Celebrating Miles Davis Weekend: Miles Ahead (2017 Film)

2017's Miles Ahead marked the directorial debut of actor Don Cheadle, who stars as legendary jazz musician Miles Davis. 

Cheadle co-wrote the script with Steven Baigelman and spent years getting the project funded and produced, utilising a blend of traditional narrative and vibrant jazz performances. 

The film is set in the late 1970s, during Davis' five-year hiatus from the public eye and music industry. While holed up in his New York home and battling chronic pain and drug use, he is approached by persistent Rolling Stone music reporter, Dave Braden (played by Ewan McGregor). 

The two end up on a chaotic, action-tinged adventure to recover a stolen tape of new compositions. The modern-day sequences are interspersed with flashbacks exploring Davis' complex relationship with his former wife, Frances Taylor, and rather than following a standard chronological biography, the film adopts an impressionistic and freewheeling approach. 

The Grammy Award-winning soundtrack, compiled by pianist Robert Glasper, features musicians such as trumpeter Keyon Harold, former Miles sidemen Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, contemporary bassist Esperanza Spalding, and drummer Antonio Sanchez. 

The music spans Davis's career from 1956 to 1981, covering modal jazz, hard bop, electric fusion, and hip-hop influencesGlasper served as the principal producer and co-writer for the modern tracks, utilising isolated multitrack elements and contemporary studio sessions to frame Cheadle's dialogue.