T
o the outside world, he was the king of cool. A jazz giant whose silhouette loomed large over the musical landscape. But the story of Miles Davis is a complex one, marked in equal measure both by his professional successes and his personal struggles. American Masters—Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool takes a hard look at the mythology that surrounds one of the jazz world’s most innovative and influential figures. The documentary by awardwinning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (The Murder of Emmitt Till) earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Music Film” in 2019 after its run in theaters. Bolstered by full access to the Miles Davis Estate, Nelson’s film seeks to chronicle Davis’ complete life: from his formative years feeling his way through New York’s jazz scene, to his collaborations with other luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Gil Evans and John Coltrane, to his tumultuous life offstage, plagued as it was by his abusive behavior toward women as well as his health and addiction problems.
The film, says Los Angeles Times film critic Glenn Whipp, “attempts to understand the man as much as the music.” And Nelson, a veteran documentary filmmaker who has won three Emmys and a Peabody Award, approaches his subject "with both an empathy and unflinching honesty,” Whipp says. The documentary takes a deep dive into Davis’ six decades as a musical artist. It examines both his boundary-breaking musical triumphs as well as his personal failings, all told through intimate reflections from those closest to him: Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Wayne Shorter and an assortment of Davis’ collaborators and family members. What emerges is a full portrait of a complex man who continually sought to push the boundaries of his music, regardless of the cost it exacted on himself and those in his orbit. American Masters — Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
KET Tuesday, Feb. 25 • 9/8 pm
BLACK HISTORY MONTH A look back at the life, leadership, and legacy of the The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program follows King’s career from his hiring at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church through his death on April 4, 1968, in Memphis. With Infinite Hope: MLK and the Civil Rights Movement KET2 Monday, Feb. 3 • 10/9 pm Henry Louis Gates, Jr., explores the ancestry of film director Ava DuVernay, actor S. Epatha Merkerson, and musician Questlove, traveling to the unexpected places where their ancestors were scattered by slavery, upending their notions of African American history. Finding Your Roots KET Tuesday, Feb. 11 • 8/7 pm KET2 Thursday, Feb. 13 • 9/8 pm In 2014, African American teenager Lennon Lacy was found hanging from a swing set. His mother believes he was lynched although authorities concluded it was a suicide. Stark inconsistencies and few answers from officials drive her to lead efforts in what has become an ongoing fight for the truth. Always in Season KET Monday, Feb. 24 • 10/9 pm
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