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Adrian Utley of Portishead on Miles Davis

Adrian Utley of Portishead chooses jazz musician, bandleader and composer, Miles Davis. With Matthew Parris. From 2018.

**Visionary jazz musician Miles Davis joins BBC Radio 4 Extra's 100 Club – born 26th May 1926. He died in 1991 aged 65***

Miles Davis - trumpeter, composer, bandleader - is championed by Adrian Utley of Portishead.

"He's always been really important in my life, right from early on when my dad used to play him. It was part of the atmosphere of our house."

From the early years with Charlie Parker and via Kind of Blue to playing in front of 600,000 hippies on the Isle of Wight, Miles Davis was a musician who never stood still. "Always listen for what you can leave out," he used to say.

Portishead's seminal 1990s album Dummy seems to have taken advice from the man. As Adrian Utley explains to presenter Matthew Parris:

"The darkness and the sense of space is the thing that I have assimilated from Miles ... he's in my DNA."

With Richard Williams, author of The Blue Moment: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2018.

Available now

30 minutes

On radio

Thu 28 May 202610:00

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterMatthew Parris
Interviewed GuestAdrian Utley
Interviewed GuestRichard Williams
ProducerMiles Warde

Broadcasts

  • Tue 17 Apr 201816:30
  • Fri 20 Apr 201823:00
  • Thu 17 Mar 202218:30
  • Fri 18 Mar 202200:30
  • Sat 19 Mar 202207:30
  • Sat 19 Mar 202217:30
  • Sun 20 Mar 202205:30
  • Thu 1 Feb 202421:00
  • Thu 28 May 202610:00
  • Thu 28 May 202616:00
  • Fri 29 May 202600:00

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