1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgraceland is 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. Motherfucker say, motherfucker, say motherfucker, 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: that motherfucker over there, and this motherfucker over here. Motherfucker. 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: I can't say it, can't say the word, not like 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: Miles Davis. The word motherfucker was, without a doubt, Miles 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: Davis's favorite word. He used it liberally in his autobiography 8 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: and everyday conversation and nearly every quote of his from 9 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: stories that his friends recount and documentaries, and of course, 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: Miles Davis was motherfucker one of the baddest motherfuckers of 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: all time as a man, a musician, a friend, an enemy, 12 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: a junkie, a role model, an artist, a rock star, 13 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: straight motherfucker. To hear Miles Davis use the word motherfucker 14 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: is like listening to his music, a whole unique experience. 15 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: Nobody did it like Miles, but like countless others who've 16 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: come up in Miles's influence. I'm going to try so 17 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: get ready, motherfuckers, because this episode is a lot of 18 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: motherfucking motherfucker's sucking up the story like Motherfucker mellotron, the 19 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: stories about Miles Davis are insane. He did time at 20 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: Rikers Island. He was the victim of police brutality at Birdland. 21 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: He did enough coke to run down the entirety of 22 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: fifty second Street. He pimped out women to fuel a 23 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: devastating heroin habit, and then devastated his Lamborghini after slipping 24 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: himself a sleeping pill. He made himself into jazz's first 25 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: and only rock star. He blasted racism by blasting his bebop, 26 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: and when his lips weren't pressed against his trumpet, that 27 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: were mouthing the word motherfucker to whoever was unlucky enough 28 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: to be passing by. Miles Davis also made some of 29 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: the greatest jazz of all time, some of the greatest 30 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: music of all time. And that music I played you 31 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,959 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 32 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop for my melotron called Bebopa 33 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: Wo Nelly. I played you that loop because I can't 34 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: afford the rights to Rock around the Clock by Bill 35 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: Haley in his comments, and why would I play you 36 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: that specific slice of Tuscadero cheese could I afford it? 37 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 38 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: July fifteenth, nineteen fifty five, And that was the day 39 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: that Miles Davis first took the stage at the Newport 40 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: Jazz Festival and introduced the country to a new, unprecedented, 41 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: unheard of kind of cool. In this part one of 42 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: a special two part episode Blasting Racism, Blasting beebop, devastated Lamborghinis, 43 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: in the Inventor of Cool, that motherfucker Miles Davis. I'm 44 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan. In this disgraceland, the woods up beyond the 45 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: property line of his family's East Saint Louis, Illinois farm 46 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: gave young teenage Miles Davis enough distance away from the 47 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: smell of kalmanor, away from the sight of his father's 48 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: filthy prized pigs, and away from the sounds of violence, 49 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: domestic violence, the sound of his father beating on his mother, 50 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: closed fists to the face, flying teeth, screams, more scrapping. 51 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: It didn't happen all the time, but when it did, 52 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: it was best at Young Miles beat on out of 53 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: the house and get lost. His father's anger was not 54 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: to be taken lightly, though he was the second wealthiest 55 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: man in all of Illinois at the time. This was 56 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: still nineteen thirty nine, and despite whatever gains Miles Davis's 57 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: father had made in his personal life, there was plenty 58 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: for him to still be angry about. Money solved a 59 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: lot of problems, but the sting of societal racism in 60 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: the early part of the twentieth century was not one 61 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: of them. So Miles Davis's father, the successful dentist and entrepreneur, 62 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: his anger got the best of him, and that meant, unfortunately, 63 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: that it got the best of Miles's mother. So when 64 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: the fists started flying, Miles had a little spot in 65 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: the woods he'd had out in he'd bring his trumpet, 66 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: and at first he'd listen, listen for quiet, but there 67 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: was little, not even in the thick of the woods. 