I'm not sure. At the time Sal who is now my full time Mechanic was working at Wide World of Cars and knew Miles well. At some point Miles gave Sal hours of basement tapes. Miles plays and talks on them. They're pretty cool. Alberto the owner of WWOC at the time was a friend of Miles as well. Before WWOC Alberto was the MYC Lambo dealer.
Good points -- you seldom see Miles lack of technical proficiency discussed, but it is most profoundly apparent when he was with Charlie Parker. It took me a long time to get over the technical issues and warm to Miles. Another great that was not technically skilled was Chet Baker -- his life was beyond a complete mess but he knew what notes to leave out in a most passionate way.
Great story. Unless he was bringing flower back to cook a cake, you saved him a lot of jail time. Was it just a coincidence you were there at the exact same time?
Yes Meg and I were heading up the highway to College. We lived in the City. I'd drop her off at SUNY Purchase and double back to Sarah Lawrence.
You need to write a book with your car experiences. Just reading some of the ones you've shared on Fchat are interesting, I'm sure there's more.
Yes, from 1970 to 1974 Alberto was the official USA Lamborghini importer/concessionaire/distributor. After 1974 he just couldnt deal with Lamborghini anymore (as he tells me) and he gave up. Joe www.joesackey.com
From what I could gather reading about Miles, and I've read every book on him, he didn't like too many people, white or black. However, that being said he was the best talent scout in jazz history. A list of his former sidemen is a who's who of mid 20th century jazz the likes of John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John McGaughlin, Chick Corea etc, etc. And he liked Italian exotics. The guy definitely had taste. BTW Napolis were you ever invited to his brownstone in uptown New York? A personal audience with Miles Davis would be on par with meeting Enzo Ferrari himself.
I met him several times over the years at WWOC and he was always very nice. Alberto and Sal knew him well. He invited them to performances. He was a fierce talent. I never talked with him about the crash. He seemed to have straightened him self out and fighting demons successfully is something I admire.
Late one night in a Los Angeles grocery store while my father was making a purchase, he overheard a commotion at a nearby check-out. He heard a man say, "You won't take my check? I'm the best organist in the world!" Without turning around to see who was talking, my father called out, "Then your name had better be Jimmy Smith!" Came the reply, "I am Jimmy Smith" whereupon a friendship was born. My father introduced me to most of the jazz men in L.A. Regrettably, Miles was one I missed out on.
MAN!!! BROTHERS! You need to get together, and between sipping a beer or two or capuccinos, you need to write this down or put it on tape, dvd, etc., for current and future generations. The knowledge on this FerrariChat forum, exceeds Ferraris, and life in general. Some very interesting and learned people are here! If you are ever in Michigan, I extend you my hospiality, California and NewYork, are a great distance, even by today's measure. There must be a mutual friend or circumstance, for uniting, not only you guys, others have much to contribute too! Maybe Fchat, is the only sensible way to go...for now. Ciao...Paolo
Why has no one made a movie about Miles Davis' life? There is certainly plenty of material to work with. The guys life was a roller coaster. Born into a wealthy family, his father was a dentist in East St. Louis, he went to New York City in the forties to Julliard, wound up on heroin and a had stretch of success from 1955 to 1972 which is unparralled. If they did make the movie who would you suggest play the part.
Will Smith or Cuba Gooding. Both great actors. Jimmy Fox, if he's the actor who played Ray Charles, a few years ago? Ciao...Paolo
And here's another Miles Davis fan, but maybe with a twist. I like his later heavier, funkier stuff - Live Evil, Dark Magus, Black Beauty and the 4CD box set The Complete *****es Brew Sessions. My all time favourite MD track is Miles Runs the Voodoo Down. Exciting and interesting music Nathan
You must like Right Off from A Tribute to Jack Johnson. This piece is the closest thing to pure rock music Miles ever attempted.
Hopefully you guys all listen to Birdflight with Phill Schapp.. Probably the best hour of radio of the day.. If not you can even get it online.. Bird Flight (Monday through Friday, 8:20 - 9:30 am) WKCR's own Phil Schaap, one of the world's leading jazz historians, hosts this daily forum for the music of Charlie Parker. Besides offering a variety of approaches to listening to Bird's music, the show is often an example of scholarship in action, as Phil uncovers and preserves jazz history through countless on-air interviews. amante
Nate, I read that Miles gave Jimi Hendrix a high-speed midnight run in one of the Miuras that scared him sober Now why dont I have pics of the two them in the Miura? I also read that the NYPD had a detail assigned to following the Davis Miura around, and accordingly he was busted on gun-possesion charges stemming from the 357 Magnum he kept stashed under the driver's seat. Joe www.joesackey.com
Hi Joe And I read that Jimi was notoriously short sighted and therefore a poor driver (he wouldn't wear spectacles) and therefore he could and would no doubt have returned the favour. He apparently crashed a number of cars during his brief career. Maybe that's why he wrote 'Crosstown Traffic'? There is a story that Miles and Jimi were meant to do a studio session together but Miles demanded too much money. Shame - who knows what could have come out of that. Nathan
The shot is quite famous. It was taken by Baron Wolman, who was one of the originators of the modern style of rock photography. Wolman was the first staff photographer for Rolling Stone and did brilliant work for them for years. He was very advanced visually, into "ecology" before anyone knew what that was and was a pioneer in aerial photography and fashion photography (Rags magazine). This photo was exhibited at the Ferrari museum in Maranello last year, in an exhibit about Ferraris and Music/Musicians. For those who like Miles Davis' music (and not just his taste in cars), his entire catalog has been recently digitized, re-mixed, and re-released. Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers band--perhaps most famous for pushing "Slowhand" Eric Clapton during the soaring guitar solos in "Layla", once said that he spent an entire year listening to only one record: Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue".