3. Miles in Blue

Clarke Peters explores what many consider the apex of Miles Davis’s career: 1959, the year of Kind of Blue.

It was a time of tailored suits, fast cars, and a radical new sound that redefined the 20th-century idea of cool. Clarke takes us inside the legendary Columbia studio to witness the birth of the best-selling jazz album of all time - a recording session where Miles’ scrawled notes transformed the genre forever. But beneath the surface of this "sublime" era, Miles’ life didn't always run as smooth as his music.

Clarke explores the uncomfortable collision of professional triumph and personal volatility, as his relationship with his soon to be wife, dancer Frances Taylor, was tested by the same uncompromising drive that fuelled his art. The episode reaches a pivotal climax just days after the album’s release. Despite his global stardom, a brutal encounter with the police outside a New York club served as a savage reminder that, for a Black man in 1959 America, the "cool" was never a shield from social reality.

Narrator and longtime fan Clarke Peters (The Wire, Treme) explores the restless genius and radical evolution of Miles Davis. Across five episodes, Clarke traces a 50 year odyssey of constant reinvention - from a teenage outsider in 1944 to a global icon who redefined what it meant to be Black, to be cool, and to be an artist. Blending archival recordings with fresh perspectives, the series reveals how Miles’ "take no shit" attitude and aesthetic fearlessness influenced everyone from rock stars to Oscar-winning filmmakers. Yet, Clarke also grapples with the darker truths of Miles’ legacy, including the substance issues and domestic abuse that left a trail of pain for those closest to him. It's a searching investigation into an artist capable of the most sublime beauty and the most brutal behavior - a man who refused to be palatable, refused to be a "legend", and simply refused to stop moving forward.

Presenter: Clarke Peters
Series Producer: Clem Hitchcock
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Production Manager: Emily Duffy
Music Consultant: Guy Barker
Additional music by James Pearson and Guy Barker
Archivist: Simon Rooks
Script Consultant: Anne Harbin
Technical Production and Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Frances Taylor from Jazz File: Miles Davis at 80, Ian Carr Estate 2001
Bill Evans from The Man with the Horn, CBC 1995
The production team would like to thank Ronnie Scott's jazz club.