68 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: There was life change happening all around him. Nature moves swiftly, 69 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: and nature also moves like a snail. In each case, 70 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: nature inspires awe. Miles was not ignorant to the incremental 71 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: but inspiring change in natural beauty happening all around him. 72 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: The leaves were changing, the weather too, slowly, bending in 73 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: step to the will of the turning season, and of 74 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: course the birds. Like everything around him, growing, moving, changing, 75 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: The birds were his teachers, the wood thrush with its 76 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: syncopated scat, the round yodel of the loon, the lonesome 77 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: holler of the blue jay. Young Miles would sit in 78 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: the woods with his horn, listen for the birds to 79 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: call to him, and then he'd blow his trumpet and respond. 80 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: The wood thrush would scap, Miles would scap back. The 81 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: loon would yodel, Miles would yodle back. The blue jay 82 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: would holler Myles. The birds would change their sounds depending 83 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: on the time of day or even the time of 84 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: the season, and so Miles would change his sound too. 85 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: Change was a necessity. Miles Davis would later say, if 86 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: anyone wants to keep creating, they have to be about change, 87 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: among other things. He learned this from his father, whose 88 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 1: entrepreneurial instincts forced him to evolve and diversify and thus 89 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: survive and thrive. And he learned this from growing up 90 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: surrounded by nature that was forever changing in both small 91 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: and giant steps. And as mentioned, he learned this from 92 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: the birds, whose songs change depending on the time of day, 93 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: depending on their wants, their needs, their desires, the wood, Thrush, Loon, 94 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: and blue Jay were all functional teachers, but it would 95 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: be a different bird altogether who would teach Miles Davis 96 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 1: more than any other force of nature. The man they 97 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 1: called bird saxophonist Charlie Parker. Fuck you and your whole 98 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: fucking band, you fucking muck. Those were the last words 99 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: big band leader Billy Eckstein heard before he was out 100 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: on his ass, literally on a Saint Louis Street curb, 101 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: outside the famed Plantation Club, because despite his best efforts, 102 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: the only way the dapper frontman was getting through the 103 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: front door was by getting thrown out of it on 104 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: his ass. He stood quickly and started shouting back at 105 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: the low level mafioso who threw him out and who 106 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: was now heading back into the club ignoring him. Band 107 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: leaders like horrors came cheap, relatively speaking, and Billy Eckstein 108 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: and his entire big band, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and 109 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: Sara Vaughan among them, were out. Billy Eckstein shouted some more, 110 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: kicked and punched the air, flailed about indiscriminately. His tight 111 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: processed hair and sharply manicured mustache remained perfectly in place, 112 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: though the tails of his starch shirt escaped the backside 113 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: of his high waist depleated pants. It was a minor 114 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: inconvenience given the injustice he and his bandmates were just 115 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: forced to endure. They could headline the motherfucking club, but 116 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: the inbred pillow game mobster wouldn't let him or his 117 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: band walk into the front door. His name was on 118 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: the fucking marquis right there. Look in lights, It said 119 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:24,239 Speaker 1: Billy motherfucking x Stein and his big motherfucking band didn't matter. 120 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: Billy was black, light skinned, but still black, and so 121 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: was his band. That meant backdoor, motherfucker, so said the 122 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: Plantation Club muscle. But Billy Eckstein took no shit off nobody. 123 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: He was still pissed, But after about thirty seconds he 124 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: collected himself, remembered where he was, Saint Louis. What that 125 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: meant racism? Who he was, Billy motherfucking x Time, And 126 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: what that meant Beny was a man who got shit done, 127 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: and right now booking a gig needed doing, or he 128 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: and his band weren't going to get paid. So what 129 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: that meant was he needed another club. Good thing. He 130 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: was Billy X time, A new gig at a moment's 131 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: notice in a jumping music town like Saint Louis for 132 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: a musician with his reputation was no problem. So fuck 133 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: the Plantation Club. It was over to the Riviera Club instead. 