“Kathleen Cornell Berman and Keith Henry Brown’s story illuminates Miles Davis’ early journey and purpose. It is just as direct, honest, and soulful as Miles’s music…” —from a note by Wynton Marsalis, virtuoso trumpeter and advocate of American culture.
In the 25-odd years since his death, Miles Dewy Davis III has accrued a prodigious number of books, recordings, and multi-media tributes to his six-decade reign as possibly the most influential figure in 20th century music. Recently, first-time author Kathleen Cornell Berman released a 40-page children’s biography on this groundbreaking artist titled “Birth of the Cool: How Jazz Great Miles Davis Found His Sound” (2019, Page Street Kids).
The trumpet prodigy was blessed by geographic birth on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis. Located in the “border state” of Missouri, it was a thoroughfare of culture, where the traditions of gospel mingled with the field hollers and mournful blues drifting north from the wretched slave plantations of the Confederacy.
This foundation gave him the confidence to travel east where he studied classical music at New York’s Juilliard School of Music, but his real training occurred in the nightclub scene of 52nd Street, a locale that continues to be the world’s incubator for America’s only original art form.
His progression was not easy. Davis was intimidated by the speed and technique of his idols trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker (alto saxophone), but it went a long way towards the development of his own personal, measured, introspective horn style.
Accompanying Berman’s text are lyrical illustrations by Keith Henry Brown, giving a visual representation of Davis’ journey towards personal expression. The result was an entirely new approach to trumpet playing.
Those of a certain age group remember Miles Davis more for his prodigious narcotics abuse, contemptible treatment of women, and abrasive personality (copiously chronicled in news tabloids like the weekly Jet Magazine) than for his contributions to music. In keeping with her focus on writing a book specifically for kids, Berman wisely glosses over the turmoil and self-abuse of Davis’ personal life to focus on his musical development, from childhood on to his young adulthood.
For the rest of his life, he continued to evolve as a bandleader, composer, instrumentalist, and perhaps most importantly, he remained at the forefront of nearly every musical progression, cutting edge jazz and/or 20th century music. In this, he was enabled by his uncanny ear for undiscovered talent and his ability to discover and nurture new and emerging musicians.
“Birth of the Cool: How Jazz Great Miles Davis Found His Sound,” is recommended for ages 8 through 11, or grades three through seven, and retails for $17.99, or $13.38 on Amazon.com.
