Loud Reading
MILES BEYOND: THE ELECTRIC EXPLORATIONS OF MILES DAVIS 1967-1991
(Billboard Books)
There are plenty of books on the shelves about Miles Davis, but what makes this one important is that it's the first book, outside of Davis' autobiography, that takes a serious look at his groundbreaking work with fusion. Most jazz critics take a dim view of Davis' electric music. It was dense, challenging stuff, difficult to understand and appreciate on first or even third listen, and writers of the day covered their bewilderment by accusing Miles of selling out to rock audiences. (Anyone who's heard the jagged intensity of Bitches Brew, On the Corner or Pangea, which were influenced as much by free jazz and electronic composers like Stockhausen as they were by psychedelic rock, might wonder to what audience Miles was selling out.) Scottish writer Paul Tingen grew up with a vast appreciation for Miles' electric period, however, and has written a thoughtful, evenhanded history of Miles' most misunderstood music. Tingen draws not only on previous books and features about the trumpeter but on dozens of personal interviews with Davis' sidemen throughout the 70s and 80s. The insight of major players like bassists Dave Holland and Marcus Miller, guitarists John McLaughlin, Pete Cosey and Mike Stern, saxophonists Wayne Shorter and Bill Evans and loads of others into Davis' creative mind makes for differing interpretations of what this music was all about, but that only adds to its mystique. The interviews alone make this worth reading for any Miles scholar. Tingen has an unfortunate tendency to connect Miles' working methods and musical vision with Zen Buddhist philosophy, trying a little too hard to make the musician into a Zen master, regardless of Miles' avowed disinterest in spirituality of any kind, but that's not enough to ruin the book by any means. Miles Beyond is required reading for anyone devoted to Miles' electric period and should be at least skimmed by those critical of same. Everyone might just learn something. Michael Toland