134 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: Billy's band was setting up in their new digs for 135 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,839 Speaker 1: the night. Another new problem. Billy's trumpet player got sick, 136 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: puking his guts out in the woman's bathroom. Couldn't even 137 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: make it to the men's room, shitting his pants too, 138 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,719 Speaker 1: they said. At the same time. Billy didn't panic. His 139 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: other trumpet player, Dizzy Gillespie did. Dizzy needed that balance 140 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: in the sound. Not really, but he thought he did. 141 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: Needed that mirror horn riding shotgun to free him up 142 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: to blow ballistic like Billy's temper. Dizz tore ass off 143 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: the bandstand in search of a local trumpet player, a 144 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: Saint Louis solution. Before he even hit the street. In 145 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: through the front door, eighteen year old local trumpet Phena 146 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: Miles Davis confidently strolled into the club. He was there 147 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,559 Speaker 1: to check out Billy X time. Dizzy recognized the trumpet 148 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: case in the kid's hand, and he also recognized a 149 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: damn quick solution to his problem. You played trumpet, he 150 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 1: asked Miles the kid, without even introducing himself. Miles just 151 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: looked at him as if to say, you a fucking 152 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: idiot or something. You see this here case in my hand, 153 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,839 Speaker 1: don't you. Dizzy didn't wait for an answer. Are the 154 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 1: trumpets sick? You want to sit in? Miles smiled. The 155 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: next thing he knew, he was on stage, and when 156 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: the dude with the high and tight dee who breathlessly 157 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: recruited him, began to blow his horn, Miles was knocked out. 158 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: Dizzy Gillespie could play far beyond anyone Miles had heard locally. 159 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: But what really blew Myles Davis's mind was the saxophone player, 160 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: the one they called Bird, Charlie Parker Billy Eckstein gave 161 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: him eight bars to solo, and in those eight bars, 162 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: Charlie Parker gave Miles Davis his future. If this was 163 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,839 Speaker 1: how cats from New York City played their instruments, then 164 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: wherever they were from was where Miles Davis needed to be. 165 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: Fox Saint Louis, Hello, New York City was necessary. His 166 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: father told him he'd support him in New York City, 167 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: But school was a necessity, so Juilliard, the famed music school, 168 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: was the answer. Miles would study music during the day 169 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 1: become a master trumpet player, but to fully do that, 170 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: he'd need to chase Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie around 171 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: Times Square in Harlem at night, so he burned the 172 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: candle at both ends. Keeping awake in class was sometimes 173 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: a struggle. Some of the classes lit his hair on fire, 174 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: others bought him to sleep. Bebop, the new music, was 175 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: Miles's obsession. Bird and Dizzy did their time in Billy 176 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: Eckstein's Big Band, playing pop tunes behind Secvaugh, taking it 177 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: on the road to entertain black and oftentimes white audiences 178 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: from coast to coast, but that was just for the 179 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: bread for themselves. Back in New York City, Bird and 180 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: Diz played, and when they did, Miles made sure he 181 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: was in attendance as much as possible. The two players 182 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: were at the very center of the creation of the 183 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: new music that was knocking the socks off of jazz fans. 184 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: Bebop challenged everything. It challenged rules of music theory, rhythm, composition, harmony, 185 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: all of it. Bebop took known pop tunes, counted them in, 186 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: blazed through the familiar melodies up top of the head 187 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: in a few bars, and then proceeded to lay waste 188 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: to listener's preconceptions of what their favorite songs were, replacing 189 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: those preconceptions with unimaginable possibilities for what their favorite songs 190 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: could be. Bebop players like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie 191 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: took those same pop standards from Billy Eckstein's big band 192 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: and in their new small jazz combos, played them at 193 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: lightning speeds with virtuoso chops. Once settled into the familiar, 194 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: albeit fast chord progressions, bebop players tore the melodies apart 195 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: with vicious, imaginative soloing. They turned the tunes rhythms inside out, 196 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: disrupted their harmonic structures into shape shifting melodies, and invented 197 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: new modes of phrasing and composition that had more to 198 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: do with the wild innovations of Russian classical composer Igor 199 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: Stravinsky than they did with the mainstream jazz turf of 200 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: