Miles Davis

»Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool« premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. The film has been screened in limited runs in select theaters in the U.S., Canada and Europe capped by a screening during the London Jazz Festival at the Barbican on November 16.

Nelson's documentary has been hailed by critics as an engaging key to understanding the life, art and genius of Miles Davis. Owen Gleiberman, praised the movie in Variety (January 30, 2019) as ».... a tantalizing portrait: rich, probing, mournful, romantic, triumphant, tragic, exhilarating, and blisteringly honest.... Nelson is a filmmaker with a sixth sense for how to nudge history into the present.« The San Francisco Chronicle's Joel Selvin called the »New Miles Davis doc an essential portrait of iconic jazz genius« (September 3, 2019).

»I remember stealing my father's copy of ›Kind of Blue‹ to take with me to college. I've been fascinated with Miles since then and have long dreamed of telling his story. He was to me a singular force of nature; the very embodiment of cool«, said the director Stanley Nelson. »This film is very special to me and curating the soundtrack gave me a chance to delve even deeper into his archive so that both diehard fans and his new listeners could discover something new.«

With full access to the Miles Davis Estate, the film features never-before-seen footage, including studio outtakes from his recording sessions, rare photos and new interviews with Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter, among others. Select interview soundbites are included as commentary tracks on the album.