Wesley Brown‘s Blue in Green (2022) is a fictionalized retelling of a key moment in the life of Miles Davis. It is August, 1959, just over a week after the release of the magnificent, majestic, masterpiece Kind of Blue. Miles is standing outside of a club in New York City when an encounter with the police quickly escalates into a violent assault.
Brown’s novella details Miles’ reaction to that event, wandering over his own history, his key relationships, and his thoughts about where he is musically and where he’s going. Along the way, Brown offers his conception of Davis’ interactions with John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and other key figures in the 1950s and 1960s New York jazz scene.
Reviewing Blue in Green is easy: if you have any interest in the subject matter, read it. It’s short, it’s electric, it’s evocative, and it’s illuminating. Brown has done his research, and knows the stories of the people in Miles’ life, and his ear for dialog is finely-honed. Special mention must be made of his treatment of Frances Taylor, a figure at times overshadowed by Miles’ more public and (equally) tempestuous relationship with Cicely Tyson (we reviewed Tyson’s memoir here).
I read Quincy Troupe’ s amazing Miles: The Autobiography in the early 1990s. If you want a deep dive into the genius of Miles Davis and into the dizzying twists and turns of his life, read that. But, afterwards, read Blue in Green. It will stay with you equally, coloring your sense of Miles with a narrative touch.