - '91, has neglected this period more or less altogether. This book deals with the roots of all that became known as 'Jazz Fusion'. The pioneers who went through the Miles 'Academy' are all interviewed here. There are breakdowns of album tracks and extracts from interviews. I don't believe a stone has been left unturned. Paul Tingen is a musician and as a result has been able to get to the core. Can't wait to read it again.
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Summary: Detailed overview of electric Miles
Review: Maybe the best Miles book I've read. It has changed the way I listen to music. I cannot reccomend it highly enough. Get it now. Read it now. Thank, you Paul Tingen, Thank you.
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Summary: Despite some flaws, this book raises the bar re: Davis bios!
Review: Much of MILES BEYOND contains perhaps the best explanations for Davis' artistry--as well as the contradictions and controversy surrounding Miles the human being--as anything I've ever read about him (and that covers a LOT of territory). Tingen effectively discusses Davis' Zen-like ability to maximize his sidepersons' potential, takes a praiseworthy stab at a psychological analysis (e.g., Miles' self-destructive streaks, his voilent tendencies), and does a heroic job of placing the 1973-75 group among Davis' best-ever units. Davis' music in general stands the test of time because he built on the past, not forgot it. Also, Miles' aesthetic successes came despite physical and psychological problems that seemingly left him devoid of inner peace when not creating music. A key aspect of this book is that Tingen conducted fresh interviews with most of Davis' sidemen from his electric period. Thus there are a lot of fresh anecdotes and explanations particularly regarding the music itself. For instance, I've rarely read interviews with Davis' 1973-75 sidemen. Tingen talked in depth to all but one of them. Overall, Tingen explains with unique clarity Davis' gift for bringing his musical concepts to fruition, as well as Miles' ability to inspire his sidepersons to play "above what they know." Interviews with significant non-musical associates--specifically girlfriends--also help to provide as complete a picture as possible of Davis. If the book has a flaw, it is the degree to which the author's views of Davis' recordings tend to move out of sync with his outstanding analysis of Davis' artistry in general--he leaves the impression that the "electric era" only sporadically lived up to what is in effect the author's own hype. Arguably he clings to some of the paradigms that he praises Davis for breaking (e.g., the overlength of many tracks). I even cringed when Tingen labeled the aesthetically-groundbreaking, politically-charged SUN CITY track "Let Me See Your I.D." (with a brilliant Gil Scott-Heron rap) as "boring funk-disco." And is DOO-BOP really "bubblegum teenage music?" I couldn't resist wondering if the overwrought electric-Miles hater Stanley Crouch hijacked the text in instances such as these. Tingen claims that that his musical upbringing was on the avant edge of rock. I'm pondering whether or not that background is any more sufficient than that of a mainstream jazz fan to evaluate Davis' 1967-91 recordings. In my mind, to understand this era requires the ability to get swept away--intrinsically and extrinsically--by the deep grooves of the likes of funk legends James Brown, Sly Stone, and George Clinton. Furthermore, I think it requires open ears for such pop superstars like Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson (all of whom have drawn positive critical notices), such eclectic visionaries as Joni Mitchell, and also to have a discerning ear for styles that critics abhor (e.g., top-40 pop) as well as favor (reggae, alternative rock). I believe that Davis listened to and had an affinity for most or all of the above...and I am left with the impression that most or all of the above may be relatively alien to Tingen. Despite these concerns, the bottom line is that the book's benefits FAR outweigh any problematic aspects. Tingen has done a remarkable job at getting "inside" Miles' musical mind. Most of the occasional shortcomings to Tingen's musical analysis are minimized by his often letting the musicians explain what is happening. No matter how well you think you know Miles, you'll know him better after reading this book, even if you find yourself having differences of opinion regarding some of the particulars.
