Product Description

The miles davis story explores the music & the man behind the public image from miles middle class upbringing in racially segregated east st. Louis to the last years when he travelled the world like a rock star. Studio: Sony Music Release Date: 11/26/2002 Run time: 120 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15224 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-11-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 125 minutes

Amazon.com
Trumpeter-bandleader Miles Davis (1926-91) was a catalyst for the major innovations in post-bop, cool jazz, hard-bop, and jazz-fusion, and his wispy and emotional trumpet tones were some of the most evocative sounds ever heard. He was also one of the most identifiable and misunderstood pop icons of the 20th century. This engrossing British documentary shows the complex layers of this magnificent and mercurial artist. Through rare footage and interviews, we learn of Davis's middle-class upbringing and his early days with bop legends Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. The documentary bluntly deals with Davis's narcotic nadir and his rise from the depths to become a bona fide jazz icon in the mid-'50s to late '60s. But the most penetrating and poignant portraits of Davis come from musicians who played with and were influenced by him, including Shirley Horn, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, and Keith Jarrett.

Outstanding musical selections include modal masterpieces "So What" and "Blue in Green," the haunting soundtrack to the 1957 French film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, his romantic rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," and his collaborations with arranger Gil Evans. The most surprising aspects of Davis's personality that emerge from this film are his shyness, vulnerability, and, yes, humility. As he said himself, "Don't call me a legend. Call me Miles Davis." --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews

Don't buy this
I am so glad that I rented this disc from my local video store before I bought it. All Sony has done is buy the rights to some British television documentary and dump it straight to DVD. If you enjoy listening to other people talk about Miles and his music, this disc is for you. If you enjoy watching Miles play his music, this disc is not for you.

I would pay $100 for a DVD that contained a complete, uninterrupted performance from any one of three of Miles bands shown on this disc:

1) The 1959 television special featuring the Kind of Blue band and Gil Evans

2) 1967 footage of the second great quintet featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams

3) 1969 footage of the "lost" quintet featuring Jack DeJohnnette, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Wayne Shorter.

You see glimpses of each these performances on this disc, but they are cut short by the endless stream of talking heads giving their "insights" into Miles's music: "Miles sure was moody", "Miles sure was a fine dresser", "Miles sure was violent in his personal life, but he sure did play some beautiful ballads on stage", etc. etc. In the words of Miles himself, so what. The only persons whose comments about Miles's music I would like to hear are either dead (John Coltrane, Tony Williams) or unwilling to participate in idiotic exercises like this t.v. special (Wayne Shorter).

Please, Sony, release a DVD containing nothing but uninterrupted footage of Miles playing his music live. This disc is a frustrating waste of time for someone who cares about the music, not the myth that has grown up around the man.

Good intro to Miles, but his fans deserve a boxed-set.
This fast-paced two-hour documentary is probably the best introduction to the life of Miles Davis available, considerably more expansive than the hour-long 1986 PBS documentary MILES AHEAD. Nonetheless, being that this product is a companion to the 2-CD career overview ESSENTIAL MILES DAVIS, that's a warning to Davis fans not to expect too much in the way of details or extensive video footage. STORY provides a balanced presentation of his musical and personal life, from his upbringing in East St. Louis to his death in 1991...somewhat ala Ken Burns' JAZZ series (sans Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch, of course), but much more concise due to the time constraints. Those fans who are familiar with Miles' career won't find much new here, especially if you've read John Szwed's new bio SO WHAT. For one, Miles' succession of musical achievements are alluded to but not examined in depth.

As with Szwed's book, STORY benefits by the participation of family members, from ex-wives/partners Irene Cawthorn & Frances Davis to daughter Cheryl and youngest son Erin (who briefly joined Miles' band in 1990). For the most part there is an uplifting sense of joy in the retracing of Miles' steps offered by both these participants and an impressive but too-short list of musicians newly interviewed (from Jimmy Cobb to Marcus Miller). Many still-living sidepersons are conspicuous by their absence: one wonders did they decline to be interviewed...or were they not asked? In addition, STORY lifts some interview segments from the 1984 CBS promo video, the above-mentioned PBS documentary, and other 1980s sources...so the voice of Miles and other greats who either have passed (e.g., Gil Evans, Dizzy Gillespie) or unavailable for this latest project (e.g., Keith Jarrett), are heard.

For Miles fans the big frustration will be in seeing every performance clip shown for only a few seconds before there is a voice-over or cut to the next segment. However, in trying to cover the life of an artist who was artistically productive for most of his adult life, one has to accept that Davis' story cannot be told in two hours without moving quickly through each period of his career. Otherwise they might as well turn it into a multi-volume project (which btw is a great idea--ala the Beatles ANTHOLOGY video). I was disappointed that no one from Miles' last band was interviewed (except for Erin), and surprised that no mention was made of the 1991 `Miles Plays Gil" Montreux concert (the 1991 Paris "reunion" show two days later IS covered), or of Davis' last "significant other" (Jo Gelbard). Hopefully Legacy will soon compile a video series that presents the wealth of available video footage in an unabridged form. For now, STORY provides a concise overview of the life of Miles Davis that touches on rather than digs into the details.

The title says it all!!!
This DVD is amazing, offers an insight to Miles' career and personal life, from the people who lived and worked with him and of course from Miles himself. For all of those who might have read books on Miles' life, this DVD will not give you so much new information and facts, but what this DVD will do, is to offer you plenty of visualizations on things you might have read or heard.
This DVD though, as the title explicitly states is THE MILES DAVIS STORY and not Miles Davis Live In ...... , or whatever else, so I dont unserstand how some people were expecting live performances. This is a documentary and not a concert. What you see is what you get.
I really think that this is a great documentary, and everybody who wants to think of him/herself as a serious Jazz fan should realy own this DVD.
Five stars without hesitation.