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The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Miles. review – soulful ode to the jazz genius behind Kind of Blue
Celebrity biographical dramas are ten a penny but it takes audacity for a performer to emulate the famous person in question. What elevates Miles., a tribute to jazz legend Miles Davis, is the role of musician Jay Phelps. Not only does he give a credible imitation of Davis's spare trumpet style, he also plays along convincingly to backing tapes of Kind of Blue, regarded by many as the definitive jazz album. Phelps is more than an incidental player. A constant presence in a production written and directed by Oliver Kaderbhai, Phelps plays a Davis acolyte trying to learn from the master, while the pressure of a record company advance looms over him. What was the secret ingredient, he wants to know, that turned Kind of Blue into a bestselling jazz album? How much did it depend on the collaborators, including John Coltrane and Bill Evans? Where did it fit into the musician's history of drug abuse and womanising? Now aged 32, the same as Davis at the recording in 1959, could he ever hope to achieve as much? Answering some of these questions – and evading others – is Benjamin Akintuyosi in the title role. With a raspy post-op voice gurgling up from deep in his throat, he plays Davis as sharp, forthright, hard to impress but passionate in his enthusiasms. His is a tale of musical obsession offset by a lack of money; creative innovation offset by racial prejudice. With his influences stretching to Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Debussy, as well as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and the street rhythms of Afro-Irish tap dance, Davis's musicality is more deeply felt than his Juilliard education might suggest. Kind of Blue, he says in the play, is 'my pain on a 78', an experiment he thought had failed. With projections by Colin J Smith adding to the period detail, the show is a fact-packed, reverent and loving testament to the complicated man behind a musical benchmark. At Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 25 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews
Scotsman
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Previously unheard recordings of jazz legend Miles Davis to be heard in festival play premiere
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A play about the life of jazz legend Miles Davis and featuring previously unheard tracks is to be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival after winning a funding award. Miles, which details the life of the American musician, based on his own autobiography and describes the musician as 'pimp, addict, genius', is the winner of the Meadows Award for underrepresented artists of colour. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The production, which details the "chaos" of the making of a Kind of Blue, the bestselling jazz album of all time, will receive cash to fund a full run at Summerhall. Presented by theatre company :DELIRIUM: and Lauren Reed Productions, the play will see acclaimed jazz trumpet player, Jay Phelps perform alongside an actor representing Miles. Mr Phelps, who has performed at London jazz club Ronnie Scott's and the BBC Proms, has recently been touring Kind of Blue in various venues across the country with his band. Described as a 'hypnotic, smoke-laced fever dream', the story of Mr Davis' life is said to be 'a visceral journey into the soul of an artist who redefined modern music'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Miles Davis Quintent, Hammersmith, London, 1967. Artist Brian Foskett. (Photo by National Jazz Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images) | National Jazz Archive/Heritage I Creative director Oliver Kaderbhai, who was resident director for the UK tour of hit musical Hamilton, said: 'As a mixed-race theatre maker of Anglo-Indian descent, I am curious about identity - what drives people to do the things they do. We're interested in humanity under pressure. 'Miles was a complex man and we're going to explore how he became the creative genius we know today - how did his race, his circumstances, his upbringing impact his choices? And would we have been a different Miles if he existed today?' Summerhall Arts, the new charity heading arts and culture provision at the venue for the next three years, said: 'Summerhall is proud to support MILES. through the Meadows Award, a production that embodies the bold, necessary, and artistically rich storytelling we believe deserves to take centre stage. We are committed to making space for Artists of Colour at the Fringe and thrilled to see MILES. lead that vision.' International work makes up more than half this year's Fringe Summerhall this week announced its line-up for this year's Fringe, which includes over 50 per cent international work, with artists from countries such as Singapore, Brazil, New Zealand, and the USA. It features a 50 per cent female-led line up, with 20 per cent of shows created by artists of colour and 25 per cent including LGBTQ+ narratives. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Highlights include Skye: A Thriller, written by Ellie Keel. Set on the Isle of Skye, follows a group of siblings confronting the reappearance of their deceased father. Earlier this year, a financial crisis at Summerhall was averted after a winding up order over alleged unpaid tax was abandoned. Summerhall's management announced that HMRC had dropped a legal action that led to its bank accounts being frozen. A public consultation is being launched into the future of the building, which has operated as an arts hub for 14 years. Developer AMA recently said it wanted to include residential properties in its redevelopment of the venue, as well as commercial space and a 'facility to sustainably continue the provision of the arts'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Summerhall Arts Fringe producer and programmer, Tom Forster, said: 'As promised back in January, our 2025 Fringe performance programme continues to be exactly what we know and love. It's the same beating heart - consisting of colleagues old and new - but underneath brand-new skin, an approach that denotes quality not quantity.' MILES. premieres at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Tech Cube Zero at Summerhall,
