Miles Davis Movies

Take a voyage through the history of European jazz in this musical meditation on the origins, growth, and exciting shifts in direction that came to define the endless search for that ever-elusive "voice of one's own." As musicians from both sides of the Atlantic began working in unison, jazz lovers around the world would bear witness to a fascinating form of evolution in their favorite freeform musical style. Rare footage of Ben Webster, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and en entire host of jazz legends make this a musical journey that is sure to fascinate and educate. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Widely considered one of the landmark albums in history and the starting point for jazz-rock fusion, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew ranked as one of the one hundred greatest albums of all time in a Rolling Stone magazine poll published in 1987. Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue captures Davis performing the album at the 1970 Isle of Weight Music Festival. Along with the music, interviews with performers as varied as Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell are included. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

For about a year after the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, it seemed as though everyone wanted to stage a rock festival. However, The Rolling Stones' disastrous Altamont free concert (documented in the film Gimme Shelter) forever tarnished the image of the rock festival in the U.S., while in Europe, the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was fortunately less deadly than Altamont, but nearly as controversial. Staged by two men with greater ambitions than practical experience (not unlike Woodstock), the festival was held on a small island off the British coast, where some of the finest rock talent of the day -- Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, and Kris Kristofferson, among many others -- were scheduled to play over the course of five days. But while at Woodstock no one had given much thought about keeping gatecrashers out, at the Isle of Wight those without tickets were greeted with corrugated steel fences that sealed off the festival grounds. Huge numbers of visitors simply camped on hills surrounding the grounds, while others broke down the fences by force after refusing to pay the three pounds admission. This led to heated conflicts between the promoters (who railed bitterly against the audience from the stage), the festival's security staff (who had to deal with the many gatecrashers), the concert-goers (who were upset with both the admission price and the site's facilities, one spectator calling it "a psychedelic concentration camp"), and the performers (who had to deal with unruly audiences and the prospect of not being paid). It was estimated that 600,000 people attended the festival, but less than 50,000 actually paid to get in, spelling financial ruin for the promoters. American documentary filmmaker Murray Lerner brought a crew to record the festival on film, but thanks to the festival's bad publicity and uneven reviews, he was not able to obtain completion funds for the project until 1995, hence the presence of many musicians who had since passed away, such as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Miles Davis. Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival examines the concert both on-stage and behind-the-scenes, capturing performances from many of the artists who appeared. We see Joni Mitchell and Kris Kristofferson angrily confronting the rowdy crowd, and The Who at the peak of their form (their full set was released as a separate film), alongside the numerous catastrophes and conflicts that dominated the festival's five days. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This performance video covers some great television jazz programs that include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ben Webster, Ahmad Jamal and others. ~ All Movie Guide

Miles Davis was a restless musical innovator who had little use for revisiting the music he had made in the past, but in the summer of 1991, Miles made an exception. Teaming up with Quincy Jones, Miles Davis appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Jones directing the Gil Evans Orchestra, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, and a handful of top soloists (including Benny Bailey and Grady Tate) as Miles and Quincy re-created Evans' striking arrangements for the albums Miles Ahead, Sketches of Spain, and Porgy and Bess. Miles & Quincy: Live at Montreux is a record of this historic concert, which proved to be Davis' last great triumph on-stage; less than three months later, Miles would be dead at the age of 65. Selections include "Boplicity," "Blues for Pablo," "Summertime," "Solea," and nine others. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Spike Lee's 1990 directing effort is a jazz film, the story of a fictional trumpeter named Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington). He leads a quintet at the Beneath the Underground club with a flashy saxophonist named Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes). Though Shadow takes a few too many solos, everything seems fine in Bleek's life. Trouble soon arises, however, and he is forced to make decisions regarding both his best friend Giant (Spike Lee), and his relationships with two women. Giant, his manager and old pal, is addicted to gambling and often gets roughed up by thugs looking for pay back. Bleek is the only member of the quintet who wants to keep him as manager. The trumpeter's woman problems concern trying to decide between two girlfriends who both love him: a schoolteacher (Joie Lee) and a singer (Cynda Williams). Spike's father Bill Lee scored the film, with contributions from Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Abbey Lincoln and Ruben Blades (who plays Giant's bookie). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

A darkly comic and surreal contemporization of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, this effects-heavy Bill Murray holiday vehicle from 1988 sees the former SNL funnyman assuming the role of television executive Frank Cross, the meanest and most depraved man on earth. Cross will stoop to unheard of levels to increase his network's ratings -- even if it means mounting outrageous programs to retain an audience, such as "Robert Goulet's Cajun Christmas" and Lee Majors in "The Night the Reindeer Died," with an AK-47-toting Santa. Cross plots his foulest move, however, for the Christmas holiday, when he will force his office staff to mount a live production of A Christmas Carol on national television -- and thus work through Christmas Eve. Cross's life is turned upside down with visits from three ghosts: a craggy-faced cabbie known as The Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen); the sugar-plum fairy Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) (who gets her jollies by bonking Frank across the face with a toaster oven); and, eventually, the caped, headless Ghost of Christmas Future, who will send Frank sliding into a crematory oven -- just before he gives the sleazoid one last chance to redeem himself. Along the way, the spirits carry Frank to scenes from his past, present, and future (per Scrooge) and impart a glimpse of how he became so thoroughly rotten. The radiant Karen Allen co-stars as Frank's girlfriend, Claire Phillips, and the film packs in cameos from countless celebrities -- among them, Mary Lou Retton, John Houseman, Jamie Farr, and, in a truly grisly and tasteless bit, John Forsythe. Richard Donner directs, from a script credited to the late Michael O'Donoghue and Mitch Glazer. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

This concert program by legendary jazzman Miles Davis captures a live performance by the horn player, recorded in Munich in 1987, as well as interview footage with the artist. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Jonathan Fisher (Christopher Reeve) is a newspaper reporter who becomes a celebrity when he writes a fictitious exposé on prostitution. The story of the high-living pimp is too close a resemblance to real-life flesh pedlar Fast Black (Morgan Freeman), and Jonathan is jailed when he refuses to turn his papers over to the local district attorney. In jail for suspicion of murder, Black tries to silence the reporter who created the sensational fabrication. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

"Masters of American Music" brings you three decades of music from Miles Davis. Features film of his performances and his work with musicians including Gil Evans, John Coltrane, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock. ~ All Movie Guide

Jazz legend Miles Davis is captured performing in Montreal on this video. The man performs a half dozen songs including "One Phone Call", "Human Nature", "Something's on Your Mind", "Time After Time", "Code M.D.", and "Jean Pierre". The DVD release of the concert includes a biographical timeline of the artist's life. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide