Ian Carr – författare

The acclaimed classic biography, fully revised, becomes the definitive.The revised edition of Ian Carr’s classic biography of Miles Davis throws new light on his life and career from the early days in New York, with Charlie Parker, to his Birth of the Cool band, through his drug addiction in the early 1950s, and the years of extraordinary achievements, 1954-1960, during which he created a whole series of masterpieces on record, and drew to his band such unequalled talents as John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly and Cannonball Adderly.Carr also gives a detailed description of Miles’s dark reclusive period, 1975-1980, and his descent towards disintegration. He also tells how the events of one single day forced Davis to turn back to life and return slowly to music.The incessant activity of his last ten years – the music-making, his painting and art exhibitions, his extraordinary trumpet playing, his marriage to and divorce from Cicely Tyson – is recounted with fascinating insight. Miles Davis, whose work has been called ‘one of the greatest musical legacies of the twentieth century’, remained controversial until the end, and this definitive biography examines the controversy from all sides.With access to the inner circle of Davis’s friends and associates, Ian Carr includes new interviews with such jazz greats as Max Roach, George Russell, George Avakian, Ron Carter, John Carisi, John Scofield, Bill Evans and Jack and Lydia DeJohnette, and revisits those who contributed to the first edition, including Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland, Joe Zawinul and Paul Buckmaster. This new, revised edition is an essential source for those who want to understand Miles, his music and the ‘jazz life’.

Keith Jarrett is probably the most influential jazz pianist living today: his concerts have made him world famous. He was a child prodigy who had his first solo performance at the age of seven. In the sixties he played with the Jazz Messengers and then with the Charles Lloyd Quartet, touring Europe, Asia, and Russia. He played electric keyboards with Miles Davis at the beginning of the seventies, and went on to lead two different jazz groups,one American and one European. He straddles practically every form of twentieth century music,he has produced totally composed music, and has performed classical music as well as jazz. Jarrett has revolutionized the whole concept of what a solo pianist can do. And his albums such as Solo Concerts (at Lausanne and Bremen), Belonging, The Koln Concert , and My Song have gained him a worldwide following.Now, with Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music, Ian Carr has written the definitive story of Jarrett's musical development and his personal journey. This is a revealing, fascinating, and enlightening account of one of the outstanding musicians of our age.