Lewis Armstrong. Each song was a chance for bebop players 201 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: to take their audiences on a wild ride. The excitement 202 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: of the playing was as mystifying as it was thrilling, 203 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: It was transportive, and before listeners knew it, they were 204 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: somehow right back where they started, and the familiar clutch 205 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: of the recognizable melody that swept them up in the 206 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: action to begin with, bebop was an entirely new bag. 207 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: Fifty second Street got all the press as the place 208 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: to be. The Onyx, Three Deuces, the down Beat Club, 209 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: and Kelly's State were all there and heavily trafficked by him. 210 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: Jazz fans and critics, black and white alike. White jazz 211 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: critics wouldn't shut up about fifty second Street clubs, but 212 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: most of them couldn't be found up at Minton's Playhouse, 213 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: not that it was any great secret might have been 214 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: that it was just too far north up in Harlem 215 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: for most white cats to feel comfortable. Hard to blame them, though, 216 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: is not a lot of folks were comfortable at Minton's. 217 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: As a jazz player, if your shit wasn't tight, you'd 218 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: get a viscerated not only by your fellow musicians Bird 219 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: and Dizzy at the head of the pack, but the 220 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: crowd would tear you apart too. It was humiliating. Miles 221 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: saw some guys who never recovered took their horns straight 222 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: to the pawn shop. Miles sat at a side table 223 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: at Minton's listening to Eddie Lockjohn Davis lead his band. 224 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: Miles had his trumpet with him at his feet. He 225 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: was waiting, watching, hoping to be called upon to sit in. 226 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: He was ready. Tonight was going to be a special night, 227 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: he could feeling. But then out of nowhere now style 228 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: note chops, geek off the street with a horn jumped 229 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: onto the bandstand ahead of Miles. The dude was all 230 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: about his women sitting at his table, winking at them 231 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: and largely ignoring Lockjaw before kicking into the number Lockjaw 232 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: I had called out. The geek not only failed to 233 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: impress his ladies with his subpar horn playing, but he 234 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: insulted the audience as well. The booze came quick, Miles smiled, 235 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: and then before the first solo even hit, Miles saw 236 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: a fellow audience member, not a musician, just the local 237 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: resident there to spend his hard earned money. And here's 238 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: some hard blown bebop. The real shit. This dude jumped 239 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: on stage, grabbed the geek by his shirt, collar and 240 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: belt and launched him off of the stage. The geek 241 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: rolled the dude left down to the dance floor began 242 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: kicking the geek, who was struggling to get to his feet. 243 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: The dude kicked some more. The geek crab crawled back 244 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: toward the exit. The dude landed kick after kick, forcing 245 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: the geek out of the club onto the sidewalk on 246 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: his back. Once outside, the dude pounced and went to 247 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: his fists. He pummeled the geek, bloodied his face, his clothes, 248 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: and set the warning the geeks all over one hundred 249 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: and eighteenth Street in Harlem, and the warning was this, 250 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: don't waste our fucking time with no half assed playing 251 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: at Minton's. Minton's was no joke. Miles saw it as 252 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: a bebop laboratory where musical scientists went to invent, to create, 253 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: to change the past into something new. Fifty second Street 254 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 1: was cool, but the music wasn't as hot as it 255 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: was at Minton's because Minton's was where it first came alive, 256 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: and nothing was more enthralling than that first time. Kind 257 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: of like dope Heroin. Bebop players, especially Charlie Parker, were 258 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: compelled by Heroin. It was the ultimate embrace, the perfect 259 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: snug antidote to the adrenaline surge of a blistering set. 260 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: The lost low note found just in time to anchor 261 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: the dizzying hive of improvisation. Heroin for Bebop players brought 262 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,360 Speaker 1: them down to earth, and then some submerged them underground 263 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: until it was time to climb back up on stage 264 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: and blast off into the stratosphere via their virtuosity and imaginations. 