Birthday Present of the Cool
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
In 1987, Miles Davis attended a reception at The White House. Reagan was president at the time. Unsurprisingly, Davis has several jarring interactions with stupid, rich, white people, who felt obliged to give him their opinions on his life, on race, on jazz…
Eventually, a politician’s wife asks Davis, “Well, what have you done that‘s so important in your life? Why are you here?” Davis replies, “Well, I’ve changed music five or six times, so I guess that’s what I’ve done and I guess I don’t believe in playing just white compositions. Now tell me what you have done of any importance other than be white, and that ain’t important to me, so tell me what your claim to fame is?”*
This album is the sound of Davis changing music for the first time.
*Miles the Autobiography is a a hell of a read.