The Miles Davis Companion: Four Decades of Commentary

by Gary Carner (Editor), Gary Camer

Draws on profiles, interviews, liner notes and original reviews of recordings to give a full picture of Davis’ work. Includes essays on the impact of his life and music. With photos.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Journalism, Jazz, Biography

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "The Miles Davis Companion: Four Decades of Commentary" by Gary Carner draws on profiles, interviews, liner notes and original reviews of recordings by Miles Davis.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read several of these pieces before, but not all of them. No-one, in my view, especially musicians, can ever have too many books about Miles Davis (it should go without saying that is even more true when it comes to his records). This one wasn't anywhere near the top of my wish-list, but I was happy to pay the $4 and change it cost me. It was well worth every penny. Gary Carner did a good job compiling & editing this, especially given the ridiculously short time he had to do it in. Re-reading the pieces by the late Stanley Crouch and Greg Tate underlined, once again, what a terrible loss they both were to our culture, and of the gaping hole in that culture's criticism that is left by their passing. And that's despite the fact that I have never thought these particular pieces were among the best work of either man. Hell, for that matter, I think Crouch was dead wrong in this particular case- but he was an extraordinarily funny motherfucker, and it's still worth reading!