[Dixielandjazz] Miles Davis - - - The Movie?

[Steve Barbone]

Not OKOM, but should interest some on the DJML. Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue"
album is still one of the biggest selling jazz albums each year, and may be
the top selling jazz album of all time.

Issued in 1959 or so, It went platinum (1 million copies sold) in 1994, and
then sold 2 million more in the next decade. Kind of makes one question the
"decline" of jazz.

Lots of misinformation out there about Miles, the man. Especially about his
being a racist. That is just plain bull, manufactured by folks who didn't
know him. Hopefully, the movies may have something to say about that.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


Wrestling With Miles Davis and His Demons

By PAT H. BROESKE - November 19, 2006

Miles Davis. One of the biggest names in jazz for decades, he has often been
mentioned as the possible subject of a feature film. Now, 15 years after his
death, it appears that there may be not one but two.

FIFTEEN years after his death Miles Davis has been enjoying a comeback tour.
A new marketing campaign, capitalizing on what would have been his 80th
birthday earlier this year, has been touting Davis, the trumpeter,
bandleader and jazz legend, as ³the original icon of cool.² His music is
being repackaged and (of course) remixed. And, as befits a musical giant,
his life story ‹ one that has long eluded Hollywood ‹ appears finally to be
headed for the big screen.

In the wake of ³Ray² and ³Walk the Line,² musical biographies that did well
in recent awards seasons, filmmakers have lined up to portray Marvin Gaye,
Charley Pride, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan. Now, with a pair of potentially
competing projects, it¹s Miles Davis¹s turn.

The poet and writer Quincy Troupe, who was Davis¹s collaborator, friend and
protégé, has adapted a screenplay from his 2000 memoir, ³Miles and Me.²

³It¹s about a friendship ‹ a hard-won friendship ‹ between two black men,
both of them artists,² Mr. Troupe explained. ³Through that friendship, the
film will explore Miles¹s life.²

The producer Rudy Langlais said independent financing for ³Miles and Me² is
in place through Patriot Pictures and Beacon Pictures, and talks are under
way with actors and filmmakers. ³We will be up and running next year,²
predicted Mr. Langlais, whose credits include ³The Hurricane,² about the
controversial criminal case involving the boxer Hurricane Carter, and
television movies about the Atlanta child murders and the gang leader
Stanley Tookie Williams.

³Quincy saw through Miles¹s veneer,² Mr. Langlais explained. ³You¹ll see a
film that approaches the inner life of Miles Davis. We¹re aiming for the
truths of Miles ‹ his fears, his terrors, his demons.²

Meanwhile an ³authorized² biopic is being developed by the Davis estate,
which comprises some (but not all) of his children, a musician nephew and a
brother-in-law. Don Cheadle has been mentioned in reports as a possible
star, though a representative for the actor declined to comment. This
project ‹ on which Mr. Troupe, who collaborated with Davis on his 1989
autobiography, was previously a consultant ‹ has seen several producers and
screenwriters come and go.

Davis has proved a challenging subject, in part because his career spanned
almost half a century and diverse musical styles, and was populated by a
somewhat incongruous roster of musical greats. The short list includes
Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Sonny
Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Gil Evans, Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock, as
well as Jimi Hendrix and Prince.

The jazz scene has also been problematic for filmmakers, whose forays have
often been off-key. Some have delved into the dark, addictive side (as Clint
Eastwood did with ³Bird,² or Bertrand Tavernier with ³ ¹Round Midnight²).
Others have dwelled on atmosphere (as did Spike Lee, with ³Mo¹ Better
Blues²), sometimes at the expense of story line.

But the most difficult factor may well be Davis himself. The Prince of
Darkness, as he became known, ranted so much about race and prejudice that
some acquaintances believed he was the one with racial prejudice. (Though,
as Mr. Troupe noted, Davis never balked at working with white musicians. And
he was romantically involved with several white women.) He often performed
with his back to his audience, and berated fans who dared approach him.

