Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Documentary film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool is a 2019 American documentary film about Miles Davis, directed by Stanley Nelson Jr.[4][5][6][7]
- Stanley Nelson Jr.
- Nicole London
| Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool | |
|---|---|
Poster | |
| Directed by | Stanley Nelson Jr. |
| Produced by |
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| Narrated by | Carl Lumbly[2] |
| Edited by | Lewis Erskine[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
| Language | English |
Production
The film was made for the PBS American Masters television series[8] and premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[9][10] It uses interviews that Nelson has done with people who knew Davis, and with scholars, as well as still photographs and film clips. The text of the voice-over narration (performed by Carl Lumbly) is entirely by Davis.[8]
Accolades
The film won two Emmy Awards in 2021 for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary and Outstanding Sound.[11] It was also nominated for Best Music Film at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2019, but lost to Beyoncé's Homecoming.
Cast
- Carl Lumbly (as Miles Davis; narrator)
- Miles Davis (as self; archive footage)
- Frances Taylor Davis (as self)
- Reginald Petty (as self)
- Quincy Troupe (as self)
- Farah Griffin (as self)
- Lee Annie Bonner (as self)
- Ashley Kahn (as self)
- Benjamin Cawthra (as self)
- Billy Eckstine (as self; archive footage)
- Walter Cronkite (as self; archive footage)
- Jimmy Heath (as self)
- Jimmy Cobb (as self)
- Dan Morgenstern (as self)
- Charlie Parker (as self; archive footage)
- Greg Tate (as self)
- Gerald Early (as self)
- Quincy Jones (as self)
- Wayne Shorter (as self)
- Ron Carter (as self)
- George Wein (as self)
- Stanley Crouch (as self)
- Herbie Hancock (as self)