With the New Year a few hours away I’m looking forward to a great 2009, filled with new adventures and intrigue (like I’m some kind of spy or something. Sorry.) On a purely entertainment level this web project will continue in the New Year to ‘deconstruct’ each and every component of the Miles Davis biopic. … Continue reading »
I stumbled across a somewhat notable interview Miles Davis did with Don DeMichael in 1969 for Rolling Stone (Jazz’s Picasso puts it in black and white); it’s an interesting enough read, but what caught my attention was this particular passage: There’s the one about how he lost his voice (the Davis voice is a legend … Continue reading »
R.I.P. Continue reading »
The Hot Spot: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack I had no idea. But not bad at all. Continue reading »
File this under: late to the party (but no less intriguing). Back in March 2008 Don Cheadle appeared on the cover of Essence. I know this because in doing research I stumbled upon a transcript of the interview. What’s notable is how much Cheadle expounds on the Miles Davis biopic in literally a few short … Continue reading »
A bit of a reach on the day before Christmas you say? Possibly. But Alex Haley’s ‘candid conversation with the jazz world’s premier iconoclast‘ in 1962 was the first Playboy Interview (Volume 9, Number 9) and the conversation is both candid and enlightening – which you’d expect from Miles Davis anyway. There are also some … Continue reading »
Arsenio Hall! It’s not a bad trip back to good ol’ 1990 to catch up with Miles Davis. It’s too bad Charlie Rose never had the opportunity to interview Miles. Continue reading »
2009 Grammy Awards Best Album Notes (Category 90): * Art Of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years Of Traditional American Music Documented By Art Rosenbaum Art Rosenbaum, album notes writer (Various Artists) [Dust-To-Digital] * Debate ’08: Taft And Bryan Campaign On The Edison Phonograph Patrick Feaster & David Giovannoni, album notes writers (William Jennings Bryan … Continue reading »
In April of 1961 the Miles Davis Quintet played two nights at the Blackhawk, a legendary jazz club in San Francisco. The Friday and Saturday night shows were captured on two separate recordings (now available as a complete set w/ an unreleased fourth set). I love this collection. The quintet (together only briefly) features Paul … Continue reading »
In 1944, the Billy Eckstine band visited St. Louis. The group included saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Davis, 18, joined the band as third trumpet for a couple of weeks. Not a bad way to get your start as a jazz musician. The role of Gillespie is not essential to the film, but … Continue reading »
Happy Birthday, Cicely! Cicely Tyson married Miles Davis on Nov. 26, 1981. The ceremony was conducted by Atlanta mayor Andrew Young at the home of actor Bill Cosby. Tyson and Davis divorced in 1988. I won’t say it’s a vital role, but Davis’ time with Tyson, who I think is just terrific, does coincide with … Continue reading »
* Will/Should ‘Miles Davis’ premier at Cannes? Continue reading »
The Playlist posted some news and opinion this week about Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” film, Part One: “The Argentine” and Part Two: “Guerilla.” They pulled a quote from a good Salon.com interview w/ Soderbergh about dividing the film into two parts and what he’d do differently in retrospect. “Now I look at it and wish we’d … Continue reading »
Buried in the middle of an Associated Press interview with Aretha Franklin about her new X-mas CD is a tidbit about the writers of the Miles Davis movie and her biopic. AP: A movie about your life is in the works. How is that progressing? Franklin: I sat with the writers that came in for … Continue reading »
