Prince of the Damn

Reading Miles Davis’s Autobiography I could imagine what he would sound like in real life. My man used obscenity in every other word. But that’s the Prince of Darkness, and he spoke his mind whether the subject is music, women, drugs or racism. He held nothing back. One of the skills that made Miles a jazz legend was his leadership. He not only was able to get the sounds he wanted from his musicians, but he also was capable of bringing out their chemistries working together as a unit despite their distinctive styles. He had issues with the police and white men when it came to politic, but was fair and square when it came to music. Davis wouldn’t pick out a black player over a white one just because of the skin color. He would go for the cats that could play jazz. While I respect him as an artist who constantly pushed his art to another level, and who listened and learned from the older (Bird, Diz, Monk and Bud) as well as the younger (Tony, Wayne and Herbie) musicians, I detested him as a misogynist who mistreated and even slapped women. Before reading this book, I picture Miles Davis as a cool brother. After reading it, I still find him to be a cool musician, but not quite a cool gentleman.