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Start giftingMiles
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Learn moreUniversally acclaimed as a musical genius, Miles Davis was one of the most important and influential musicians in the world. Here, Miles speaks out about his extraordinary life.
Miles: The Autobiography, like Miles himself, holds nothing back. For the first time Miles talks about his five-year silence, he speaks frankly and openly about his drug problem and how he overcame it, he condemns the racism he encountered in the music business and in American society in general, and he discusses the women in his life. But above all, Miles talks about music and musicians, including the legends he has played with over the years: Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Trane, Mingus, and many others.
Miles Davis (1926–1991), is one of the key figures in the history of jazz, and his place in vanguard of that pantheon is secure. As a trumpeter Davis was far from virtuosic, but he made up for his technical limitations by emphasizing his strengths: his ear for ensemble sound, unique phrasing, and a distinctively fragile tone. Drugs were prevalent on the club scene in this era, and by 1949 he had become a heroine addict. His disease kept his career in low gear until he cleaned up six years later, after which he collaborated with other musicians and formed numerous groups that went on to make highly acclaimed music. It is hard to overstate Davis’ contributions to jazz. In 1990 he received the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and jazz and rock musicians continue to regularly gather and record or perform pieces from Davis’ cannon.
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who he has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.
Reviews
“Superior jazz writing that ranks with that of the best practitioners of the art.”
“This is not just any book…This volume is crammed with juicy gossip about most of the key figures in modern jazz.”
“This is not just any book. As with everything else he has done, Davis’s work as writer is likely to raise controversy. The book could well be subtitled ‘Miles Tells All’ for this volume is crammed with juicy gossip about most of the key figures in modern jazz.”
“With Miles, Davis proves to be his own most perceptive critic.”
“[Miles] was and is the master, and his book is must reading for any student or fan of music.”
“Dion Graham mimics the raspy, gravelly voice of jazz great Miles Davis to perfection…This epic story of one of the world’s greatest musicians intrigues and engrosses from first page to last, greatly aided by the sure talents of Graham.”
“In this compelling oral history of the life of the legendary and creative jazz trumpeter, Graham channels Davis in a reading that is so natural and true that we feel as if we are hearing the story from Davis himself…The emphasis is on the music, and the narrative leaves no doubt about Davis’ genius and his ability to adapt to changes and perform at the top of his skills. Graham’s stellar performance of this 1989 biography will captivate.”
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