The Miles Davis Reader: Interviews and Features from DownBeat Magazine (Downbeat Hall of Fame)

(Book). DownBeat magazine (est. 1939), the bible of "jazz, blues, and beyond," proudly launches the first book in its DownBeat Hall of Fame Series. DownBeat has documented Miles Davis's career like no other journal in the world. From Davis's first DownBeat interview in 1950 to his death in 1991, the magazine captured each nuance and phase of his career through cover stories, features, news items, and reviews. This book is a long-overdue compilation of everything DownBeat magazine has written about Miles Davis, a book packed with glimpses into the artist's career as it happened from the polite young trumpeter making a name for himself, to the bombastic innovator, to the near mythic legend. It's a must-read for anyone interested in perhaps the most enigmatic and enduring star in jazz history.

The Miles Davis Reader was written over the course of 56 years by some of the greatest writers in jazz history-from Nat Hentoff, Ralph J. Gleason, and Leonard Feather to Don DeMichael, Howard Manel, and John McDonough. That's just scratching the surface. The editing of this journal has been done with love and care by DownBeat's editors, past and present.