-
Miles
- The Autobiography
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $18.87
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Herbie Hancock: Possibilities
- By: Herbie Hancock, Lisa Dickey
- Narrated by: Herbie Hancock
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hancock discusses his musical influences, colorful behind-the-scenes stories, his long and happy marriage, and how Buddhism inspires him creatively and personally. Honest, enlightening, and as electrifyingly vital as the man who wrote it, Herbie Hancock promises to be an invaluable contribution to jazz literature and a must-read for fans and music lovers.
-
-
High Marks All Round
- By Joyce on 06-21-15
By: Herbie Hancock, and others
-
Thelonious Monk
- The Life and Times of an American Original
- By: Robin DG Kelley
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the 20th century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers.
-
-
The definitive bio of Monk
- By ricardo on 12-27-17
By: Robin DG Kelley
-
Beneath the Underdog
- By: Charles Mingus
- Narrated by: Mark Ebulue
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Mingus is a musician, a mongrel musician who plays beautiful, who plays ugly, who plays lovely, who plays masculine, who plays feminine, who plays all sounds, loud, soft, unheard sounds, sounds, sounds, sounds.... Beneath the Underdog is the memoir of the Angry Man of jazz, Charles Mingus - the genius whose adventures began at the feet of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker, and led him on a tour of every bottle, bar and bed in the world.
By: Charles Mingus
-
Duke
- A Life of Duke Ellington
- By: Terry Teachout
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was the greatest jazz composer of the twentieth century - and an impenetrably enigmatic personality whom no one, not even his closest friends, claimed to understand. The grandson of a slave, he dropped out of high school to become one of the world's most famous musicians, a showman of incomparable suavity who was as comfortable in Carnegie Hall as in the nightclubs where he honed his style.
-
-
This audiobook needs music
- By John on 04-08-14
By: Terry Teachout
-
One Way Out
- The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
- By: Alan Paul
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Way Out is the powerful biography of the Allman Brothers Band, an oral history written with the band's participation and filled with original, never-before-published interviews as well as personal letters and correspondence. This is the most in-depth look at a legendary American rock band that has meant so much to so many for so long. For 25 years, Alan Paul has covered the Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses with them, attending rehearsals and countless shows.
-
-
From a non-fan
- By DK on 09-06-14
By: Alan Paul
-
The History of Jazz, Second Edition
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ted Gioia's History of Jazz has been universally hailed as a classic - acclaimed by jazz critics and fans around the world. Now Gioia brings his magnificent work completely up-to-date, drawing on the latest research and revisiting virtually every aspect of the music, past and present. Gioia tells the story of jazz as it had never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved. Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history.
-
-
Music should accompany text
- By Angster on 04-05-16
By: Ted Gioia
-
Herbie Hancock: Possibilities
- By: Herbie Hancock, Lisa Dickey
- Narrated by: Herbie Hancock
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hancock discusses his musical influences, colorful behind-the-scenes stories, his long and happy marriage, and how Buddhism inspires him creatively and personally. Honest, enlightening, and as electrifyingly vital as the man who wrote it, Herbie Hancock promises to be an invaluable contribution to jazz literature and a must-read for fans and music lovers.
-
-
High Marks All Round
- By Joyce on 06-21-15
By: Herbie Hancock, and others
-
Thelonious Monk
- The Life and Times of an American Original
- By: Robin DG Kelley
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the 20th century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers.
-
-
The definitive bio of Monk
- By ricardo on 12-27-17
By: Robin DG Kelley
-
Beneath the Underdog
- By: Charles Mingus
- Narrated by: Mark Ebulue
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Mingus is a musician, a mongrel musician who plays beautiful, who plays ugly, who plays lovely, who plays masculine, who plays feminine, who plays all sounds, loud, soft, unheard sounds, sounds, sounds, sounds.... Beneath the Underdog is the memoir of the Angry Man of jazz, Charles Mingus - the genius whose adventures began at the feet of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker, and led him on a tour of every bottle, bar and bed in the world.
