Miles Davis Film Finally Moving Forward with Don Cheadle
There have been rumors about a Miles Davis biopic for a long time now, but the rumor mill seems to be picking up steam in the last few weeks. I've been tracking this on my radar since the beginning of June and found this at the LA Times:
"He has a complete calmness to him," says Ejiofor. "You need that if you're going to improvise, just a real relaxed assurance. That's a jazz skill. I mean, the great jazz musicians never break a sweat."
Before long, Cheadle will be calling upon his jazz training even more directly. Through his new shingle, Crescendo Productions, he is poised to star in, produce and make his directorial debut on a biopic of jazz legend Miles Davis. In preparation, Cheadle — whose musical background encompasses saxophone, drums, piano and vocals — has already begun practicing the trumpet for about two hours a day.
Then, I clipped an article at the end of June from Star Pulse, where Don Cheadle talks a bit about preparing for the role:
Don Cheadle received no help from Miles Davis' family while researching his role as the jazz man - because no one had any recollections about the music icon's secret life.
The Hotel Rwanda star felt sure recollections from Davis' family members would help him master the essence of the legend but Cheadle discovered he knew more about his subject than they did.
He says, "I asked them about parts of his life and they don't have any idea. They don't know what was going on.
And now, as I check my feeds before bed, I find out that movie news site extraordinaire Rotten Tomatoes has a new article (thus compelling me to finally write a post on this topic), including this about his preparation:
"I'm playing now, yeah," said Cheadle. "I've been touring so much and traveling so much, I haven't been able to jump back into the lessons so much but I play every day."
He won't have to be perfect for the film. It's just an acting exercise really. "It's a work in progress, I'll tell you that much. It doesn't sound good to me but I'm not going to play in the movie. I just have to play so I'm comfortable with it. We have all of Miles' archival music. I'd never try to play it personally."
I know I'll be waiting in line opening day if-and-when this movie finally comes out. I'll never forget seeing Miles in the Australian flick Dingo at the old King Theater, or actually getting to see him live in 1990 and 1991. Hell, I'll probably give the DVD out as Christmas presents.
Here's some classic Miles courtesy of YouTube - be sure to check out the last video, an interview with Bryant Gumbel:
Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 03:56AM
Reader Comments (4)
I am glad they are making a film about Miles Davis. Every American should know who Miles is just as every American is familiar with Elvis or Madonna or, sadly, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
The recent films about Johnny Cash and Ray Charles (and even Charlie Parker) have all had a sad "hollywood" quality to them in that they are basically stories that unfold like this: 1) The artist is nobody, 2) the artist is somebody 3) the artist has a drug problem, 4) the artist recovers from addiction 5) the artist croaks. The End. Let's hope they show a more complex depiction of of a very complicated person.
I read a book by a man who spent some time as Miles road manager in the 70's and 80's and spent a great deal of time with Miles. The book is not well written, but it does offer a lot of insight into Miles as a person, off stage. I don't remember the title, but I think it was something like "Miles and Miles" or something kind or corny like that. It is full of funny anecdotes about Miles. The anecdotes have the ring of authenticity as they paint a portrait of a complicated man, not a larger than life icon.
On another note - the quotation from the LA times - "I mean, the great jazz musicians never break a sweat." That's a ridiculous statement. Why did Pops always have a handkerchief? Bird never broke a sweat? I kind of doubt that. Trane never got a little moist? I personally have felt the perspiration of Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner while sitting "ringside" at one of their concerts.
Yeah, Tom - I agree one hundred percent. Thanks for the post. The book you were talking about is called Miles To Go, by Chris Murphy. I just put in my order at Amazon -- sounds like a fun read to be sure.
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