265 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: But despite Heroine's repetitive call, its response was never the 266 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: same as it was that first time. Like the thrill 267 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: of beebop, you could chase that first high, but unlike Beebop, 268 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: you'd never find it again. It would be a few 269 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: years before Miles Davis would adopt the habit of his mentor, 270 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: Charlie Parker, who was by nineteen forty five a full 271 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,880 Speaker 1: blown junkie. For the time being, Heroin could wait. Bebop 272 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: was more than enough for Miles. Once Miles Davis picked 273 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: up Bebop, he couldn't put it down, Not in those 274 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,719 Speaker 1: early days anyway, not in the mid forties. He chased 275 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,919 Speaker 1: that feeling, and he chased Bird and Dizzy all over Manhattan, 276 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: completely swept up and they're playing, especially in Birds. He 277 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: was special. Everyone knew it, everyone except Miles's teachers at Juilliard. 278 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: Miles took what he could from Juilliard, though, unlike most 279 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: of his fellow students who were also caught up in 280 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: the excitement of bebop, Miles didn't askew music theory. He 281 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: didn't buy into the myth that focusing on theory prevented 282 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,719 Speaker 1: you from understanding feel He saw theory for what it 283 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: was another tool, a tool to further dissect the existing 284 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: jazz standards he was interpreting through his own trumpet playing, 285 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: as well as a tool to apply to his own 286 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: solos and compositions. Along with his wild, improvised solos, Miles 287 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: had begun playing his own compositions on New York City 288 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 1: stages alongside his heroes Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, who'd 289 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: quickly after he'd arrived in New York City welcomed Miles 290 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: Davis into their small combos. In nineteen forty five, Miles 291 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: replaced Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet in Charlie Parker's band. There 292 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: was no bad blood, though Miles took up with Dizzy offstage, 293 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: becoming tight friends with the older musician. Miles could play 294 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: no doubt about it. He understood what Bird and Diz 295 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: were trying to do and was bringing his own style 296 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,879 Speaker 1: to the fast emerging genre. He had feel, and he 297 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: was studied, but that didn't mean he fell in for 298 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: everything his teachers were laying down At Julliard. He sunk 299 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: into his chair behind his desk, his eyes heavy with 300 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 1: bags under them. Jazz gigs went all night and classes 301 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: started early, and most times it wasn't bad. But this morning, 302 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: Miles wasn't about suffering this particular professor's bullshit, white, entitled, guilty, patronizing. 303 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: Miles had seen her type a lot since arriving in Manhattan. 304 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: At least the racist niece Saint Louis were obvious about it. 305 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,959 Speaker 1: Here in New York, it was more subtle, almost accidental, 306 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: but gross nonetheless and enraging. The professor was laying down 307 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: a musical history lesson. At the time, the lesson was 308 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: somewhat new, but it has survived to this day. Even 309 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: it's a narrative that academics have perpetuated, and for whatever reason, 310 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,880 Speaker 1: this narrative, despite its sweeping, simple minded generalization, has last 311 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 1: despite the fact that young Miles Davis called bullshit on it. Immediately, 312 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: the white professor told Miles and his Juilliard classmates that 313 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,439 Speaker 1: black people played blues music because they were poor and 314 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: because they had to, quote, pick cotton. Miles punched his 315 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: hand into the air. The professor called on him. Miles 316 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: was quick to his point, saying, quote, I'm from East 317 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,120 Speaker 1: Saint Louis and my father is rich. He's a dentist, 318 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: and I played the blues. My father didn't never pick 319 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: no cotton, and I didn't wake up this morning and 320 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: start playing the blues. There's more to it than that. 321 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: Miles Davis wasn't playing along. He was playing a new tune, 322 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: his tune, and quickly putting into practice what he innately 323 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: knew that if he wanted to survive as a musician, 324 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: challenging norms wasn't enough. He needed to change the way 325 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: things were done, even if that meant applying change to 326 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: the game changing genre of bebop. We'll be right back 327 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:57,880 Speaker 1: after this. 328 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 2: We're were were. 329 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,159 Speaker 1: Miles Davis took all he could from bebop and applied 330 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,719 Speaker 1: it to a new and unique approach that was wholly 331 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:14,200 