Text by Marco Meier and Arne Reimer
ISBN 978-3039423064
Scheidegger & Spiess
George Cole May 14 2026
Miles Davis is probably the most photographed musician in the history of jazz, with countless images of him appearing in books and magazines, and on posters, tee-shirts, blogs and websites.
With 2026 marking the hundredth anniversary of Miles’s birth, a plethora of books, albums, concerts and events have emerged to mark this landmark occasion. This book is one of them, and it’s a welcome addition to the growing mountain of publications devoted to Miles.
Miles Davis was a private man, who was also shyer than his tough public persona sometimes suggested. His relationship with photographers was often at arm’s length, but some of them did manage to get close to him and photograph the personal side of Miles. These included Corky McCoy (who also drew several of Miles’s album covers, including On The Corner); Anthony Barboza (who often photographed inside Miles’s New York brownstone home, and also shot the album cover for You’re Under Arrest), Teppei Inokuchi (whose massive portfolio includes pictures of Miles rehearsing at his home with Gil Evans and his 1981 comeback band, and Miles and Marcus Miller in studio sessions for the Tutu album).
Japanese photographer Shigeru Uchiyama was another photographer whom Miles trusted, and some of his candid photos of Miles in concert, in hotel rooms, in studios and at home, have been published in two books, Miles Smiles (1993) and No Picture! (2016). Joining these ranks is German photographer Ralph Quinke whose remarkable photos of Miles grace the pages of this book.
This is a premium publication, a large (almost A3 sized) hardback book, with embossed lettering on the front cover and spine, and text and photographs printed on high quality paper. There are 152 pages, with 78 black and white photographs and 11 colour images. The book has a recommended retail price of £62, but at the time of writing, at least two online retailers were selling it for less than £50. Books of this type often soon become collector’s items (one website is advertising Uchiyama’s Miles Smiles for £250!), so it’s well worth picking up a copy whilst prices are reasonable.
The background to this book goes back to 1989, when the Swiss arts and culture magazine Du decided to publish a special edition devoted to Miles Davis. The magazine’s editorial team wanted the issue to include something special, such as an exclusive interview with Miles or some of his artwork. In the end, they got both.
Negotiations for an interview went on for several months and it was only on 18 May that Du received a fax confirming that it would take place on 24 May at Miles’s home in Malibu. The assignment was given to Du’s deputy editor-in-chief Marco Meier and freelance German photographer Ralph Quinke. The two men had not met before this assignment. The duo flew from Europe to the West Coast of America, hired a car and then drove from Malibu, along the Pacific Coast Highway, to Miles’s beachfront villa. They were greeted at the front door by Miles’s nephew Vince Wilburn Jr (who had played drums in Miles’s band from 1985 to 1987). This book documents their three-hour visit and is divided into several parts, beginning with images taken during the interview.
The first three photographs are double-page spreads of Meier and Quinke’s car journey from Malibu centre to Miles’s home, followed by around 80 pages of images of various sizes (ranging from a third of a page to two full pages) taken inside and outside of Miles’s home. It’s clear that Miles not only trusted Quinke but was very relaxed and cooperative in his presence. It probably helped that Quinke had photographed Miles a number of times before, including informally in a hotel room in Koln in 1987, several of which are included in the back section of the book (more on this later). There is a good mix of candid and posed shots.
None of the images taken at Miles’s home are captioned and the only time I missed this was when looking at a shot Quinke had taken of a picture hanging on Miles’s wall. It features a sketch of three people, probably Miles’s parents, plus a male relative. Otherwise, the old adage that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ rings true here. It’s a delight to simply look at photograph after photograph and drink in the visual feast in front of your eyes.
Miles is dressed casually, in a short leather jacket with tassels hanging from the shoulders and arms, a tee-shirt and baggy striped trousers. In some shots, he is barefoot. In one image – spread over two pages – Miles stands in front of the counter of his vast, open plan kitchen, his eyes looking away from the camera. It’s fascinating to scan the image: the rows of medicine bottles on the right of the counter, along with a transistor radio, a small model car, a jar of nuts; a candy jar, cassette tapes, a large row of drinking glasses, a small abstract sculpture; a stack of riding club ribbons, a telephone and a bottle of Evian Water.
There are shots of Miles playing acoustic guitar; sitting in front of a piano, and holding a trumpet (one of them is a stunning image of Miles standing on a staircase, arm outstretched with trumpet in hand, with sunlight streaming over him). Miles boxes a punch bag in his backyard; sits astride the back of his Ferrari Testarossa sport car; sketches on a large canvas, sketches on a drawing pad. There are various striking close-up shots of Miles’s face, some candid, others posed. We also get beachfront shots and pictures of the house exterior.
The next section of the book includes a revised version of Meier’s original interview that appeared in Issue No. 843 of Du published in August 1989, entitled ‘In A Silent Way. Miles Davis.’ The issue also contained images of Miles taken by other photographers, including Anton Corbijn’s now-classic close-up shot of Miles with his hands on his face, which was used for the cover. The magazine also contained essays from leading European and American jazz writers. In his updated biography of Miles, Ian Carr devoted a couple of pages to this issue of Du, stating that, ‘The whole production was a graceful and potent testimony to the stature of this remarkable man,’ although modestly omitting to mention that he contributed to it.
The issue is long out of print and hard-to-find, and so it’s good to have the interview text here. The interview is printed in German and English, and there is also a one-page facsimile of Meier’s original interview typescript in German, accompanied by a couple of large sketches Miles drew for the magazine.
Meier was no jazz expert and a colleague with a huge Miles Davis collection helped him prepare for the interview. The interview begins with a chat about art and we learn that the first sketch Miles did was a portrait of Gerry Mulligan in 1940. There’s a hilarious discussion about the meaning of Existentialism, in which Miles speculates that it must have been inspired by his own philosophy on life!
When it comes to discussing music, Miles puts Swiss trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti ahead of Wynton Marsalis and Freddie Hubbard, states that he can tell the difference in sound between white and black musicians, and bristles when asked if Charlie Parker and Gil Evans are his most important musical references, stating that there are many, including, Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Cameo, Gospel and Prince.
Miles seems to have warmed to both men, occasionally joking (when Meier found two of Miles’s trumpets – a black one and a red one – buried amongst cereal packets and other objects), he asks Miles what the difference was between them, to which Miles replies, ‘The black one is faster.’
The interview is good natured until near the end, when Miles is asked about his recent divorce from his third wife Cicely Tyson. Miles launches into a diatribe against Tyson, whom he accuses of spreading scurrilous rumours about his health. You might expect at this stage, for the two visitors to be angrily shown to the door, but instead, Miles switches mood, and invites both of them to his 63rd birthday party the following evening. Naturally, Meier and Quinke postpone plans to fly home the next day and attend – the book includes one of the few shots Quinke took at the party, an image showing Miles, Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie and Miles’s companion Jo Gelbard.
The following section is an interview conducted by the book’s editor Arne Reimer with Meier and Quinke, who look back and reflect on their time with Miles. It’s in both German and English. The final section features a series of photographs of Miles, taken by Quinke between 1971 and 1987, most of them in Germany. There are on-stage shots, backstage shots and informal hotel room shots. The final photograph in the book is a close-up shot of Miles in a hotel room, pursing his lips at the camera; a mischievous glint in his eyes. It’s a side of Miles few people saw, and a fitting conclusion to this memorable record of the life and home of Miles Davis.