Famously fond of cool cars and hot women, Davis had an erratic personal life
that included heroin addiction, cocaine addiction, pimping and spousal
abuse. ³I actually left running for my life ‹ more than once,² his former
wife Frances Davis recalled in a telephone interview. A onetime Broadway
dancer, she said her own career faltered after she left the hit musical
³West Side Story² because Davis told her, ³A woman should be with her man.²
She now says any screen depiction must be truthful about both his artistry
and his rage. ³There¹s got to be full treatment of his genius, as well as
his shortcomings,² she said.

A Davis film, with Wesley Snipes mentioned as the star, was first attempted
by the former CBS Records chief executive Walter Yetnikoff, who played a
role in encouraging Davis to record his landmark jazz-rock album ³Bitches
Brew² in 1970. Mr. Yetnikoff acquired the rights to Davis¹s life and music,
as well as to his autobiography. ³But I didn¹t know what I didn¹t know,² Mr.
Yetnikoff said in an interview. ³And I didn¹t know how to make a movie.²

When he allowed his option to lapse, the producer Marvin Worth (³Lenny,²
³Malcolm X²) took the project to Columbia Pictures. But it came to a halt
with Mr. Worth¹s death in 1998.

Two years later Mr. Troupe published his own book about Davis, and the
rights to that book were purchased by Mr. Langlais. For both producer and
writer, the project represents the final chapter of a journey that began
more than two decades ago, when Mr. Langlais, who was then executive editor
of Spin magazine, assigned Mr. Troupe to interview Davis.

Mr. Troupe was 14 in 1954, when he first met Mr. Davis at a downtown St.
Louis jazz club. (Mr. Troupe is from St. Louis; Davis is East St. Louis¹s
most famous homegrown celebrity.) In the late ¹70s the two men briefly met
again, through a mutual friend, when both were living on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan. 

It was 1985, when Mr. Troupe got the assignment for Spin, and he went to
Davis¹s brownstone, he recalls, ³my little tape recorder in my hand.² The
meeting got off to a shaky start when Davis asked, ³How¹d you get your hair
like that?² and proceeded to play with one of Mr. Troupe¹s dreadlocks. The
writer slapped away his hand. ³I told him I was there to conduct an
interview, not to have my own personal space invaded,² he said. ³And Miles,
well, he looked pretty shocked.² Davis went on to spew some colorful
language before calming down and asking what Mr. Troupe wanted to know.

³And I spent 10 hours with him,² he said. ³Then I went back the next day and
spent another 10 hours. I told my wife, ŒSomething¹s happening here.¹ ² Mr.
Troupe eventually turned in a 45-page article, which Spin printed in two
lengthy installments. The next year Mr. Troupe received a call from a
representative for Simon & Schuster: Miles Davis wanted him to work with him
on his autobiography, extending a relationship that was to last until
Davis¹s death in 1991, at 65.

As Mr. Troupe sees it now, the angry image that was often associated with
Davis actually masked a gentle soul. ³Miles Davis was not the monster
everybody made him out to be,² he said. ³Miles Davis was a very shy guy who
created a persona, a kind of hostile persona, to keep people away from him.²

Mr. Troupe has often described Davis as an ³unreconstructed black man,²
unapologetic and proud. ³Miles did not want to smile. He was not going to be
Louis Armstrong,² he said. ³As far as Miles being racist, the last woman he
was with was Jewish.²

That woman was Jo Gelbard, an artist who taught Davis how to paint. They
later collaborated (acrylics and mixed media) and became lovers. He was in
her arms when he died. Afterward the estate tried to wrest control from her
of the paintings that she and Davis had made together. After seven years in
court she prevailed. Ms. Gelbard¹s relationship with Davis is the subject of
a book she is now selling online.

³There was a lot more soul to Miles than has been previously depicted² in
other books, Ms. Gelbard said in a telephone interview from New York.
Apprehensive about Hollywood¹s take, she said, ³If they don¹t find some
light in his life, it will be just another black junkie Harlem-nights
movie.² 

³Yes, he was complex,² she said. ³And I don¹t negate the violence.² But, she
added, ³there should be some forgiveness and insight into him as a human
being.

³It¹s time to say he was a genius, and thank you for the music.²