Herbie Hancock has been chosen to score the forthcoming biopic of jazz icon Miles Davis.
Born in St Louis, Miles Davis was perhaps one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. With his unmistakable tone and ‘less is more’ musical policy, Davis drove jazz on to new heights.
Moving quickly from idea to idea, Miles Davis helped to pioneer (deep breath) cool jazz, hard bop, Modal jazz, free bop, jazz-rock and fusion. Right before he died, the trumpet player was attempting to blend the rhythms of hip hop with jazz.
A controversial and outspoken figure, the life of Miles Davis is set to be brought to the silver screen. Currently in development, the new film will be helmed by Don Cheadle with members of the trumpet player’s family assisting the director.
“We’re in the process of OK’ing the script with a new writer,” Vince Wilburn Davis, Jr., Miles’ nephew and the film’s producer, told YRB.
“Don didn’t like the other writer that was attached to the movie, so there’s a new writer named Steven Vegelman that Don’s writing with. Once the script is OK’d by the family, then we go into production.”
Amongst the few concrete details to emerge from the film are soundtrack plans. Herbie Hancock is due to score the forthcoming project, reports Paste, with the piano player being a graduate of the ‘Miles School Of Jazz Himself’.
Near constant cohorts for almost a decade, Hancock worked with Miles Davis on titanic jazz recordings such as ‘Bitches Brew’.
It is now known what period of Miles Davis’ life the new film will focus on.
