So What: The Life of Miles Davis By John Szwed
Everything you could possibly find out about the great musician other than by listening to his music. Well worth the read. So What: The Life of Miles Davis In the past few days, I immersed myself into the life of Miles Davis through the pen of John Szwed. I read from 10 pm (when the kids went to bed) until 1:30 in the morning, went to sleep with Miles in my head, and then got up at 5 am to read some more.
Even though I have read a numerous books on Miles including his autobiography, I find Szwed's So What enlightening. Most of Miles stories have been told before, but Szwed made some corrections through his extensive research and interviews of Miles's family members. Once again, I lost count of how many women Miles had slept and slapped, but the way that he treated Frances Taylor, in particular, as told in this book is quite appalling.
Although Szwed claims in the introduction that this book is not a musical study, he had done excellent job of briefly discussing Miles's albums from Birth of the Cool to Doo-Bop. If you want more in-depth studies of Miles's music, however, make sure to pick up Richard Cook's It’s About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off Record after finish reading this book. So What: The Life of Miles Davis The best book on Miles that I’ve read, and I’ve read quite a few. A great place to start if you want an introduction to the life and times and music of arguably the most important musician of the second half of the 20th century. Now to put on Sketches of Spain. So What: The Life of Miles Davis Splendid. Pierces the mystery of the man who changed music four or five times. Filled with insight. In turns, fascinating, entertaining, amusing, appalling, downright horrifying... So What: The Life of Miles Davis Many adjectives could be used to describe Davis, but from what I got out of this bio I would call him a stubborn, complicated, bully, and innovator who marched to his own beat. Davis never liked his music being called jazz. He would often play with his back to the audience and always staring down at his horn so as not to be distracted by anyone or anything.
His various musical tastes and periods were compared to Picasso who went through his share of artistic styles and interests. Both went through a lot of women as well, but both were also very influential.
Davis was also a major drug taker and abuser and he himself even said Music is like dope. You use it until you get tired of it.
From what I gather his best album remains Kind of Blue (1959) which Miles was composer, director, trumpeter, and band leader on and featured such greats in the band as Bill Evans on piano, Coltrane on tenor sax to name a few.
Szwed puts together a biography that is rich in details, albums, concerts, lifestyle, and all the warts that came with Davis in his 65 years on earth. Highly recommended to those who have an interest. So What: The Life of Miles Davis
I suppose my opinions of this would be different if I had read other miles bios before reading this. it was thorough, but full more of impressions than facts, and I liked it for that. So What: The Life of Miles Davis Tratto dalla sovraccoperta: Non cercare di farmi passare per uno simpatico. Sono parole di Miles Davis, inconfondibilmente sue, ed è la regola alla quale si è attenuto John Szwed per scrivere la biografia più completa e documentata della leggenda che più di una volta ha cambiato il jazz, musicista camaleontico capace di inventare radicalmente sempre nuove direzioni - cool jazz, jazz modale, jazz-rock - e uomo tormentato, ossessionato da se stesso.
Una biografia completa e dettagliata come pochi. Perfetta per chi ama il mondo del jazz o chi muove i primi passi in questo genere musicale e vuole sapere qualcosa di più su questa leggenda.
Nel mio caso non smetterò mai di ringraziare mio padre e tutta l'influenza musicale e culturale che mi ha donato nel corso degli anni. È proprio vero: la mela non cade mai lontana dall'albero. So What: The Life of Miles Davis This is the second time I've read this book. The first was in college. Of all the Davis bios I've read this is my favorite, especially now that I'm much more familiar with his entire body of work. Szwed presents a complete picture of the man, warts and all. You read about the drugs, his mistreatment of women, his ignoring of his family and so much more. You also gain insight into his works, his musical explorations, his painting. If you have any interest in Miles Davis at all skip the autobiography and start with this book. So What: The Life of Miles Davis Szwed has provided a good overview of Davis, his personal relationships and how they influenced his creative process, from formative years through his final days. As a musician, I was pleased with the attention to detail regarding the music itself. So What: The Life of Miles Davis My quest to learn a little about jazz continued with this biography of Miles Davis. And yes, I learned a ton about the music. I also learned that Davis was a monumental asshole. The strength of the biography is in these two areas--the musical history and clear explication of the different styles of jazz, and the honest portrayal of the artist as monster.
I would have been happy with a little more critical take on Miles's last fifteen years when he pretty much phoned it in and also won a handful of Grammys (further proof that the Grammy is a joke). But my biggest complaint is that the book fails to adequately explain what happened during the most critical phase of Miles's life. One minute he's a junkie has-been, struggling to get clean and put together a band, then suddenly he's producing the most highly acclaimed music in the history of jazz. There was so much happening during this time and far too few pages devoted to making sense of it.
Now excuse me while I try to hunt down a copy of his version of Scritti Politti's Perfect Way. So What: The Life of Miles Davis
free read So What: The Life of Miles Davis
Musical genius, visionary artist, enigma -- more than ten years after his death, Miles Davis still looms large as a cultural icon. In this, the first new biography since Davis' death, John Szwed draws on various archives and never-before-published interviews with those who knew him to produce the richest and most revealing portrait of Miles Davis to date.
The shy son of a dentist from Illinois, Miles Dewey Davis III would go through several transformations before becoming the image of cool. Change, says Szwed, was the driving force in both Davis' life and music -- as quickly as he established a new direction in his music and a new identity, he would radically reinvent both. He seemed to thrive on close musical relationships -- playing with jazz greats from Charlie Parker to John Coltrane and working with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, and composer Gil Evans, among others -- and yet the enduring image of Davis is of a lone figure, famously turning his back on the audience. He was at the peak of his career, having achieved star status, when he withdrew from the spotlight, spending years as a recluse. These seeming contradictions fueled the myths surrounding the man, but Szwed's insights into Davis' personality and artistic creativity shed new light on his life, from his turbulent relationships to his drug use and mysterious last days. Elegantly written and carefully researched, is the authoritative life of an artist who was always ahead of his time. So What: The Life of Miles Davis