Rating: 
Summary: A good start, but not the real deal
Review: This book does indeed cover the electric years in detail. There are lots of interviews with sidemen like Corea, Holland, DeJohnette, Cobham, Grossman, etc. that really flesh out what went down (much of it barely comprehensible to the musicians when they played it). But who needs any coverage of the 1980-1991 period? There is WAAY too much yadda yadda kind of macro-analysis that doesn't address specifics of the music, including a long exposition into the writing and theories of Ken Wilber. I say cut the **** and cut to the chase. He overuses Miles' autobiography with Quincy Troupe as a source. I consider that document to be self-serving in the extreme and frequently fictional, and I wouldn't use it as a source without corroboration. He also frequently denigrates Chambers' Milestones, which I consider the best overall book to date regarding Miles' life and career. This is probably no more than professional rivalry, but it lessens this book. The analysis of the various recording dates and output mostly jibes with my takes on the same recordings, but is incomplete. Nothing in his analysis is striking or displays insight that a half-sophisticated listener couldn't arrive at. Lester Bangs did several early 70s contemporaneous reviews of this material that showed much more depth of thought. And he ignores quite a few live dates that should have been available to him as a researcher. All in all, I wouldn't give this more than three or three and a half of five stars. It's a nice start, but certainly not the definitive book about this period. I see John Szwed has a new MIles bio out - he did a great job with his Sun Ra bio, so maybe his will be the new definitive work.
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Summary: stop saying "include and transcend"!
Review: This book is very well-documented. The quoted interviews with Miles' sidemen are compelling, driving the analytic narrative single-handedly at times. The book is also rather shoddily written and edited. First off, we don't need to be force-fed Ken Wilber's philosophies like so many Israeli Geese. It's facile and maddening that Mr. Tingen overuses him as a referent. But he pored over the reels, so I suppose he can infuse the book with Zen tenets and holonmania if he so chooses. The reprisal referred to in the review title is so gratuitously and pedantically used as to make the reader feel he's in a Jazz for Housewives seminar. Furthermore, it's a stretch to extend the "electric" parameters to '91. The true electric music stopped in '75 and briefly reappeared in '81 (but only contemporaneously with some burgeoning pop). It's hard for me to countenance any of Mr. Tingen's glowing reviews for the 80's fluff, particularly in light of his hyper-critical takes on the 70's material(not all of which was stellar, I do concede). I've read this book twice and referred to it often, so it's not a nugatory effort, just one that requires the reader to have a certain disposition going in.
Rating:
Summary: stop saying "include and transcend"!
Review: This book is very well-documented. The quoted interviews with Miles' sidemen are compelling, driving the analytic narrative single-handedly at times. The book is also rather shoddily written and edited. First off, we don't need to be force-fed Ken Wilber's philosophies like so many Israeli Geese. It's facile and maddening that Mr. Tingen overuses him as a referent. But he pored over the reels, so I suppose he can infuse the book with Zen tenets and holonmania if he so chooses. The reprisal referred to in the review title is so gratuitously and pedantically used as to make the reader feel he's in a Jazz for Housewives seminar. Furthermore, it's a stretch to extend the "electric" parameters to '91. The true electric music stopped in '75 and briefly reappeared in '81 (but only contemporaneously with some burgeoning pop). It's hard for me to countenance any of Mr. Tingen's glowing reviews for the 80's fluff, particularly in light of his hyper-critical takes on the 70's material(not all of which was stellar, I do concede). I've read this book twice and referred to it often, so it's not a nugatory effort, just one that requires the reader to have a certain disposition going in.
Rating:
Summary: A must for all Miles fans
Review: This period of Miles Davis's career has aroused a lot of mixed feelings, but for those who love some or all of the music he created as he "went electric" and stayed there, or for those who are interested to find out more, even if they're not sure they will like what they find there, Paul Tingen's book is invaluable. Readable yet scholarly, it contains much information not available in other books about Miles. I've read it through several times, and plan to refer to it as I continue my own interest in the music of this marvelous American artist. I can't say enough good things about Mr. Tingen's book. It's more than worth investigating. No true Miles Davis fan will be disappointed.
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