One day in April 1949, a 22-year-old trumpeter called Miles Davis received an unexpected phone call. His friend Kenny Clarke invited him to play at the Paris International Jazz Festival. After initial reluctance Miles, who had never been abroad before, accepted the invitation. In Paris he met the actress and singer Juliette Gréco and... Did I say too much?
How come that two Spaniards authored and published this book first in French, as Miles et Juliette, and the Spanish version second, I wonder. The dialogue in the “original” must be in Franglais because in Miles en París it is in Spanglish, or even Franglañol. So what?
Read the comic. Read it with an open mind. Miles was a genius but there are bound to be moments when you’d think “what an idiot” or “what an asshole” or “what a coward”. The story is great, the drawings are stylish, and the authors sure did their homework. Whenever they take an artistic license with matters small (such as with guest appearance of Sidney Bechet who wasn’t to return to France until 1950) and big (neither Juliette spoke English nor Miles did speak French), they are fully aware of it. I’d like to point out though that the very Kenny Clarke played with Miles at the second recording session of Birth of the Cool on 22 April 1949 (p. 10) and, therefore, was in New York, not Paris.
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All in all, a magnificent book. It could have been perfect if not for a few minor details. The first page of the comic proper which is referred in the Miles en París Dossier as p. 1 is actually page 5 in the book, so you have to add 4 to all page references. The 1988 book Round About Close to Midnight: The Jazz Writings of Boris Vian in the bibliography is marked as published in 2988. And I have a few doubts re. the playlist (see below).
Miles en París: The Playlist
If you prefer reading this book, um, not in a silent way, try this playlist. It’s meant to accompany the comic, one song per page, so 64 songs. I presume that the tracks marked Concierto de París (Paris concert) are taken from the album In Paris Festival International de Jazz May 1949 by The Miles Davis/Tadd Dameron Quintet (released on LP only in 1977). In a Mellow Tone performed by Ella Fitzgerald appears on both p. 32 and p. 36, I am not sure if it meant to be like that. Likewise, Nobody Else But Me appears on p. 44 and p. 55 performed by Stan Getz and Bill Evans, respectively. I find this playlist a bit heavy on Chet Baker (with seven tunes, ahead of Bird, Diz, Duke and Lady Day who, in contrast to Baker, actually do appear in the book) but, as the Romans used to say, de gustibus non est disputandum.
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