Black Beauty
Journalist Kevin Le Gendre investigates how Miles Davis navigated racial politics and perceptions of blackness, in his life and music.
As a musician, Miles Davis might be best known as the sophisticated balladeer behind albums like Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain, but he was also a political figure. This essay joins the dots between seemingly contrasting albums like Tutu (a reference to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the anti-apartheid movement) and the politically charged jazz-rock of his album dedicated to African American boxer, Jack Johnson. These albums reflect Davis's engagement with historical figures in his art, and the oppression he personally experienced, such as his infamous assault by a white policeman in 1959.
This series is part of Miles Davis 100 on Radio 3, celebrating the centenary of one of the most influential figures in 20th-century music.
Produced by Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3.
On radio
Broadcast
- Mon 25 May 202621:45BBC Radio 3
Death in Trieste
A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.
Watch: My Deaf World
Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.
Podcast
![]()
The Essay
Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
