Customer Reviews

Miles: The Autobiography

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This is a superb book, but not for the easily offended. Miles' autobiography reveals a hardworking, supremely talented musician who challenged himself continually as he, time after time, reinvented jazz. Yet Miles Davis is full of contradictions; the victim of racism; he rails, at times, against whites, yet plays with and respects them. His attitudes and behavior toward women can be appalling, yet he had a tender, generous side, and admits (and also denies) his faults. As far as I can tell, Miles is Miles in this book, and if there are contradictions in his story, it's because there are contradictions in the man.

Some people have complained that there is not enough analysis of his music in the book, but your ears will tell you more than any technical explanation. He talks of his early days at Juilliard, skipping the school to play with Bird and others in New York, his courageous "cold turkey" quitting of heroin, his abuse by police, and the various bands and movements he led. Lots of amusing (and tragic) anecdotes, comments on other musicians, insights into his wide-ranging tastes, and interesting sidelights (he and Jimi Hendrix almost made an album together).

Miles Davis is candid, and quite generous with his use of obscenities--but no matter. He tells it like he sees it. One gets the impression that if the man is flawed, and his recollections perhaps self-serving at times, he at least is being as honest as he can be with himself. We really don't know, just as we can't really know all the "true facts" in any autobiography.

His music is unspeakably beautiful, and one may wonder how his music seems to transcend both his victimization and his own prejudice. But then, maybe that is our bias: To try to fit Miles into some definition that would explain these seeming incongruities. Miles defies categorization, and that is the challenge and the beauty of the book: To take it on its own terms, to accept the complexity of the man, flaws and all (as we are all flawed), and then to be thankful that Miles smiled on us. This is a landmark of autobiography, transposing the seen and the felt. The book makes you think, and would be an excellent choice for a book club or classroom. Very highly recommended, one of the best books ever written about one musician's personal journey.

Miles Davis' autobiography is absorbing reading and should be read by anybody interested in the history of Jazz or the social history of Davis' era. That said, it will be a disappointment to anybody who is really awed by Davis.

I initially read this book early in college when I was first getting into modal jazz, and I loved hearing about the scene and the times, and hearing about in Mile's voice. But I was crestfallen over how unrepentant he was and the overall defensive agenda he has, using his autobiography mainly as a forum to list and dispute things that have been said about him over the years. For example, I was reading about how he used and abused women and I kept waiting to hear him say how ashamed he is looking back, or how bad he felt, or how he tried to rectify the situation. I thought it was coming anytime, a chapter, a paragraph, or even a sentence. But it doesn't happen.

My initial reading of Miles was right around the time I read Flashbacks, the Timothy Leary autobiography. Both books had multiple sections that fit the basic format: "Now, people said that... but what really happened was..." What do you know, it turns out that our heroes have accumulated injustices from everyone but have actually never done anything wrong in their entire lives. I put these books down, disillusioned, and had come to the realization that there were no heroes. Even people I respect or am fascinated by, compelling historical figures, accomplished, if given the opportunity to immortalize themselves in their own words, will reveal themselves to be narcissistic, applause-addicted, blowhards. Oh well, I guess that's part of growing up.

Miles Davis' contributions to art are undeniable, and I recommend this book, but prepare to grapple with the ambiguities of simultaneous reverence and abhorrence.

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.

This book is a gospel for all true jazz lovers. Miles tells all about the jazz scene in such a vivid manner, that you will feel like he is talking directly to you. you will laugh, you will cry, you will learn about all the heavy hitters of the 30s, 40s,50s, 60s,and beyond. miles was so on the money on a lot of issues and he didnt pull any punches when he talked about his own much publicized short comings. He will tell you about every band,every recording session and what impact that it had on his life at that time. Every musician that he ever played with is included in this book. This is a great biography. You will truly understand what a powerful musician miles really was, and the great impact that this trumpet giant made on the music world. This book is a must read for all true jazz lovers.

Miles davis pulled no punches when he wrote this incredibly honest memoir. His candor about himself and other luminaries of the jazz world is indispensible reading to jazz fans and anyone with an interest in music. He reveals many unflattering characteristics but also freely praises other musicians with whom he played and clearly describes why they deserve such praise. One can learn a great deal about the creative process and the environment that drove these musicians to explore and expand musically. Miles Davis is equally honest about heroin addiction and his and others struggle to overcome it. Some succeded, many more failed. Characters like Charlie parker, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, Dizz Gillespie, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane , Monk and countless others float in and out of the story as Miles Davis and others were forming and reforming combinations due to a variety of circumstances. The music scene in New York in the late 40's and early 50's was overflowing with soon to be legendary performers. Davis had a vision of what his music should sound like and he relentlessly pursued that sound through the decades and evolved as an artist moving one step ahead (if not several steps ) of everyone else. I've always loved Davis' music but after reading this it is impossible not to admire the man's artisitc integrity. This guy was clearly a Giant of American music and nothing in this book will diminish his stature artistically. I feel that I understand the records and the context of the music much better for having read this. Highly recommended.

Miles' words match his music. That revolutionary sound burns, subverts and takes you to a whole new space. If you read his life story you'll never question whether he put himself into his sound. The book doesn't pander to anyone. ( A mild way of stating he writes raw and real.) He was a sinner but did not succomb to the pressures of the establishment press. Who else would turn his his back on the audiences, and terrorize influential interviewers?
This volume, like all his work, totally his own; proves him an intolerant bully, certain drug addict, chronic
irreverent often seething with universal contempt. The section of Cicely Tyson's extravagant 'Tribute to Miles' is too good for me to spoil it here. Miles surely demythologizes Tyson, whom he claimed he never loved. But he also gets a few jabs in at Trane, and we all know the pantheon wherein he presides.
His childhood is interesting and not the typical po' boy refrain. His father a dentist, comfortable but surely not wealthy. Still, on the whole, Davis had it better in St. Louis than most black folks.
This book is a "must read" for jazz lovers and people who seek liberation from the ordinary. Hear Miles talk about how good he looked and sounded. Nobody else could have written this book. Nobody would dare.

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.

"Listen. The greatest feeling I ever had in my life - with my clothes on - was when I first hear Diz and Bird together in St. Louis, Missouri, back in 1944". And so begins Miles' account of his remarkable career. In collaboration with Quincy Troupe, Davis guides us through the events and the people in his life that shaped his music. A brilliant piece of work which is distinctly Miles - simultaneously angry and humorous, harsh and reflective. Miles speaks directly about his struggles with drugs, the women in his life, and his experience as an often misunderstood black musician in a white America. Miles also provides us with richly engaging accounts of his music and the musicians he played with over the years. This spirited story is told by Miles in caustic language and he never shies away from controversy. Miles said of his music in his later years "I like playing with young musicians. I want to keep creating, changing. Music isn't about standing still and becoming safe". This book isn't safe and will always be compelling reading. A must read for new and seasoned fans and enthusiasts.

Charlie Saxe
Chicago, Illinois

I use the present tense when I describe this book as a classic, because I could read this multiple times and never get bored, while gaining large amounts of knowledge. This book is brilliant because it is honest. It is a first hand account of his life that really cannot be explained by anyone else but himself, Miles Davis. Miles starts from his earliest memories all the way to the end in this book without holding anything back. He does not limit his speech to selective words that would hinder the actual situation. He tells everything truthfully with no fluff. This is definitely one of the most treasured jazz read in the history of literature. If you are a serious musician or an active listener of this music, I highly suggest you read it. Besides learning everything from Miles perspective and how his life was, you will also gain knowledge on the music himself and how the other players of his time were like. Buy this now, you will not regret!

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.