Milestones: The Music And Times Of Miles Davis

by Jack Chambers

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.

Genres: Music, Biography, Jazz, History, Nonfiction

838 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[BillM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encyclopedically informative and a great read.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately, this book kind of pissed me off. It's certainly thorough, so there's that. But the writing is really dull. Chambers goes into excessive detail of every recording session ever, yet never manages to capture who Davis WAS. It's a lot of facts, and in many cases those facts are interesting, but you need more to make a compelling story. You need a PERSON at the center, and Miles never quite shows up in this book.

Another major problem is the way Chambers, though he tries hard to write in a flat, objective style, trashes the music he doesn't personally like. So Miles's output from '72 to '75 is described "objectively," yet Chambers makes sure we know how worthless it all was.

Which is the standard opinion of the times among the jazz mafia, of whom Chambers is obviously one. That is, people who "know" what "jazz" is, and who were somehow deeply wounded by Miles playing something else in the '70s. These people are all the same and it's tiresome to hear their idiot opinions over and over again. "He sold out!" they say of the insane, unique, wild music that didn't sell, and that critics despised. I think they're a bit unclear on the concept.

Maybe they just couldn't help themselves. The book was written in '83, and it wasn't until the '90s that Miles's '70s music was finally seen for what it is: fucking genius. Like he traveled to the future and brought back the electronic sounds of the '90s and '00s and recreated it with musicians in the '70s.

So, yeah. The book was informative enough to keep me going, but to hell with Chambers and his jazz elitism. Music is music, and Miles was a genius.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This exhaustive text is the definitive overview of Davis's music and his relationship to other musicians. It is an invaluable companion to the music itself. As a standard biography, however, it fails miserably, probably because the author had no intention of reviewing the basic biographical details of Davis's life. The book's subtitle is apt: it is about the "music" and the "times" but not really the "life" per se. If you want a biography, look elsewhere. If you want a thoughtful, sensitive sense of Davis's music evolution (and devolution), this is the one book you need.

[Carlos Repuestodelatabla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milestones I & II is the first bio I read of Miles, and I liked it a lot. It was detailed, accurate, exhaustive. It was more about his life than his music ( see Ian Carr's for more concentration on the music) but it was thorough and well written, easy to read.

[Craig Bryson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive overview of the life and music of Miles Dewey Davis.
Miles complained about people who were not there thinking they knew, but that doesn't stop this work from being totally engrossing- a nerds delight.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chambers does a very thorough job of detailing Miles' career and making it feel present and real. I highly recommend this book to any fan of Miles Davis.

[Philly Aesthete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flawed, but deeply engaging bio that deals substantively with Miles' creative output.

[lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a great biography.