“the book is great man!!!! it has instantly become my favorite miles book, with the exception of the autobiography. i really enjoyed the interviews with the musicians who played on each session. it gives the book a twist that others i have read haven’t.”
– PAUL GONZO GONZALES, Bakersfield, California.
“Maybe the best Miles book I’ve read. It has changed the way I listen to music. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Get it now. Read it now. Thank you, Paul Tingen. Thank you.”
– MATT SLAYBAUGH, Columbus, Ohio. Customer review at Amazon.com’s Miles Beyond page.
“I really enjoy your Miles Beyond book. I believe it is the best book I’ve ever read about Miles. Thanks…”
– JERRY S. JUSTIANTO, Indonesia. Web site: Aloha Miles
“I just wanted to write and tell you how much I’m enjoying your Miles book. I’ve been extremely impressed. I love this book. I think it’s wonderful that someone with a rock background would write about this music. It seems that most commentary on Miles’electric period comes from a perspective that doesn’t really ‘get’ why he did these things. I’m a rock musician myself, and it’s recently occured to me just how vastly important this music is. I’ve loved Miles for years, but I’d never really given a lot of these albums a proper listen. Your book opened up doors in my mind and helped me re-appreciate the stuff I had, and go out and buy the stuff I didn’t. The stories on the making of In A Silent Way and Jack Johnson have particularly affected me. I’ve spent a LOT of money on Miles CDs in the past month! THANK YOU! Great work!”
– DOUG BOUCHER, Cincinatti, Ohio.
“This is a great book. It is very informative, intelligently written; and I highly recommend that you buy it… NOT BROWSE IT…buy it. “
– Posting by ROD SIBLEY, of Detroit, Michigan, to a John McLaughlin Internet discussion list.
“I’m halfway through Miles Beyond, and I have to give you major props. You clearly worked your ass off, your research and interviewing were aces, and you did a superb job untangling the web that is Miles’ late work. As a fellow writer, I can’t help but be jealous that I didn’t think of doing it first. Excellent concept for a book, excellent execution..”
– ALAN GOLDSHER, Web site: AlanGoldsher.com.
“A fabulous book!! As a longtime Miles fan, and truly a fan of his long-neglected (until now) electric period, I wanted to write and tell you how much I love your book. Your historical rendering of the bands and what was going on around Miles at the time really adds to the ‘why’ of what he was doing. I think Miles would have liked what you wrote. Thanks and congratulations on a great work!”
– MARK GOULD North Haven, Conneticut. Web site: Sound Waves Magazine.
“Thank you for your fabulous book! I’m delighted—and amazed—that someone wrote a book on this music. While I love many styles of music, I must admit that Miles 1967-1972 is the music that excites me the most. It was great to learn ‘inside information’ about it all.”
– RICHARD SHANE , Boulder, Colorado. Web site: Center for Personal Development.
“This book has taught me so much in such a short space of time, I want to just say thank you. I’m 29, have always ‘liked’ Miles, but only became hardcore over the last year. I found all his music wonderful, but his electric period so fascinating and exciting. Now, I’m really starting to understand it, and your book is the real key. Apart from having tears in my eyes reading the last chapters which included references to Miles’ parting, I was sad to be finishing the book. I’ve found reading your book, along with listening to all the albums, a highly gratifying experience and learned more than just about Miles and his music from its expansive content.”
– BEN SKELTON, United Kingdom.
“A great book. Miles Davis would say: ‘A real motherfucker.’ The rhythm of the book is very good: it reads very easily. I also like the shifting between information about the musicians, the music, historical details, and the deeper analyses. The sessionography is truly astonishing, and complements the text. The book makes you listen, and listening makes you look things up in the book.”
– JOS PEETERS, Leuven, Belgium
“Thanks so much for your wonderful book on Miles! It is wonderful for two basic reasons: 1) that anyone wrote such a book at all. You call it the neglected phase of Miles’ career, and that is putting it mildly. The hostility he experienced was remarkable. It amazes me that the idiom of jazz, built as it is on freedom of expression, improvisation, and innovation, is in reality very dogmatic; 2) I wouldn’t use the word “objective,” because I’m not sure that is possible, but you certainly are even-handed. Absolutely. What you have successfully done is to portray a profoundly creative artist at work. Someone who could not help but stretch out and go in new directions, covering new territory, trying new things. Now, any time you experiment with anything, whether it be cooking, music, or a new route to work, you run the risk of failure, or marginal success. So many books on artists, stars, etc., are either sycophantic fawning or vicious dirt-digging expeditions. You wrote from a perspective of fondness and appreciation, but let the chips fall where they may. So, thanks again for your book and your treatment of Miles’s legacy! Thank God for the great music, especially the electric stuff! Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with what gets passed off as ‘jazz’ on the ‘cool’ jazz stations across America. Miles blows all of that stuff away. Just the other day, my 15 year old son and I were driving along and I had We Want Miles! blaring out of the speakers. I asked my son if he liked the music. He said, ‘Yeah, it’s cool.’ And then asked when it was recorded. ‘1981,’ I answered. ‘Wow,’ he said, ‘It sounds like it could have been in the 90’s, or since the turn of this century. It’s great!’”
