"Miles Davis's musical legacy and influence is immense. His music not only shaped the sound of jazz but rewired the possibilities of improvisation, collaboration and reinvention across many musical genres. His seminal album Kind of Blue redefined harmonic freedom, while Bitches Brew opened the door to a new, electronic jazz future. Davis repeatedly tore up the rulebook and wrote a new one while expanding the cultural reach of jazz, leaving behind a legacy that still inspires and influences musicians."
"For somebody considered to be one of the greatest legends of jazz music, it is surprising how little screen or stage time has been devoted to telling Davis's story. Most famously Don Cheadle starred in and directed the semi-fictional but acclaimed biopic Miles Ahead in 2015, and there have been a couple of excellent documentaries like Birth of the Cool (2019) and The Miles Davis Story."
2026 marks 100 years since the birth of Miles Davis. Few major screen or stage productions have explored his life, with notable exceptions including Don Cheadle’s semi‑fictional Miles Ahead (2015) and documentaries Birth of the Cool (2019) and The Miles Davis Story. Onstage portrayals have been relatively obscure and fringe. The new play MILES transfers to Southwark Playhouse after a sold‑out Edinburgh Fringe run in 2025. Miles Davis’s music reshaped jazz, expanding improvisation, collaboration and genre boundaries; Kind of Blue redefined harmonic freedom and Bitches Brew introduced an electronic jazz future. MILES draws on Davis’s genius, volatility, innovation and self‑destructive tendencies.
Read at London Unattached
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]