| | |  | ICON Fine Art | Home » » We Want Miles: Miles Davis vs. Jazz | | | | | | | Description: | | The most comprehensive book on the artist to date, offering an insightful look into the legendary musician and his enormous impact on the development of jazz. Miles Davis explores the life and art of one of the greatest visionaries in jazz history—through photographs, handwritten musical scores, album covers, posters, and more—cementing his reputation as the embodiment of cool, both on- and offstage. To examine his extraordinary career is also to examine the history of jazz from the mid-1940s through the early 1990s, as Davis was crucial in almost every important innovation and stylistic development during that time. His genius paved the way for these changes, both with his own performances and recordings, and by choosing collaborators with whom he forged new directions. Miles Davis—trumpeter, bandleader, and composer—was one of the most important figures in jazz history. He was born in a well-to-do family in St. Louis in 1926 and died in a Los Angeles hospital in 1991. He was at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz, and fusion. Davis worked with many of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, including Ron Carter, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Charlie Parker, and Max Roach, among numerous others. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Vincent Bessieres | | Hardcover:
| 224 pages | | Publisher:
| Skira Rizzoli | | Publication Date:
| May 18, 2010 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0847835286 | | Product Length:
| 9.9 inches | | Product Width:
| 1.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 11.3 inches | | Product Weight:
| 3.41 pounds | | Package Length:
| 11.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 9.6 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 3.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 4 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 We Want Miles: Miles Davis vs. JazzJun 07, 2010
By BlogOnBooks
"BlogOnBooks"
Released in conjunction with an exhibition by the Cite de la Musique (and currently on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), `We Want Miles: Miles Davis vs. Jazz' is a unique and all encompassing look at the more than half-century career of perhaps the biggest name in jazz.
This 223 page compendium features a wide array of photographs and accompanying text covering every stage of Miles career. From the early days as a backline horn player for a host of St. Louis jazz bands, to his relocation and emergence on the lower New York jazz scene, `We Want Miles' details, in rare photographic brilliance, the ascent of one of the most prolific and oft-times controversial superstars of jazz.
Miles transition from support player to band leader and ultimately star - soloist - frontman, is covered throughout every phase. From his first New York forays into `hard-bop' with Jackie McLean, J.J. Johnson and Percy Heath, to his first quartet/quintet with John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Jo Jones (and later Cannonball Adderley) to what may be considered his seminal band with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, to his multiple award-winning albums with arranger Gil Evans, all of Miles well defined incarnations are chronicled here.
Supplemented with text from those involved in the recording, tours or those who knew him well, Franck Bergerot's accompanying storyline reveals the circumstances behind the photographs in a way where both facets fully support each other. (Bergerot is the editor-in-chief of Jazz Magazine as well as the author of `Miles Davis: Introduction a L'ecoute du Jazz Moderne' and the writer of all 53 liner notes contained in the box set `Miles Davis - The Complete Columbia Album Collection.')
While not as complete as a full text oriented biography, `We Want Miles' is much more than a coffee table photobook. It is a complete visual and textual history of every chapter in the iconic horn player's career and ultimately portrays well both the evolutionary and the revolutionary story of this giant of jazz.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Lavish coffee table book of a genius of the jazz trumpet.Jul 11, 2010
By Steven I. Ramm
"Steve Ramm "Anything Phonographic""
There are plenty of fine biographies of jazz trumpet legend Miles Davis in both books stores and on Amazon. Some hone in on a specific recording such as the landmark album "Kind of Blue". This book is a whole different ball game.
Compiled as a companion (and catalog) for an exhibit in Montreal through August 2010, this 223-page coffee-table-size book is a feast for the eyes. Each page is filled with colorful photos of Davis or his record album covers from his early days in St. Louis in 1926 to his last album. Sure you will see the iconic images that are almost burned into our minds when we hear his name, but there are many that were new to me and will probably be new to you. They were lent to the curators of the exhibit and are now permanently available for all to see and enjoy.
