Milestones: The Music And Times Of Miles Davis [Paperback]

Jack Chambers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1998

This invaluable biography of trumpeter and jazz-bebop-fusion innovator Miles Davis (1926–1991) includes a substantial new introduction that for the first time details Davis’s turbulent last decade; the drawing and painting that became an additional creative outlet; the musical lows of his final “Freaky Deaky” years; the family warfare that has erupted over his last will and testament; and—in a long-awaited exposé—the truth behind Davis’s so-called Autobiography, the book that “borrowed” gigantic portions from Milestones and passed them off as Davis’s. Jack Chambers breaks his silence to discuss the extent of the “borrowing” and who was responsible. Here is the last word on the music and controversial life of Miles Davis.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Chambers, the author of several books, lives in Canada, where he is professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto.

Product Details

• Paperback: 838 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306808498
• ISBN-13: 978-0306808494
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #807,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Miles Biography, May 27, 2000

By 

Terry Saundry (Keysborough, Vic, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Milestones: The Music And Times Of Miles Davis (Paperback)

By the time I found out about Jack Chambers' Miles biographies (two volumes, originally) they had been combined into this single book with some new material that brings the original manuscripts from the 1980's up to date. Despite the heading on this site, this is the complete 800-odd page monster bio, not an "introduction"!

This is a fantastic bio. Like many other critics and older fans who were raised on jazz, Chambers can't really relate to Miles' work from the late 1960's onwards, but he does give it comprehensive coverage, rather than pretend that it all ended with "The Quintet". I'm not sure that criticisms about his quoting reviews are justified. I saw it as just being thorough - giving details of the critics' reactions to recordings rather than just his own. I learned much from his chronicling of events, right through to the seventies, that I did not know.

If you are a fan of Miles' final period (1981 comeback to his death in 1991), then you're probably the only one who will feel short-changed. As this was not a period that interested me greatly, I was not particularly bothered (probably exhausted by then!).

A really professional effort.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitve biography of Miles Davis written thus far, January 8, 2001

By 

historyone (Republic of Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Milestones: The Music And Times Of Miles Davis (Paperback)

Jack Chambers has done a very hard task and that is to present the life of the legendary Miles Davis to readers in a very interesting, yet complex style which was reflective of the way Miles Davis led his life and music.

Miles Davis was the premiere jazz musician of his time along with John Coltrane, Charlie "Bird" Parker, Herbie Hancock, etc, yet while you can love Davis's music, to know the man was very hard to do, since Miles Davis was a standoffish and sullen individual. Chambers describes Davis's behavior as being sullen and hard to know because Davis's was a very shy man. I am sure that Davis lived a tough life because of injustice, yet it is sad that he didn't trust his fans and those who cared for him. Davis certainly lived the life of a "star", he over-indulged in sex, was an abuser of drugs, and had split personalities later on in life, yet his musical vision was almost always focused and clear, whether it be in the pinnacle of his talent (1950-1962), or his creating fusion (1967-1973), or the later part of his life.

Chambers does an excellent job of detailing the relationship Miles had with his fellow musicians such as the love-hate relationship with Theolonius Monk, the admiration and jealousy between Coltrane and Miles, as well as Miles being a mentor to such jazz greats as Herbie Hancock, John McGlaughlin, Chick Corea, etc.

I am a tremendous fan of Miles Davis jazz visions, I love his music and his musical style, yet after reading this book I feel sadness because I don't know if I pity Davis or just not liking him altogether, or admiring him no matter what, his final years were spent in paranoia, suspicion and feeding his ego, that is sad because if he would of just relaxed and enjoy his fans admiration I believe he might have lived longer. Anyways, this is an outstanding book and is highly recommended to all jazz lovers and fans of the immortal Miles Davis.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening and Infuriating at the Same Time, March 11, 2007

By 

Talking Wall "Never trust a man with manicure... (Queen Creek, AZ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Milestones: The Music And Times Of Miles Davis (Paperback)

Re-read Review: I still consider this a great source of information but the writing style is horrible. Chambers uses $5.00 words like "lugubrious" as adjectives all over the place. Good writing speaks to the reader in every day speech. Who the heck uses words like lugubrious in every day speech? And his use of adjectives doesn't make sense. "the lugubriously titled Miles Smiles"... What? Why is that lugubrious (mournful)? Or describing the melody of Paraphernalia from Miles in the Sky as "doleful". What? I think Chambers is probably in need of a good anti-depressant. I also fail to see why it is necessary for Chambers to give HIS opinion of the music that was recorded or performed. I could not care less what Chambers or any other Miles biographer thinks of the music. That is NOT the reason I read these books, I'm in search of information so that I can understand the guy's music and his career. I don't care what the writer thinks of the music, it's a waste of typset and ink.

Original Review:

Yes, this is THE source for information on Miles Davis' career. It should get five stars but there is a major sticking point for me. The book pretty much sticks to the musical aspects of Miles' life and it is chock-full of great information about line-ups, tours, recording dates.

I love all of Miles' work from his days with Parker until the day he died. It ALL has its place. Given that, I have a very serious problem with this book. Chambers is incredibly biased against Miles work from In a Silent Way onwards. He delivers many judgments about some recorded performances a "failures". He has very few positive things to say about this period. His comments about Big Fun and On the Corner (now considered far ahead of its time and a masterpiece) are inexcusable. He claims any listener to the music on Big Fun will find it frustratingly boring. Speak for yourself Chambers, Big Fun was the very record that got me into Miles Davis. If it's so lousy, why is it still in print in both a 24 bit remaster AND SACD? Chambers describes "He Loved Him Madly" from "Get Up With It" as "monochratic" and asserts it is incapable of sustaining the listener's interest. What? Again, if it's so boring, why is "Get Up With It" still in print and beautifully remastered 27 years after its initial release? SOMEbody is buying this stuff. We know who we are ;-)

I believe most folks don't read a book like this because they want a critique, they want information and perhaps insights from the folks who were there, playing the music, producing the music, etc. The information is here in this book, but the reader has to put up with Chamber's shallow opinions about Miles' later work. His comments about the Cellar Door gig with McLaughlin are ridiculous - especially given we can now actually hear much of those performances on the Cellar Door Sessions and that this was an incredibly good band with or without McLaughlin.

Chambers also prefaced this new edition with a long diatribe about Miles' last decade, calling him "Freaky Deaky" and making lots of plagerism complaints, i.e. Miles ripped off many of Chambers accounts and stories to create his autobiography. That may be a very valid point but I didn't buy this book to read about that sort of thing. So what, Chambers is upset that an old man who always claimed to have a poor memory used his book to recall some of the instances of his own life? Pathetic. Chambers forgets that he's made a handsome profit off of the life of Miles Dewey Davis. If Chambers felt he just HAD to include it, then it should have appeared as an epilogue not as a prologue full of sour grapes.

If you want to learn a lot about Miles, this is definitely THE book to purchase, but ya sure have to endure a lot of the author's sour grapes and subjective, snotty criticism to get the goods.