A new graphic novel illustrates the life and music of jazz legend Miles Davis.
Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound is the latest effort by cartoonist Dave Chisholm for the publisher Z2 Comics, who previously teamed up on graphic novels about Charlie Parker and Blue Note Records.
The 150-page graphic novel chronicles Davis’s journey from his childhood in Illinois, to mastering jazz improvisation throughout the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, to his psychedelic experiments in Afro-futurism throughout the ’70s and beyond. Chisholm, who received his doctorate in jazz trumpet from the Eastman School of Music, takes readers on a meticulously researched odyssey through a musical evolution spanning four decades. The book features narration adapted from Davis’s own words and a changing palette of visual styles that mirrors Davis’s famously varied musical output.
“Davis’s music has truly been a lifelong obsession of mine, inspiring me to pursue jazz trumpet in college and beyond — Sketches of Spain is the first music I ever remember hearing, and I even had the opportunity to perform all of the music he and Gil Evans did together at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy,” Chisholm explains. “Miles continually inspires me to pursue stylistic change as an artist, both visually and musically. This is the book I’ve always dreamt of creating; it’s the biggest honor of my professional life to be given this opportunity by the Davis family.”
Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound will be published Sept. 26, 2023, by Z2 Comics.