There isn't a lot of text; mostly short essays by those who knew Davis. But this isn't a reference book. Still, from the essays and the images the novice jazz lover can provide a sense of the Davis' personality ("a picture is worth 1,000 words) and then they can dig deeper if they want.
The book is published by Rizzoli, which should tell you right off that it is a high quality art book with sharp and crisp images. Rizzoli is one of the premier art book publishers in the world.
Of course the best way to experience this book is to put on some classic Miles recordings as you leaf through the pages. And next time you play your Miles CDs you can pull this volume out and let the images supplement the music.
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
We Want MORE Miles!Feb 08, 2011
By 4-Legged Defender
"Anthony C. Rubbo"
After reading the first few reviews posted and the lavish praise propagated in the product details for this item, lauding it as "the most comprehensive book of its kind", as a fan of the man, music, legend and enduring genius that was / is Miles Davis (he will always be with us), I was excited about adding this book to my collection. I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book, salivating in hopes of seeing the multitude of pictures encased herein that I hadn't seen before. Even more excited in anticipation of seeing never before pics of his incendiary, mercurial quintet from the 60's, featuring what I consider to be the fiercest, most forward-thinking and challenging jazz ensemble that ever existed.
Upon reception, my sweaty little palms removed the shrink wrap and I sat down to be blown away by the contents enclosed, but this simply wasn't the desired outcome. I regret to admit my disappointment in the hype and the pictures inside, as I've already seen most of them elsewhere, and certain other spectacular pics I was expecting to see on a larger scale and in finer detail were totally absent in the altogether. One would think that seeing as the sources came from his family, friends, musicians, and legendary photographers from decades of archives that we'd finally get the photographic Holy Grail of the Dark Prince we aficionados have prayed for for decades. Alas, this is simply not the case.
Please don't misunderstand me: this is a great book of sorts. As stated by the two reviewers before me, the text is light and written from a more artistic avenue seeing as it was produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, where it was an installation exhibit that toured around the northern hemisphere to various art galleries and museums, and was noteworthy for taking a musician's life and putting it on both pedestal and display for all. The comparisons between Picasso and Miles and their individualized approach to artistic forms is enjoyable reading you won't get in a Downbeat article for sure. And the abundant wealth of the photos are simply gorgeously reproduced. The book chronicles Miles' life and achievements in a chronicological format thankfully, and most of the included text is well-written and precise. If you don't already own four or five books on Miles and have five or six box sets of Columbia's cd's that were issued within the last fifteen years or so, you need to get a copy of this book. Immediately. For the dissolute collectors like myself, it's still essential, but not nearly as comprehensive as touted. There lies my mild disappointment.
For instance, we rabid collectors of all things Miles don't need to see album covers we already own reproduced, along with a host of very common photos for the tenth time. For every new, exciting photo of Davis we are treated to, there are two more we've already seen elsewhere. I was anticipating seeing some of the photos from the afore-mentioned Columbia box sets (the Complete 60's Quintet recordings, the Plugged Nickel box, Live at the Blackhawk, Complete Seven Steps to Heaven, etc.) included here in larger form, maybe some additional pics that didn't get included, etc., even some from his late 50's work with Coltrane (though we are treated to a few fab pics of Cannonball Adderly and others from that period). Even his most photographed period from the late 60's / early 70's is under-represented.
My apologies to all if I seem hyper-critical here; as I've already stated, this is a great book for most, but for the rabid and militant like me, it was just a bit of a letdown, but that's the inherent problem with things that are over-hyped - they're almost always certain to be a letdown for some. That said, grab this book - We Want Miles!
And we want MORE Miles!
1 of 6 found the following review helpful:
With Miles the stars are always brightly shiningAug 12, 2010
By Jose M. Lima Silva
"Kool2bbop"
The stars are brightly shining.
"We Want Miles" confirms the rule.
All the musicians are, like always, in a perfect harmony. He's like the Moon in a night full of stars. All the Stars are brightly shining.
The sky is beautiful.
There are great concerts in Heaven!
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