By: Charles Mingus
-
Duke
- A Life of Duke Ellington
- By: Terry Teachout
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was the greatest jazz composer of the twentieth century - and an impenetrably enigmatic personality whom no one, not even his closest friends, claimed to understand. The grandson of a slave, he dropped out of high school to become one of the world's most famous musicians, a showman of incomparable suavity who was as comfortable in Carnegie Hall as in the nightclubs where he honed his style.
-
-
This audiobook needs music
- By John on 04-08-14
By: Terry Teachout
-
One Way Out
- The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
- By: Alan Paul
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Way Out is the powerful biography of the Allman Brothers Band, an oral history written with the band's participation and filled with original, never-before-published interviews as well as personal letters and correspondence. This is the most in-depth look at a legendary American rock band that has meant so much to so many for so long. For 25 years, Alan Paul has covered the Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses with them, attending rehearsals and countless shows.
-
-
From a non-fan
- By DK on 09-06-14
By: Alan Paul
-
The History of Jazz, Second Edition
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ted Gioia's History of Jazz has been universally hailed as a classic - acclaimed by jazz critics and fans around the world. Now Gioia brings his magnificent work completely up-to-date, drawing on the latest research and revisiting virtually every aspect of the music, past and present. Gioia tells the story of jazz as it had never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved. Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history.
-
-
Music should accompany text
- By Angster on 04-05-16
By: Ted Gioia
-
The Jazz Standards
- A Guide to the Repertoire
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by award-winning jazz historian Ted Gioia, this comprehensive guide offers an illuminating look at more than 250 seminal jazz compositions. In this comprehensive and unique survey, here are the songs that sit at the heart of the jazz repertoire, ranging from "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Autumn in New York" to "God Bless the Child," "How High the Moon," and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." Gioia includes Broadway show tunes written by such greats as George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, and classics by such famed jazz musicians as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane.
-
-
Great info, but not ideal in audio format
- By Patrick on 08-30-14
By: Ted Gioia
-
Playing Changes
- Jazz for the New Century
- By: Nate Chinen
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Playing changes”, in jazz parlance, has long referred to an improviser’s resourceful path through a chord progression. Playing Changes boldly expands on the idea, highlighting a host of significant changes - ideological, technological, theoretical, and practical - that jazz musicians have learned to navigate since the turn of the century. Nate Chinen, who has chronicled this evolution firsthand throughout his journalistic career, vividly sets the backdrop, charting the origins of jazz historicism and the rise of an institutional framework for the music.
-
-
Jazz happens
- By álvaro castro on 02-11-19
By: Nate Chinen
-
How to Listen to Jazz
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to the art of listening to jazz. He tells us what to listen for in a performance and includes a guide to today's leading jazz musicians. From Louis Armstrong's innovative sounds to the exotic compositions of Duke Ellington, Gioia covers everything from the music's history to the building blocks of improvisation.
-
-
Kind of useless as an audiobook.
- By Mitch Foster on 02-28-20
By: Ted Gioia
-
Creative Quest
- By: Questlove
- Narrated by: Questlove, Fred Armisen, Tariq Trotter, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Creative Quest, Questlove synthesizes all the creative philosophies, lessons, and stories he's heard from the many creators and collaborators in his life, and reflects on his own experience, to advise listeners and fans on how to consider creativity and where to find it. He addresses many topics - what it means to be creative, how to find a mentor and serve as an apprentice, the wisdom of maintaining a creative network, coping with critics and the foibles of success, and the specific pitfalls of contemporary culture.
-
-
Questlove once again is my fairy godmother
- By Richard on 04-26-18
By: Questlove
-
A Life on Our Planet
- My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future
- By: Sir David Attenborough, Jonnie Hughes
- Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this scientifically informed account of the changes occurring in the world over the last century, award-winning broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough shares a lifetime of wisdom and a hopeful vision for the future.
-
-
Engaging, powerful, hopeful, visionary.
