3 posts tagged “book”

Miles

Miles Davis

Miles by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe is a wonderful book. Based off of long conversations with Davis about his life, Troupe manages to capture Davis' passionate voice very accurately. If you have ever wanted to know the story of Jazz from the inside, this is the book to read. Although because Davis has had some very public spats with other artists, critics, and even his family, Miles seems more about setting the record straight then telling a story.

    Miles Davis' was born to be a musician, and his journey to the top of the jazz world is filled with a picture of America that few people care to remember. Segregation and racial tension are constant themes from the book, especially Miles resentment of white jazz critics refusing to acknowledge new forms of jazz until it was played by white players. Of course he equally criticizes the people who resented him working with white musicians like Bill Evans (Piano Player on Kind of Blue).

    Miles was quite self-promoter and that ego carries over into the pride that has for his work. Each step of his career is reviewed along with quite a lot of name dropping. Two of his relationships stand out though; the tragic figures of Charlie "Bird" Parker, and John Coltrane. Miles played with Charlie Parker for a huge part of his early career, even when he was breaking out as a solo artist. Bird of course was a junkie, and seemed to be the catalyst for a lot of the problems with heroin that ran throughout the scene. Miles speaks of Bird like he was a second father; it seems to break his heart that they ended on such bad terms. John Coltrane and Miles Were very close, as Trane developed his signature style while playing with Miles. They had a tense friendship, and Trane descended into his drug addiction, which was after Miles had kicked his own habit. This tension was out of love, but their friendship suffered in the end.

    The details of Miles' own struggle with heroin are long and sordid. This part of the book is not for the sensitive, as the reality of a junkie's life is quite harsh. His road to recovery was one of unrepentant sin, on par with anything Irving Welsh could conjure up. Of course you slap your head when he ends up strung out again this time on Cocaine.

    The later part of the book tends to drag, as Miles took a back seat to the guys in his bands, working more to create group ensembles that pushed the boundaries of Jazz. While Miles still had quite a bit to do with the music, but it was more in managing new talents, and pushing players to try new ideas.

    Any fan of Jazz should pick up this book simply for the wealth of who's who type information and the inside story on the evolution of American Jazz. The final chapters paint a portrait of a man ready to live another 60 years, and keep making music for its own sake. It's sad that he died because his voice and unique story shouldn't fade away.

The Dharma Bums

Jack Kerouac

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Poor sad Jack. Well, in this case poor sad Ray. Kerouac is one of the greatest American writers, and this in spite of the fact that he vexed editors and grammarians alike. I always loved his books, although his first, The Town and the City where he worked with a much more traditional style. The Dharma Bums is one of the big three, along with On The Road, and The Subterraneans.

There is a large amount of mythos surrounding both Kerouac, and the Beats. Kerouac's work has a large part in creating that mythos, and The Dharma Bums is no different. Centering around Kerouac's nascent Buddhism. Her travels around with Japhy (Gary Snyder), experimenting with various Buddhist practices.

While I could detail the story for you, it isn't important. While Kerouac seems to be treading the same ground as On the Road. It is, however, is a spiritual journey, that mirrors his physical journey. As I had reread this book, I was more struck by passages that stand out for a Kerouac fan. There are a few passages where Keroauc seems to be warning himself about his drinking, as well as being warned by others. It is a forewarning of the spiraling alcoholism that crippled him in later life. It saddens me because it seems Kerouac drank because life was too much for him. The Dharma Bums shows you the Kerouac was desperate to escape depression, he tried through Buddhism, but his heart wasn't in it. Kerouacs books always fill me with sadness, the man was a genius, but he was depressed. It also depresses me that every piss-poor English major attempts to be deep by copying his style. Kerouac's sadness was universal, and connected to the soul, and it doesn't work if you're depressed for the women.

All Souls

Javier Marias

There are two kinds of writers. Storytellers and painters, and while this may be the first book by Marias that I have read, he is a painter. This novel is a vivid portrait of Oxford, complete with long dissertations on the quality of the book shops.

The central plot seems to become a moot point nearly as it is introduced. The narrator, a stand in for Marias, begins to have an affair with another Professor, who is married to yet another Professor. This incestuous affair seems to be at the heart of the author's need to dissect the gossip, and rumors that fly around the campus.

While the affair seems to be at the center of the plot, it isn't the meat of the novel. This is a painting of Oxford, and gives one a very vivid picture. Marias also plays his hands as a book fetishist. He details long hours looking for aging books by forgotten writers.

Marias can be described as a Lou Reed Author. The average reader will not find much joy between these covers, but the people who do enjoy it will writer books of their own.  

As with Marias I shall return to his central plot. The final chapters of this book all have a heartbreaking quality. It feels so alien in suck a still life portrait. However the affair like all affairs must come to an end. I will hand it to Marias, right down to the last brush stroke, this is genius work.