– The Reverend ROGER A. THOMPSON, pastor, Grace Lutheran Church, Phoenix, Arizona.
“Excellent! Thanks for filling a gap in the writings on Miles´ music. You seem to come to Miles the same way as I did. I came to Miles in my teens in the early ’70s, via B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell etc. It was Miles´electric stuff that I heard first, his ’50s and ’60s output was very foreign to me then. I also like the anecdotes and memories from the bandmembers that you have included (I love that story about the sax player who auditions with the band without Miles´ knowledge and who just can´t stop playing). And finally I like your track by track explorations of some of the major albums. You can listen and read at the same time. Great stuff!”
– MATTS CARLSSON, Värnamo, Sweden.
“I’m enchanted by your book. It is very easy to read for someone who is not a musican or otherwise an expert. I approach music from a purely intuitive perspective, and don’t like complex technical explanations. Instead I prefer descriptions of the artist’s life and artistic output. Your book fills this need perfectly. Secondly, I think the idea of writing a book about a specific period of an artist is original. An advantage is that this period is of particular interest to me. And I like the comments by the artists who surrounded Miles at the time, and who could talk about the atmosphere during the sessions. I have several musical biographies, and none of them are as pleasent to read and fascinating as Miles Beyond. “
– CHRIST VERBORGT, Gent, Belgium.
“I am really enjoying your Miles Davis book. It’s a real treat. I particularly admire your courage in revealing your personal orientation, opening yourself to potential criticism by hardliners. As a holistic therapist I have been there myself. I even found myself worrying that it was all a bit too ‘new-age’ at the beginning! Your deep knowledge, love and appreciation soon overrides that first impression. This is the first time I have read any context for Miles’s ’70s music, or even seen anybody who shares my appreciation of it. I have loved and been challenged by this music for the last 25 years. The interesting thing is that you’ve encouraged me to listen to the ‘old’ stuff for the first time, and I just picked up the complete Prestige recordings 1951-56! I didn’t want the book to end. It was so validating of my listening to Miles since 1974. Thanks again. Super book!”
– ROGER GOLTEN, London, England. Web site: Roger Golten’s Hellerwork Practice.
“Just finished reading Miles Beyond. Thanks for an first-rate overview! I’m a classical organist who tries to listen to everything, currently rediscovering the jazz and jazz/rock that I enjoyed in my teens and trying to dig deeper. Miles’ music has been one of my biggest joys of the past six months; your book is an excellent road map as I dig into his electric period. Since Robert Fripp is one of the musicians I enjoy and admire the most, I was especially intrigued by the connections you made between his Guitar Craft philosophy and Miles’ methods. To sum up, I’m looking forward to the exploring more of Miles’ music. Thanks for giving me a great place to start!”
– RICK KRUEGER, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Finally there is a definitive work on the electric music of Miles Davis. My first two albums by him were Agharta and Bitches Brew. As a drummer of 25 years, I would be nowhere if I hadn’t gotten those. I can’t get enough of the Japanese releases of Agharta and Pangaea and have spent many nights listening to those albums turned up so loud that my headphones burned out. I have turned several people on to this music including my good friend Mike McCready who is the lead guitarist for Pearl Jam. I have been to some of their shows and listened to recordings where Mike uses guitar leads and expressions that he got from listening to Agharta, particularly on live versions of Pearl Jam’s ‘Garden’ where his phrasing resembles Pete Cosey’s on ‘Maiysha’. If you think you are hearing the influence of Agharta in Pearl Jam’s music, particularly the live material, it is because you are! Once again, thank you so very much for helping to fill a gap that has so desperately needed to be filled.”
– JACK GOLD, Seattle, Washington.
“Thank you so much for your wonderful book. I can hardly put it down.”
– DAN DICKASON.
“Your book is very good and I can’t stop reading excerpts from it. Excellent!!! We have something in common. We both love’s Miles Music. God Bless you for reaching others to understand Miles contributions to music and Jazz!!!
– PAUL CELESTIN, Wynne, Arkansas.
“The release of your new Miles Davis book coincides with my personal rediscovery of this almost primordial music. I’ve grown up listening to just about everything, but Miles’ explorations have been an indelible presence in my inner life. Lately, the ‘electric’ period seems especially relevant. Congratulations on your excellent work—it’s time this music is given the attention it so richly deserves! “
– ED CUDDY, Winnipeg, Canada.