Miles Ahead at the Michigan April 22

A much talked-about movie about Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, will open on Friday, April 22, at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. The movie stars Don Cheadle, who is also director of this the first movie dealing with the life of the path-breaking trumpeter. It had its first showing at the New York Film Festival last fall. Cheadle says it is not strictly a biopic, but zeroes in on the late 1970s with some flashbacks to earlier periods of Davis’ career. The music in the movie comes largely from Davis’ Sketches of Spain, Kind of Blue, and Agartha, but there is also new music from pianist Robert Glasper and Herbie Hancock. The movie will show at the Michigan for a week, but on opening night there will be special events like a reception and live music, the details of which we will have in our April newsletter. SEMJA is one of the sponsors of this event along with WEMU.

In connection with the release of Miles Ahead, the Ann Arbor District Library will have a panel discussion about the movie on April 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the downtown library. The panel will consist of former members of the Eclipse Jazz program at the University of Michigan, which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary. More details will follow next month about this aspect of the Miles Davis festivities.