04/25/24
January 23, 2015
Don't hit me in the mouth, I gotta play tonight: Miles Davis and boxing. "The legendary jazz trumpeter and composer isn’t the only person to ever make the comparison—George Foreman famously stated that “Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.”—but few are as uniquely qualified to ponder the relationship between music and pugilism as Davis was. Over the course of his life and career, the man’s connection to the sweet science was almost as complex and fascinating as his music was. It was a source of childhood inspiration, a muse, and even a lifesaver."
posted by Ufez Jones to boxing at 11:06 AM - 4 comments
Looking forward to reading this, Ufez. More hard bop indeed.
posted by yerfatma at 06:40 PM on January 23, 2015
If you've read any of Miles's biographies (or auto-bios), it may not provide much fresh information, as they pull a lot from those, but it's a fun article with some fantastic pics. I bet you'll dig it, fatty.
And thanks for the comment, beaverboard. My knowledge of boxing history is severely lacking (it wasn't a thing in my family when I was growing up and then by the time I graduated college, it was all downhill). At some point in time I'd like to study the old stuff as I think there's a lot of great stuff there, especially outside of the super mainstream cultural zeitgeist.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:05 PM on January 23, 2015
A good alternate title for this piece would be: Kind of Black and Blue
posted by NerfballPro at 11:38 AM on January 24, 2015
Super post, thanks. Never thought I'd see a photo of Hermeto on SpoFi.
Jeff Berlin is also big into this theme, but he went larger and softer in the midsection as he got older. Roddy Piper made a nutty cameo on one of his music instructional VHS tapes back in the day.
One diagnosable jazz guy who tries to be a pugilist at inopportune moments and hopefully has an honestly good whuppin' coming to him someday is Stanley Crouch. He likes to fight colleagues and acquaintances with no forewarning in a coat and tie in publication offices and nightclubs. He tried to get something started with a friend of mine who is short enough to be a jockey and is built like a Tim Burton stick man. I'd pay to watch Crouch and Whitlock go at it. Whichever one prevailed would be partially redeemed as having done a service to humanity.