- By K. Stark on 10-15-20
By: Sir David Attenborough, and others
-
It's a Long Story
- My Life
- By: Willie Nelson, David Ritz - contributor
- Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the unvarnished, complete story of Willie Nelson's life, told in his distinct voice and leaving no moment or experience unturned, from Texas and Nashville to Hawaii and his legendary bus.
-
-
Great doesn't do this justice
- By drlamarca on 06-23-15
By: Willie Nelson, and others
-
Bruce Lee
- A Life
- By: Matthew Polly
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 19 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first authoritative biography of film legend Bruce Lee, who made martial arts a global phenomenon, bridged the divide between Eastern and Western cultures, and smashed long-held stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans. Forty-five years after Bruce Lee’s sudden death at age 32, journalist and best-selling author Matthew Polly has written the definitive account of Lee’s life. It’s also one of the only accounts; incredibly, there has never been an authoritative biography of Lee.
-
-
Best Lee biography to date, but far from great
- By Keith on 03-02-19
By: Matthew Polly
-
Just as I Am
- A Memoir
- By: Cicely Tyson, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis, Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just as I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. Here, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams.
-
-
Disappointed with the background noise
- By Marlise Alexandre on 01-29-21
By: Cicely Tyson, and others
-
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Wolfe - one of the 20th century’s foremost voices in cultural criticism - went from local news reporter to international icon in 1968, with the publication of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Now voiced with vivacity and vigor by Audible Hall of Fame narrator Luke Daniels, the non-fiction swan-dive delves into the world of hippies, hedonism, and everything in between.
-
-
Extremely well-narrated
- By JE on 03-29-19
By: Tom Wolfe
-
Yogi
- A Life Behind the Mask
- By: Jon Pessah
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is at once one of America's best-loved-and least known-heroes. The Yankees' Everyman to Joe DiMaggio's Royalty, Lawrence "Yogi" Berra is famous for winning titles, his leadership, and the superlative play that secured his spot in the Hall of Fame. And his paradoxical quotes are nothing less than national touchstones. He is the quintessential American success story: a first-generation immigrant from a poor but determined family who went on to become one of the greatest players in baseball history.
-
-
"YOGI BERRA HITS A GRAND SLAM!"
- By USA VETERAN on 05-15-20
By: Jon Pessah
-
Marvel Comics
- The Untold Story
- By: Sean Howe
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The defining, behind-the-scenes chronicle of one of the most extraordinary, beloved, and dominant pop cultural entities in America’s history - Marvel Comics - and the outsized personalities who made Marvel, including Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby.
-
-
I'm curious what the creators think...
- By DARBY KERN on 08-24-16
By: Sean Howe
-
Society's Child
- My Autobiography
- By: Janis Ian
- Narrated by: Janis Ian
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Janis Ian was catapulted into the spotlight in 1966 at the age of 15, when her soul-wrenching song "Society's Child" became a hit. But this was only the beginning of a long and illustrious career. In Society's Child, Janis Ian provides a relentlessly honest account of the successes and failures - and the hopes and dreams - of an extraordinary life.
-
-
I know why this won the grammy
- By Pamela J on 02-24-13
By: Janis Ian
Publisher's Summary
Universally 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 generally. 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. The man who gave us some of the most exciting music of the twentieth century here gives us a compelling and fascinating autobiography.
Featured Article: Tune In to Our Favorite Music Memoirs
We’ve been finding solace in stories that follow our *other* favorite thing to listen to: music. We’ve gathered a selection of pitch-perfect memoirs from music legends in a variety of genres and styles. By turns bold, brash, and moving, these listens shed light on the sold-out shows, backstage drama, and sometimes dark underbelly of the recording industry, while highlighting the charisma, energy, and artistry that had us hooked from the first soundwave.
More from the same
What listeners say about Miles
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rebecca
- 11-16-13
A conversation with Miles
"Kind of Blue" is my favorite album and has been for many years. I love Miles Davis as a musician and especially admired how he constantly reinvented himself. That's why I wanted to read this book. I was blown away. It was like having a long conversation with the man.
Besides his life (family, school, friends, etc.) this book is great as a history of jazz - the many amazing musicians he played with, how the albums came together.
