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For a poet, Troupe's writing suffers from a severe lack of poetry. The writing in this memoir/critical retrospective is, by and large, somewhere between sparse and clumsy. Troupe's language and constructions certainly lack the musicality, grace, and refinement of his subject matter. More importantly, Troupe's critical voice is an unsteady one. Davis, as Troupe makes clear from the outset, was one of the author's earliest heroes and remained so throughout this his life -- including through their
Miles and Me, by Quincy Troupe is a biography about Miles Davis, a well-known jazz composer and trumpet player from the 1940’s to the 1970s. Miles Davis whether we know it or not, has greatly influenced and changed music through his playing. The book follows Quincy Troupe, a journalist who meets, befriends, and ends up writing a book about Miles Davis life. Throughout the book, he gets Miles to slowly open up to him through stories about him for the book Quincy is writing. I think that this book...
Outstanding read for jazz fans. Definitely worth while.
An unusual look at Miles Davis from an imitate perspective. A must-read for Miles fans.
I was assigned Miles Davis to do as a report for a music appreciation class I took. I grabbed this book at the library for some quick insight into the guy and I was surprised with myself reading nearly all of it. The book was a great introduction to the man. It helped my report go over really well.
Troupe also collaborated with Miles on the latter's autobiography, but this is a more behind-the-scenes, intimate portrait. Miles doesn't hold back - you have got to read what he says about McCoy Tyner's piano playing!
Miles and Me. Quincy Troupe. 2000..I was inspired to read this one after watching the fantastic documentary of Miles Davis called ‘Birth of the Cool 😎’ on Netflix recently..Quincy Troupe is Miles’ official biographer and wrote ‘Miles, the Autobiography’ in 1989. ‘Miles and Me’ is is more of a personal account of his friendship with Miles while interviewing him for the biography..This was a decent read but it ultimately just made me want to read the full biography. Quincy only met Miles in the 80...
I picked this nonfiction piece as my August selection to meet my 2018 New Year’s resolution. As I was pondering what titles to add the list in December 27, I grabbed this one off the shelf. I’ve like jazz music, but I have to admit that I’m extremely knowledgeable about it. I was aware that Miles Davis is one of the greatest of all time.As I started to flip the pages, I landed on the title page, where lo and behold, was an inscription to me, personally, from the author. It was dated 10/7/06. I m...
Quincy Troupe mourns the death of his friend Miles Davis. He relates some of their time together and what his music meant to him at different stages of his life. While Troupe is a poet, this book is an elegy with more music interpretation than poetry.Being from St. Louis, he first learned of Davis as a “local”. Davis played in the band of a first cousin, but Troupe first heard him on a juke box. The music was empowering. As a youth, it was something he could “get” that peers could not. He identi...
Part 3 was an education for me in understanding Miles' music. I used my phone to listen to the albums and particular tunes the author was describing, as I read his own personal reactions to and reflections of Miles' artistry. Thank you, Professor Troupe, for your descriptive art.
Perfecto anexo a la autobiografía escrita por el mismo autor. Arroja algo más de información sobre la personalidad de Miles Davis, pero es ante todo un ensayo sobre cómo apareció en la vida del escritor Quincy Troupe antes de conocerle en persona y su posterior amistad; de cómo influyó en su vida y en la de miles de personas. También analiza por qué Miles Davis sigue siendo rechazado por los puristas del jazz, y debo decir que comparto todas las reflexiones que este hombre va dejando caer, ya no...
Miles Davis is a legendary figure; I love his music. His autobiography and his music have the same tone: honesty. This book is the experiences of the poet who helped him put together his autobiography. It has the same honesty. Like his autobiography, it leaves me wondering, do you have to be a bastard to have an impact?
Reheated off-cuts from Miles: The Autobiography together with some giddy gossip and lots of I-was-hanging-with-Miles stories fill up the first half of the book. The second half consists, in the main, of Troupe's pedestrian judgements of the main Miles recordings. Of course they're great but we don't need to be told that again and again. How about some critical distance? And not just of the music, but of the man. There is some tut-tutting about his attitude to women, but nothing about the way he
The author is responsible for the most influential Miles Davis biography. This book is the story of the relationship that developed between the author and Davis. Davis could be a very difficult person and he had his share of quirks. It wasn't easy being his friend. It was an interesting book that contained some little known tidbits about Miles Davis. Nothing too deep.
The man, the music, the myths dispelled.Great followup read to The Autobiography.
This book should have another half star.While not a great book, it is a fun read.I would recommend reading the Miles Davis biography first
Miles' personality under a microscope, but not a very sensitive one. I learned something about the man, enough to make me glad I read the book. But the something learned is that Miles Davis was a human being, meaning there is more to him than his public persona as untouchable, or "bad mother...". While not exactly a revelation, the horn is humanized for our listening pleasure. The book is more about friendship than anything else, and that is Troupe's doing. Miles is now your friend, you go to hi...
This reads like hero worship, a recollection, and, near the end, a polemic about the direction of jazz. At first, I was put off my the tone of the writing. With quotes around slang and an overly deferential tone, I thought that he'd written this as a ode to those people who wanted Miles Davis 101. And this is NOT Miles 101. As the book went on, though, and the writer got comfy, it turned out to be an okay summation of the writer's reklation ship with Miles, his experience with working on the Mil...
Strictly for hardcore fans, though I suspect Troupe feels he deserves as many as does his subject. I enjoyed both the ‘Birth of the Cool’ documentary on TV, as well as Miles’ autobiography (written by Troupe), more than this book .
Finally, a jazz biography with quality prose!