Clawing at the Limits of Cool: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Greatest Jazz Collaboration Ever

by Salim Washington and Farah Jasmine Griffin

When the renowned trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis chose the members of his quintet in 1955, he passed over well-known, respected saxophonists such as Sonny Rollins to pick out the young, still untested John Coltrane. What might have seemed like a minor decision at the time would instead set the course not just for each of their careers but for jazz itself. "Clawing at the Limits of Cool "is the first book to focus on Davis and Coltrane's musical...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312327854
• ISBN13: 9780312327859
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A scholarly and Impassioned look at MIles and Coltrane

Farah Jasmine Griffin and Salim Washington have looked at Miles Davis and John Coltrane and their musical reelationship. This is done not only with intelligence, good judgment, and scholarship, but with compassion, even love. Every sentence is warm and penetrating. The book achieves its main purpose by drawing the reader directly to the music itself: I listened to the records all over again (repeatedly) with new enlightenment and feeling. Rev. Peter F. O'Brien, S.J. Executive Director The Mary Lou Williams Foundation, Inc.