Search - Miles Davis :: Essential Plus (W/Dvd) (Dig)

Excellent music collection, great bio on DVD

Larry Ketchersid | Texas | 11/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There have been many Miles Davis "best of's". And while it is near impossible to capture the depth and sheer numbers of his recordings, this collection goes a long way towards capturing the breadth of the diversity of styles that Miles Davis created and traversed over his long and bountiful career. Selections from be-bop, the cool, fusion and many other styles are included, along with the obvious list of heavyweights that Miles started out with (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie) and played with along the way.



But the bio pic on the DVD makes this collection worth the price of admission. Over two hours and 49 chapters of exhaustive detail of his life, including interviews with his family (wives, children, nephews), band mates, producers and Miles himself. Starting from his birth and childhood, through to his first trumpet in the high school band, to playing with Parker and Diz, through the heroin addictions, to the birth of cool, Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, fusion and his later years, his story is well presented through many perspectives.



An excellent combination of music and video. Highly recommended, for serious Miles fans and listeners new to jazz."