Jazz Articles about Miles Davis

About Miles Davis

Album Review

Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Smiles

Read "Miles Smiles" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski

by Nenad Georgievski
July 2, 2016

Without a hint of a doubt, the trumpeter Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet which he led in the mid-'60s rekindled his fire for music resulting in exuberant and adventurous music. Davis was reenergized by his young band which vitality and enthusiasm has made a big difference. Not only did it stretch Miles' boundaries, as the band was taking chances and experimenting, but it also helped him get through a difficult period in his personal life (the deaths of his parents, ...

Multiple Reviews

Miles Ahead Soundtrack / Live in Tokyo 1975

by Geno Thackara
May 31, 2016

Miles Davis / Various Artists Miles Ahead (motion picture soundtrack) Sony Legacy 2016 It's hard to imagine why the world would ever need yet another Miles Davis compilation. We're talking about a catalogue big enough to fill its own library and eclectic enough to give you whiplash for the ears if you skim through it too fast. If you start comparing albums even a year or two apart, you're often looking at completely ...

Album Review

Miles Davis: Miles Davis

Read "Miles Davis" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo

by Maurizio Zerbo
May 3, 2016

Poco più di trenta minuti di musica compongono questo CD antologico della DeAgostini, dedicato alla non certo corposa produzione davisiana per la Blue Note. Quasi tutte le tracce sono tratte da Miles Davis vol. 1, registrato tra il 1952 e il 1954. I rimanenti due brani si ritrovavano originariamente in Miles Davis vol. 2 e Something Else, che Miles Davis incise con Cannonball Adderley. Nel disco in esame si ritrovano gli elementi chiave dell'espressività davisiana, magnificamente racchiusa ...

Film Review

Miles Ahead: A Powerhouse Film, But is it the Truth?

by Victor L. Schermer
April 25, 2016

Don Cheadle Miles Ahead Sony Pictures Classics 2015 Miles Davis happens to have been actor Don Cheadle's long-time hero, and he mulled over the idea of a film about him for several years. In contemplating his directorial and screenwriting debut based on Davis' life, Cheadle could have chosen among several formats: a chronological account; the story of his music with documentary footage; or perhaps a “newsflash" version of key events from the trumpeter's tumultuous life ...

What is Jazz?

Co-Improvisation: Explaining the Magic

by Victor L. Schermer
March 7, 2016

When we listen to great jazz performances, we pay most attention to the soloists, some of whom become our musical heroes. In that respect, jazz is an affirmation of the individual, the uniqueness and liberation of either the “free and joyful spirit," of whom there was none greater than Louis Armstrong, or the arduous struggle of the existential hero to become free, a musician whose inborn talent and valor met the awesome challenges of life and music. Perhaps the most ...

Interview

Miles Comes To The Big Screen; Nephew Vincent Wilburn Approves

by R.J. DeLuke
October 19, 2015

Sometimes a comment made without serious intent can start the wheels of fate. Many Miles Davis fans know there has been a Miles Davis movie in the works for some time. Different proposals emerged over the years, none of them coming to light for varying reasons. Now, however, all Miles fans know that it's here. The movie, filmed in Cincinnati, is complete and ready for release. It debuted in New York City the second weekend in October. The ...

Film Review

Don Cheadle's "Miles Ahead"

by Solomon J. LeFlore
October 13, 2015

Miles Ahead, in which the Academy Award winning actor portrays the legendary trumpeter, marks the directorial debut of Don Cheadle, who co-wrote the script.The independently financed production was shot in Cincinnati. Co-starring with Don Cheadle are Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg and Emayatzy Corinealdi. The production capped a nine year journey to the big screen that started with Davis' posthumous induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.Rather than encapsulating the entirety of Miles Davis' life, ...