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Actor/director Don Cheadle (left), soundtrack composer Robert Glasper and trumpeter Keyon Harrold discuss Miles Ahead at SXSW. (Photo: Earl Gibson III)
(Photo: )“Fear no mistake” is easier said than done, particularly when trying to tell the story of one of the most legendary figures in jazz, with his devoted family members looking over your shoulder. That was the task Don Cheadle faced as he created Miles Ahead, a film about Miles Davis that the acclaimed actor stars in, directed, and for which he co-wrote the screenplay.
In a panel discussion on March 17 at the annual SXSW music festival and conference in Austin, Texas, Cheadle spoke about the production hurdles and artistic process of creating Miles Ahead, a “non-biopic” biopic wherein Cheadle portrays the artist in 1970 as his label is anxious for him to release new work.
The movie tells a fictionalized tale of a shady record executive stealing a tape of new material with flashbacks to his relationship with his wife and muse, Frances (portrayed by Emayatzy Corinealdi).
Joining Cheadle on the panel was Grammy Award-winning keyboardist Robert Glasper, who scored the film’s soundtrack; Skip Lievsay, the film’s supervising sound editor, re-recording mixer and sound designer; and Keyon Harrold, the Grammy-Award winning trumpeter/producer who performed some of the trumpet parts in Miles Ahead. Also participating were Miles Davis’ son, Erin Davis, and nephew, Vince Wilburn Jr. The panel was moderated by Felix Contreras of National Public Radio.
Cheadle explained that he spent years working out the structure of telling such a story, striving to portray the essence of the man—as opposed to following a formulaic biopic format. During the panel, Cheadle said that he wanted to “do what Miles did rather than show what he was.” He explained that the idea was to create a movie Miles would want to be in.
The movie is not completely historically accurate, but it is a work of art that’s in line with Miles’ philosophy.
The musical choices and their technical execution are essential to the film and will, naturally, be heavily scrutinized. Cheadle, a first-time director, tapped talented keyboardist Glasper to create the film’s score. The soundtrack uses a few Miles Davis original songs, but the bulk of it is new music played by Glasper and his assembled crew. The result is music that is akin to the essence of Davis’ work (rather than a re-creation of it).
Interstitial music in the film sounds somewhat of the period, though more progressive. A fan can’t quite put a finger on the music, and Glasper noted this was the intent with the score.
The technical marvel of the production involved the band creating music after the actors had already filmed scenes in which they were “playing” instruments. The musicians had to sync up their playing perfectly with the actors’ gestures on screen.
This particularly concerned trumpeter Keyon Harrold, whose trumpet is dubbed in for Cheadle’s. During the panel, Harrold noted the difficulty of playing something that makes musical sense from the decisions Cheadle made in his performance; he had to use the trumpet’s three valves to play something that not only fit the scene but also sounded Miles-esque.
For Harrold’s efforts, Cheadle and Glasper dubbed him “The Mu-gician.” It certainly is a heavy task, particularly with the eyes of the hypercritical jazz world on you. “It was a fun experience,” Harrold noted with good-natured sarcasm.
Adding to the challenges of capturing Davis’ personality was the task of making a film technically worthy of its subject.
“This is the way the Chief would have done it,” Wilburn noted. The family signed off on the project, bestowing trust in Cheadle due to his personality and his body of work, which includes an Oscar-nominated performance in 2004’s Hotel Rwanda.
Lievsay’s use of Davis’ original master recordings in the film’s soundtrack adds a welcome degree of authenticity.
Cheadle avoided the urge to make a film that was merely a checklist of key moments in Davis’ life, explaining that numerous documentaries have performed that task. The film (which also stars Ewan McGregor as a fictional music journalist) makes frequent jokes about telling one’s life story, perhaps to keep the staid biopic format at arm’s length while jabbing at it with a pointy stick.
Numerous times throughout the film, characters approach Miles, speaking highly of his previous work—and all the while the trumpeter seems pained, irritated, as though he wants to look ahead to new music, not back at past accomplishments.
As the format for biographical cinematic storytelling has evolved, it is appropriate that the tale of one of jazz’s great innovators would be presented in a fresh way.
(Note: To see a trailer for Miles Ahead, click here. To read a 1955 Classic Interview with Miles Davis, click here.)
—Anthony Dean-Harris
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
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