Miles

[AllenLowe]

I would go to the local paper - especially if they had a black paper in those days. Call the public library in his home town.

[Matthew]

I would go to the local paper - especially if they had a black paper in those days. Call the public library in his home town.

There's an entry for him in Who's Who in Colored America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Persons of African Descent in America, but I haven't been able to run a copy of this down. Plus, I think most of what is out there is a rehashing of what in the Who's Who. I might have to drive into L.A. and hunt it down. It would be interesting to find out if there are letters between Miles and his father that are public.

[AllenLowe]

there were a lot of African American newspapers in the first 30-40 years of the 20th century; if there was a local one, and if he was prominent, it might contain a story about him.

also, Miles son is still alive, I think.

[Christiern]

I know that I've already posted the resulting article, so just skip that. However, you might find mildly interesting my intro—so here's a link to My Lunch with Miles.

[Shrdlu]

Happy Birthday, Miles Davies!

I recall listening to Jim Wilkie, from Tacoma, WA, on PRI when he said "Can you believe that it's thirty years since John Coltrane died?"

[Matthew]

I know that I've already posted the resulting article, so just skip that. However, you might find mildly interesting my intro—so here's a link to My Lunch with Miles.

Thanks for the link Chris, very interesting.

Happy Birthday, Miles Davies!

I recall listening to Jim Wilkie, from Tacoma, WA, on PRI when he said "Can you believe that it's thirty years since John Coltrane died?"

?????????

[jostber]

A pretty good Playboy interview with Miles here:

http://www.playboy.co.uk/print/print-article/item64295/

[Enterprise Server]

Yeah, it's hard to believe it has been 17 years. The first jazz record I had was by Miles Davis, the classic "Kind of Blue". I was instantly hooked and been that way ever since. I can never listen to enough of his music......

[Rooster_Ties]

This seems like a good place as any to ask my question: Does anyone know of a good article, or a good description in a book (outside of Szwed & Carr), about Miles Davis father, Dr. Miles Henry Davis? I'm doing some research on Miles, and I would like more information on Dr. Davis, he seems like a very interesting man.

No ideas about where to research, 'cept to say that my grandfather (my dad's father) and Miles' father were both dentists in East St. Louis at the same time (likely two decades or more). My father and Miles were both born the same year too ('26), so I'm wildly assuming (because of that), that they were within 10 years of each other (age-wise).

15+ years ago I asked my grandmother if she thought there was any chance that Miles' father and my grandfather ever had any reason to know of each other, or cross paths. She said, essentially, that since they were of different races, that the likelihood of them knowing each other was extremely slim (to none).

(My grandmother (father's mother) was born in 1897, and lived a full and wonderful 100 years, passing away in late 1997.)

Edited April 7, 2010 by Rooster_Ties

[mrjazzman]

I've told this story before, so I won't go into details, but I had the pleasure of meeting Miles and his super sexy wife Francis in 1965 when he appeared at Basin Street West in San Francisco. The experience left an everlasting impression on me...........

[brownie]

I've told this story before, so I won't go into details, but I had the pleasure of meeting Miles and his super sexy wife Francis in 1965 when he appeared at Basin Street West in San Francisco. The experience left an everlasting impression on me...........

His super sexy wife was Frances...

Francis is a masculine name which does not fit here

[mjzee]

Is this back in print?

Amazon

[colinmce]

So it seems. One poster (I forget who or where) was told by a record store owner that it never really went out of print-- it was just unavailable from the distributor, for whatever reason.

Hopefully it will stick around and deflate the outrageous second-hand prices.

[colinmce]

OK, nevermind. It's off Amazon again.