Speaker 1: his own. After a stint in Charlie Parker's band. Miles 332 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: headed to Paris to perform in Tad Dameran's Quintet, but 333 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: the romance of the city absorbed him. He fell in 334 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: with the intellectuals, artists and actresses, Jean Paul Satra, Pablo Picasso, 335 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: and Juliet Greco among them. The city celebrated him as 336 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: the great artist. He had become a first class jazz man, 337 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,800 Speaker 1: capable of transforming a room with his interpretation of any composition, 338 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,679 Speaker 1: and increasingly with his good looks and new, cool, clean 339 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: style of dress as well. The color of his skin 340 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: was not a consideration at all. In Paris. You were 341 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,199 Speaker 1: who you were, and that was that. When Miles returned 342 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 1: to America in nineteen forty nine, it was clear that 343 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: that was still very much not the case, and it 344 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: fueled Miles Davis's anger, which in turn fueled his creative drive. 345 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: Being another great bebop player, which he was, was one thing, 346 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: but he would never be the greatest bebop player, and 347 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: who knew if the style would even survive. Miles needed 348 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,439 Speaker 1: his own back, his own thing, so he did what 349 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,439 Speaker 1: he always did. Changed when it came time to record music. 350 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: Miles Davis shifted away from bebop's virtuosity and leaned into 351 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: the romance of Paris and the cool image he'd begun 352 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: to cultivate for himself. Bebop burned, Miles wasn't interested in burning. 353 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: He was interested in smoldering and slowing things down. Along 354 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,159 Speaker 1: with a racially integrated group of collaborators a arranger and 355 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: pianist Gil Evans and drummer Max Roache chief among them, 356 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: that would become known as the Miles Davis no Net. 357 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: Miles set about to create something new, a Maverick take 358 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: on jazz improvisation that focused on voice or the horns. 359 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: Set about to drive the melodies with the intimacy of 360 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,719 Speaker 1: a romantic vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, or with the 361 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: originality of actor Orson Wells. Miles mind both of their 362 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: phrasing and style for his new approach. These recordings would 363 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 1: later be collected and released as an album entitled Birth 364 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:18,399 Speaker 1: of the Cool, which was exactly what this music was. Cool, 365 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: a refined evolution of bebop and pop. Miles's new style 366 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: immediately impacted the world of jazz, contributing to the advent 367 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: of West Coast or cool jazz. Out in California and 368 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: directly influencing the approach of its greatest contributors to that scene, 369 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: Chet Baker down in Los Angeles and Dave Brubeck further 370 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: up the coast. The birth of the Cool Recordings had 371 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: Miles Davis flying high. But then an old familiar foil 372 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: to the jazz scene brought Miles Davis crashing down to earth. 373 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: Heroin Ebony magazine. Shit right there in print Ebany with 374 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: none other than that motherfucking Cab Calloway talking shit about 375 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 1: a habit. Others too, but they put your motherfucking picture 376 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: in the pages. The sub headline above your mug noted 377 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: musicians involved in dope cases. As if that left any doubt. 378 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 1: The caption underneath your mug, Miles Davis, top trumpet player, 379 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: was picked up by Los Angeles police recently charged with 380 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: having dope. 381 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 3: God damn it, we were fall Miles Davis immediately realized 382 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 3: he and drummer Art Blakey had been tailed to the 383 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:30,200 Speaker 3: Los Angeles Heroin Connects apartment to score, and before we 384 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 3: could do anything, the cops swarmed him. 385 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: The fuck The cops pulled no punches. Black junkie jazz 386 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: men were a scourge. They shoved Miles up against the wall, 387 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: ripped his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, spied the 388 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 1: track marks perforating his dark skin, and that was enough, 389 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: and they hauled him and art In kicked their asses 390 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: straight into jail, where the real bullshit began. Miles caught 391 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,880 Speaker 1: the vibe quick out there on the street. To these cops, 392 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: you weren't human, you were black, but in here somehow 393 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: even less than that. In their eyes, you were a 394 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: fucking cockroach. They'd stop you out for the slightest infraction, 395 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 1: or for nothing at all, just to fucking do it, 396 