Dave Brubeck Says Miles Davis Was A Good Basketball Player

Who knew? “When people think of jazz legend Miles Davis, they invoke his troubled life or his skill with a trumpet. Dave Brubeck, himself a music icon, recalls a different side. “One day he came to my house, and my kids, when they came home from school, they saw Miles and I playing basketball,” he [...]

A Miles Davis Original Signed 1958 Recording Contract

Miles Davis Original Recording Contract: a two-page agreement on Columbia Records letterhead, dated June 24 1958 — signed by the great jazz trumpeter in blue ink at the second page. The document engages Miles Davis to record the songs “Django, “The Jitterbug Waltz”,” ‘Round Midnight” and “Wild Man Blues” for Columbia ‘s European affiliate, Phillips, [...]

Miles Davis And The ’12 Innovations That Changed Our World’

Jeff Nilsson’s August ’09 feature for The Saturday Evening Post is a quick/interesting read about past, present and future innovations that shape the way we live, work, and play. But it’s innovation #12 we like best because it involves music, American culture and our main man Miles Davis. A snippet: “But perhaps nothing reflects the [...]

Miles Davis At The Cascais Jazz Festival 1971

The inaugural Cascais Jazz Festival took place on November 20th, 1971 in the Dramático de Cascais pavilion in Portugal, organized by singer João Braga and musician Luís Villas-Boas. The event was the first ‘international’ jazz festival to be held in Portugal and also featured Miles Davis playing his first show ever in Portugal. The bill [...]

Dogfish Head Bitches Brew Honors Miles Davis

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery has announced the release of Bitches Brew to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the legendary jazz-funk-rock-fusion masterpiece Bitches Brew by jazz legend Miles Davis. Delaware’s Dogfish Head Craft Brewery has created its own Bitches Brew – a bold, dark beer that’s a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread [...]

Miles Davis – Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It’s About That Time

Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop are usually credited for helping to kill off the peace and love Woodstock hippy rainbow vibe in 1970. Listening to this double live muther of Miles Davis unleashing his electric band on a bunch of hippies at the Fillmore East waiting to see Steve Miller and Neil Young, you could [...]

Miles Davis & Dennis Hopper: Sparring Partners, Friends

From an interview that originally appeared in the August ’08 issue of Men’s Journal. MJ: What song do you have to hear once a week? Dennis Hpper: When we were kids, Miles Davis and I used to spar together. I was in my early 20s; he was a little older. We’d box, and he’d say [...]

Too Much Kind Of Blue? The Case For Giving Overexposed Masterworks A Rest

*Absolutely worth a read this holiday weekend. Hope everyone is doing well! Richard Williams recently wrote a book called “The Blue Moment: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music.” I haven’t yet read Mr. Williams’ study of the great jazz trumpeter’s best-known album, and to be perfectly honest, I doubt I’m [...]

Miles Davis 2010

Nineteen years after his passing and a generation or two removed from when his songs were considered ‘popular music,’ Miles Davis’ place in our cultural and musical foundation remains secure. And in this wired age, the discovery and experience of Miles Davis, one of the most influential musicians in jazz history, is as immediate and [...]

Stories To Tell: Photographer and Writer To Discuss Miles Davis

Writer Quincy Troupe and photographer Anthony Barboza will recount stories about Miles Davis starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in a salon appearance titled: “A Listening Party: Anthony Barboza & Quincy Troupe, Celebrating Miles Davis on His Birthday, Sharing Stories About a Legend. The brainchild of Troupe’s wife, Margaret Porter Troupe, the salon will be [...]

Open Letter To Miles Davis From Charles Mingus

* definitely worth a read An Open Letter To Miles Davis By Charles Mingus November 30, 1955 Down Beat Magazine Four editions of Down Beat come to my mind’s eye-Bird’s “Blindfold Test,” mine, Miles’ and Miles’ recent “comeback story”-as I sit down and attempt to honestly write my thoughts in an open letter to Miles [...]

Good Question: Is Miles Davis Just As Much A Musical Genius As Mozart?

The admin for the Mozart Blog writes: “Miles Davis invented three new forms of music by himself. What new musical styles did Mozart invent? Also, the music that Miles played and wrote was much more technically sophisticated that the music Mozart wrote. When classical musicians have reached their pinnacle of accomplishment, they then hope to [...]

That Time When Miles Davis Celebrated His 60th Birthday On A Yacht

Click HERE to read the complete party review of the Miles Davis 60th birthday bash courtesy of Jet, from way back in 1986.

Miles Davis Featured In Barneys Venture With Sony On Rockstar Tees

“Goodness knows a T-shirt collaboration is nothing new, but Barneys latest line of Archive 1887 rock & roll tees, created in conjunction with Sony Music, features never-before-seen artwork and rare photos of the label’s acts as far back as1887. And, as a bonus, each shirt has a dedicated playlist. “Sony contributed its extensive library of [...]