Davis is one of the most blunt, no-nonsense,and does not suffer fools MF you'll ever have the pleasure to read. If you are offended by the F word - stay far away from this. Besides learning about his life and music, Miles tells in detail about drugs and sex - his own and others around him. This, and also his thoughts about racism made parts of the book very uncomfortable to listen to.
At his core. for Miles it was all about the music, but also pushing to make sure blacks got credit for what they did, and not have it taken away by whites. The man made a difference and left his mark.
Quincy Troupe did an amazing job of capturing Miles' voice in helping write the book, and Dion Graham caught Miles' throaty voice perfectly. If you love jazz, or want to hear about a unique life - read/listen to this book.
29 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Barry
- 12-07-12
A man untroubled by his own contradictions
It's hard to give a rating to this book. It's a very frank and open and detailed account of Davis's life. It's also troubling and frustrating. Taken on its own terms, it absolutely succeeds in what it sets out to do. Whether you come out at the end believing that Davis is a suitable subject for a biography is another story. One thing is for sure, this book is never boring.
Actually, compared with a lot of the celebrity memoirs coming out these days, there's no question Miles deserves his say. It's just distressing to see so little evidence of personal growth over the course of his lifetime.
The person who comes across in this book is someone who only ever cared about music, over and above family, friends, relationships, fans, or anything else in this world. If you were looking to find some revelation about why Miles behaved the way he did in front of an audience, it appears that he really didn't care about the audience. He was there to play, and if you were there to listen that was fine, but he wasn't there to entertain you.
As for his contradictions, sometimes I wonder if his ghostwriter (Quincey Troupe) juxtaposed them on purpose or not. Sometimes he says that music is always music, and other times he says that old music is dead. Sometimes he says that women have to be interesting, but the way he describes them suggests the opposite. Sometimes he says that he never cared about what color someone was, but most of the time he expresses a vehement hatred of white people. I have no doubt that he encountered a good deal of racism in his life, but he also seems to have gone out of his way to look for signs of it even when people were simply trying to reach out to him. Again, I have to wonder if Quincey Troupe consciously constructed those episodes to convey that.
I have to say that regardless of how Miles himself comes across, the first half of the book detailing the jazz scene in New York City in the 40s and 50s is absolutely fascinating. This is a first-person account by someone who was there and in the middle of it and connected to everyone who was anyone.
Quincey Troupe did an incredible job of putting this narrative together and making it sound like a monologue Miles could have delivered. Be forewarned that Miles uses a lot of profanity. Dion Graham does a creditable job of imitating Miles's breathy, raspy voice. There were times that I forgot it was not Miles actually speaking this book. However, this also makes it a difficult read if you're in the car or anywhere else with a lot of ambient noise.
64 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steven Schuster
- 12-29-13
Takes you Inside the World of a Jazz Legend
Miles wrote a brutally honest autobiography. You see the man's faults, as well as the tremendous drive that made him one of the most renowned Jazz greats of the 20th century. The book answers some of the questions that made Miles such an enigma, such as: why did he famously turn his back on audiences on stage? And why was he known for having a sometimes contentious personality?
Miles was very sensitive to patronizing, and racist comments by whites, partially because he came up at a time when blacks were excluded from some night clubs and hotels that he traveled to, and because he grew up in East St. Louis which had a terrible race riot in the early 20th Century, where many blacks were killed.
He tells of an incident where he was at the white house receiving an award when he took offense at a patronizing racial comment from one of the guests. "I bet your Mammy would be proud of you." After he told the lady off, the insulted woman asked, "what did you do to deserve this presidential award?" "I changed the music 6 or 7 times," Miles said. And he did, from his groundbreaking Sketches Of Spain in the fifties, which is unlike any other jazz album, to his rock fusion in the 70's, 80's and 90's.
Miles was accused by some of pandering to commercialism when he combined his jazz with rock. I saw Miles shortly before he died, when he did a free concert at Penn's Landing in Philly. I saw a little baby dancing, and the music was just that natural and spontaneous, which was what Miles said about it. He also said that the young people get addicted to the electronic sound, and then it becomes hard to listen to acoustic music. - and I find this true with my own listening. Miles just had that inherent knowledge about music - which made him the legend he was. He also sacrificed everything for his music.
