Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

The documentary follows Miles Davis's life from beginning to end. He was born in Illinois into a well off family; his father was a dentist. He went to New York to study music and learned more in the clubs than at school. He played with Charlie Parker. Then he formed his own group and changed his music every decade: cool jazz, modal jazz, orchestral work and the electric period. There are long gaps in between; drugs, illness and five years of silence. The documentary tells those too. It also does not hide the violence he used against women. Stanley Nelson directs. Carl Lumbly reads Davis's writing. It is an American production. Its spine is Davis's own autobiography; the text is read directly and the film uses it as a narrating voice. His former wife Frances Taylor speaks and describes what she lived through herself. Archive recordings and studio footage are used widely; some session material was brought together for the first time. The matter it treats is continual change; Davis leaves behind what he built each time and those around him do not understand it. The documentary takes race as a direct subject; the incident in which Davis was beaten by police is described in detail. Its limit is form; the structure is a conventional chronology and the musical analysis stays limited. Who it is for: viewers who like the history of jazz and documentaries about musicians. Who it is not for: the structure is conventional, it runs long, and some sections are uncomfortable.