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: just because they could. Miles were treated to the corner 397 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: of his cell and made low. His old man would 398 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: come through, and so he did. Within a short amount 399 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: of time, Miles's father had called upon a prominent Los 400 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: Angeles dentist to get Miles released. Miles bounced art Blaky too. 401 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: Miles headed back to New York City, where the bad 402 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: press awaited him. Not just ebony, Downbeat magazine as well 403 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 1: in this article, was practically worse than jail. In fact, 404 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: it was its own type of jail. Club owners read Downbeat, 405 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,360 Speaker 1: and club owners didn't want it known that they hired junkies. 406 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: So despite whatever shine the Miles Davis name had on 407 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: it in nineteen fifty, that article took it right off. 408 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: Club owners stopped hiring them, and on the off chance 409 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: they found themselves in a booking bind and did put 410 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: Miles on stage, then they'd have to contend with the 411 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: cops who were now making a habit of soft rating 412 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,400 Speaker 1: jazz clubs and literally pulling jazz musicians off stage mid 413 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: set and checking them for track marks. Was fucking humiliating. 414 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:17,160 Speaker 1: Miles sunk deeper into his habit scoring consumed him. Harlem 415 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: was a concrete pharmacy soundtracked by the howl of addiction, 416 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: short blast of euphoria and groaning desperation. Miles chased down 417 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: his new muse. With gigs few and far between, Miles 418 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: took up new employment as a pimp. Pimping didn't come easy. 419 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: Pimping required drive, which Miles had little of at the time. 420 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 1: Putting together a couple girls to run out for a 421 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: trick or two brought in some cash, but Miles wasn't 422 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: particularly good at it. In the end, he ended up 423 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: relying on what he'd referred to as his bitches more 424 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: than they would rely on him, but still it was 425 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: a means to an end, and that end was Heroin. 426 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: Miles ran it down night and day through the streets 427 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 1: of New York. From Stillman's Gym, where he caught from 428 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: the boxers he'd watch spar up to Bell's Bar on 429 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: Broadway in Harlem, to the Edgecomb apartment of a friend 430 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: and fellow jazz musician and junkie Sonny Rawlins, with that 431 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: junkie view, up to the Bronx, all the way to 432 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: Yankee Stadium, and then down to the pool on Bradhurst, 433 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: the Square at Saint Nick's, to Pienis Bud Powell's place 434 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: to get stoned and listen to him groove, and finally 435 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,199 Speaker 1: to Small's Paradise or over to Sugar Rays where it 436 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: was always bumping and you could always score. Scoring was 437 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,880 Speaker 1: all that mattered now, not music, not even his family. 438 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty one, if you didn't have money, Miles 439 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: Davis had no interest in you, and that included his girlfriend, 440 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,199 Speaker 1: Irene and their two children together. They were of no 441 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,679 Speaker 1: mind to Miles at that moment. Paying child's support was 442 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:53,160 Speaker 1: the least of his concerns, but it was of concern 443 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,879 Speaker 1: for Irene, who had Miles arrested for non support and 444 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: throne in Jailer Boller hallerwer Riker's Island Correctional Facility, nineteen 445 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: fifty five. The Miles felt the withdrawals coming like quick 446 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: blasts from an out of tune horn. Some geek off 447 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,879 Speaker 1: the street on his bandstand, fucking him up, blowing hard 448 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: and wrong. It grated, it itched, it scratched, it ached, 449 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: It was endless. The screws left him alone to sweat 450 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: it out. They'd seen this step before, junkie musician drying 451 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: out in the huskow. The wrong man blew his wrong horn, 452 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: and the more he did, the more Miles sweat out 453 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: the groove. He slept in short intervals on the floor 454 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: on his cot on a old sweat trip that some 455 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: screw rattled his cage, roused him a visitor, his attorney 456 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: on the other side of the glass. Words, no horse, 457 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: just words. Miles listened. He heard the birds, the wood thrush, 458 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: the loon, the blue jay. He heard them sing back 459 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: into his consciousness, and then he heard what his lawyer 460 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: was saying. He was dead, not him, him, the other bird, bird, 461 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: the bird. Charlie Parker low bar pneumonia worsened by a 462 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: