The Miles Davis Reader

If you ever needed proof that a magazine can have a love affair with a musician you're holding it in your hands. For ÊDownBeatÊ the preeminent publication of the jazz world Miles Dewey Davis was one of its most cherished subjects. Since it began covering the jazz scene in 1939 no other artist has been more diligently chronicled in its pages than Davis.ÞThe beauty of this collection is seeing the development of an artist over time. The reviews of his music go from quietly introducing a new talent to revering perhaps the greatest jazz artist of his generation. The feature articles begin with a very young very polite Davis lamenting I've worked so little. I could probably tell you where I was playing any night in the last three years. As he develops the interviews show Davis gaining confidence and stature showing swagger and becoming the over-the-top say-it-like-it-is showman that made every interview an event.ÞÊThe Miles Davis ReaderÊ compiles more than 200 news stories feature articles and reviews by some of the greatest writers in jazz into one volume. It delivers a patchwork of his words and music ä in the moment as they happened.ÞWith several lengthy features added along with a dozen new photographs this new edition is a beautiful series of snapshots a year-by-year ride through the many phases of Davis as an artist and as a man.