The Economist (US), March 17th, 1990
The dandy of jazz
IN POPULAR mythology, jazz musicians are regarded as poetic outsiders. Prey to racial discrimination, commercial neglect and corrupting influences, their way of life does not make for longevity. But these conditions only increase a vague sense that they possess a special raffish purity.
Miles Davis's autobiography(*) comes close to subverting this notion for good. For over 40 years Mr Davis has been synonymous with a hauntingly beautiful trumpet voice; but his book is marked by obscenities, racism, paranoia and violence. The main impression is of a complex, wilful man who...
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