bleeding ulcer and a liver ravaged by advanced cirrhosis. Myles 463 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: shuffled back to his cell, added grief to his cold 464 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: Turkey quartet, and sunk deeper into withdrawal. Three days later, 465 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: his lawyer got him out. Bird was buried and Miles 466 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: was clean. His lawyer got him a gig. There was 467 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 1: a new jazz festival about to launch in Newport, Rhode Island, 468 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: founded by socialites Blane and Louis Lorillard, and programmed by 469 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: George Ween, a white cat from Boston who, when it 470 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: came to jazz, knew as shit. The bill filled quickly 471 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: with Count Bassie, Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman, and Dave Brubeck. 472 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: These headliners were rounded out with a heavy hitting undercart 473 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: of all stars Jerry Mulligan, Felonious Monks, Zut Sims, Percy Heath, 474 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: Connie Kay and finally Miles Davis. When Miles joined the 475 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: all Stars on stage to pay tribute to Bird with 476 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: the song Now's the Time, the jazz world and attendance 477 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,960 Speaker 1: took notice. But when he leaned into the solo for 478 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: Monks Round Midnight, he changed jazz on the spot. Forever. 479 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: Miles added his harm and mute to the solo he 480 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: blew from his trumpet and mesmerized the audience. Was purer 481 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: romance in the phrases for Miles Davis's trumpet. The Newpoort 482 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: crowd vibed on the banks of the Seine and within 483 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 1: the walls of the Louver. They felt the existential neverland 484 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: of Satra, sent the avon imagination of Picasso, and were 485 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: juiced by the sparkle of Juliet Greco's eyes. They were 486 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: sent to swoon by Sinatra, reassured by the gravitas of 487 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:05,640 Speaker 1: Orson Wells, and they saw quite literally before them the 488 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: birth of the cool. Miles still dapper, clean, dark, handsome, moody. 489 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:18,400 Speaker 1: In a word, badass, another word, mother fucker. This was 490 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five. This type of cool did not exist. 491 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: Rock and roll was teeny bopper bullshit, and the movies 492 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: were still, for the most part, fickle and cornball studio numbers. 493 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause wouldn't hit until later 494 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: that year in October, and Elvis Presley wouldn't fully capture 495 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: America's imagination until nineteen fifty six. Miles Davis was cool 496 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: before both of them. He defined and personified the term cool, 497 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 1: a new kind of cool, a perfect meld of style, 498 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: tremendous feel, and innovative technique, the likes of which the 499 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: mainstream jazz fans and attendance at the first Newport Jazz 500 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: Festival had never heard before. In effect, Miles Davis took 501 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 1: black jazz music. It made it relatable for white audiences. 502 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 1: When he got off stage, numerous record label men were 503 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: at his feet, offering him deals on the spot. Miles, 504 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 1: as well as the other performers, were feted that evening 505 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: at the Newport mansion of Elaine Lrilard. When Elaine saw Miles, 506 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: she brought some friends over to meet the young musician 507 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: who stole the show she just paid for. She got 508 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 1: right to it, saying to her friends, to Miles, and 509 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: to anyone in the grand room who would listen, Oh, 510 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: this is the boy who played so beautifully. What's your name? 511 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: Miles just stared at her. The mere seconds of silence 512 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: made the tension in the room unbearable. Miles held a stare. 513 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 1: Elaine was on the verge of embarrassment. Miles blinked first 514 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: and unloaded, Fuck you, I ain't no fucking boy. My 515 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: name is Miles Davis, and you better remember that you 516 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: ever want to talk to me with that. Miles Davis 517 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: left Newport from New York. I'm Jake Brennan in this 518 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: episode of Disgraceland is to be continued. 519 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,320 Speaker 4: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 520 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 4: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 521 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 4: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 522 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 4: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 523 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 4: you for supporting the show. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership 531 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 2: for details, review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 532 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 2: and Facebook at disgrace lampod and on YouTube at YouTube 533 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,400 Speaker 2: dot com slash at disgrace lampod rock a roller. 534 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,399 Speaker 1: He's a bad don man.