If you're interested in jazz, or what it was like being a jazz celebrity in the 20th Century you'll like this book.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Atticus
- 04-05-12
A compelling story of a complicated man
What part of the story should I rate? The fascinating narrative of American jazz by one of its masters? That aspect of the book is amazing. The way Davis talks about music is spell-binding. The complicated narrative of a complicated man? That one is harder. The best thing about the portrait of Miles Davis in his autobiography is a window onto how neither black nor white--in the ethical, not racial sense--each of us is. Davis talks lovingly and with tremendous generosity of spirit about other musicians and indeed about lots of people in his life; the same man seems blind to his own stunning shortcomings (or is revising them for his audience). Some parts are really hard to listen to: here is a man who abuses women, is a drug addict and alcoholic AND is complaining that his sons are a disappointment. In print. He calls them failures. It is just stunning in the raw shock of his self-blindness. I do think, however, this is a really worthwhile listen (with a fabulous narrator). I'm glad I've listened to it but I must say there is more about Miles Davis here than I really wanted to know. He was a musical genius and a very very flawed man.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert
- 01-15-14
M%$tha F#!*in' great narration
Is there anything you would change about this book?
It's length. It was long. If I didn't know better, I'd have said Miles was reading it.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Good insight by the author in explaining the position of the book being written with the constant expletives. The way Miles spoke. It did seem extreme and not a book I could recommend to a lot of audiences.
What does Dion Graham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
At this length, I'd have never picked up the book. That's why i choose Audible.
What else would you have wanted to know about Miles Davis’s life?
Perhaps a little more of the inspiration behind specific albums and songs.
Any additional comments?
Disappointed that he grew up in the time and place he did that left him feeling the way he did about being profiled as he implied and his impression/generalization of many of us without oppressive instincts. All this North of the Mason/Dixon line.
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chaz
- 06-28-13
Absolutely Beautiful
This would be a wonderful fiction novel if it were not a true story. That it is a true story and we get to hear and experience a large portion of American history in its most bold, iconic and pure sense is awe inspiring.. This is a great American story about one of the most important cultural icons.
The narration is superb and gives us the feel of Davis' voice. I'm so very glad that the book wasn't watered down by editing out the swear words or the true stories of drugs, music, and life at the pinnacle of cultural inventiveness.
This is a must read for any musician and for history buffs and those interested in true American culture and identity.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diane Havens
- 02-18-12
Dion Graham IS Miles Davis
Would you consider the audio edition of Miles to be better than the print version?
It makes the experience more intimate. For this first person narrative, Dion Graham has become Miles Davis so that the listener is fully convinced that he/she is listening to Miles tell his own story.
Any additional comments?
Miles Davis' honesty, the historical perspective in the book, the behind the scenes insights into the jazz scene and its players, all fascinating -- and Dion Graham's brilliant performance -- makes this one of my all time most compelling listens.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelly
- 11-27-13
Interesting isten
You have to go into this book with an open mind. If you like jazz, then you will enjoy this book. You have to remember that Miles Davis grew up in a totally different time and his views of the world are completely justified. I found myself, on occasion, feeling a little put off by his somewhat one sided views. Then I reminded myself how different times were back then and put in the same situations would probably have similar views. If you can get past all that, you will find this book truly interesting as it goes into the deep deep history of jazz, along with side stories of Coletrain, Monk, Armstrong and all the other masters of jazz.
This is a real history lesson in the music and the times.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dee
- 03-12-12
Miles lives!
Not a performance -- a reincarnation. Dion Graham is brilliant! I was so wrapped up in the story, I felt like I was sitting down with Miles himself.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dave
- 03-11-12
5 Stars Outstanding in Every Respect
Superior on multiple levels: great story and absolutely the best narration performance I have ever heard--by a very wide margin! I learned a lot about jazz and US social history in this phenomenal audiobook.
6 people found this helpful