During the introduction to this DVD biography of Miles Davis released by Sony Music Miles' onetime mentor, trumpeter Clark Terry, points out that the tension between Miles' warm trumpet sound and his image as an egotist created a mystique that was not easily penetrated. Davis biographer Ian Carr, also a trumpet player, tells us, quite rightly, that Miles Davis "often looked back, but always moved forward." Davis never rejected the music he had created, despite people's belief that he did. Those who believe this were simply not listening to him or were approaching Miles through the eyes of others. His refusal to play earlier music that fans adored as he moved forward was based instead on a profound respect for that music and the circumstances and inspirations that created it. He believed that once that music had been realized to the best of his potential on recordings, there was no need for it to be played again. In any case, it was impossible for him to do so, because he simply had lost interest once a new idea had grabbed him.
Like most biographical attempts at organizing Davis' personal and professional lives into a coherent story, the early years are painted much more vividly than the later years. And, after all, what more can be said about the years from around 1975 until Davis' death? We've already had numerous biographies featuring the thoughts of family members and former sidemen about Miles' famous "silent years", his '80s comeback, and the resulting music that has never been accepted by the jazz world. The years that Miles spent with Charlie Parker, the Birth of the Cool sessions, his recovery from heroin addiction: these are the years where the remembrances and thoughts of family members, Carr, photographer Jean Pierre Leloir, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, and others help fill in areas where mere words on a page cannot suffice. The importance of Miles' first trip to Paris and affair with singer Juliette Greco cannot be overemphasized. It gave him a glimpse of a world in which race was of little consequence, in which his behavior and motives were not questioned, and in which jazz was of great interest. We learn that Miles was hooked on heroin and headed the way of his mentor, Charlie Parker, when he found his way into the Birth of the Cool sessions with Gil Evans, who would be a nearly lifelong collaborator, and someone whom Miles referred to as a friend.