Music biographies are one of the best books to add to your musical collection. They are perfect to highlight musicians, let early finishers browse, and are a wonderful way to showcase the wide world of music. Miles Davis is an icon of jazz and bebop (and all its variations) and this book is a great way to showcase him and his music!
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The Book
This book starts with young Miles Davis and his love of music. We see Miles listen to music all of the time in different places and how it influenced him. We follow him as he learns the trumpet, studies more, and eventually works with some other important jazz musicians. We learn how his experiences all shape the musician he became.
Author: Kathleen Cornell Berman
Illustrator: Keith Henry Brown
ISBN: 978-1624146909
Buy the book on Amazon
The Music
This book includes a discography to listen to. There is SO much music in Miles’ discography that even with recommendations, I’m sure you have favorites. Here are a couple of mine:
- It Never Entered My Mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9plNWFyGbk
- Round Midnight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys9wiGNDCvA
- Birth of the Cool – Full Album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9ik43_XsNU
- Kind of Blue – Full Album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDqULFUg6CY
Other Things
Learning
There is a theme of listening and learning from others that runs throughout the book. This is a great lesson for students to hear. Miles was very talented but he listened to others, worked hard, and implemented things that he was taught.
Race
There is a small discussion of race and losing because of the color of his skin. This is a nice opening to conversations that performers of color faced.
Musician
Wynton Marsalis wrote a note for this book. This can lead to a current tie in musician as well as the book Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!: A Sonic Adventure if you want to have students create a sound story
I hope this gives you a lot of ideas on using Birth of the Cool in the music classroom!
