Miles. review – soulful ode to the jazz genius behind Kind of Blue

Summerhall, Edinburgh
Trumpeter Jay Phelps plays a devotee of Benjamin Akintuyosi’s Miles Davis in this reverential tribute

Celebrity biographical dramas are ten a penny but it takes audacity for a performer to emulate the famous person in question. What elevates Miles., a tribute to jazz legend Miles Davis, is the role of musician Jay Phelps. Not only does he give a credible imitation of Davis’s spare trumpet style, he also plays along convincingly to backing tapes of Kind of Blue, regarded by many as the definitive jazz album.

Phelps is more than an incidental player. A constant presence in a production written and directed by Oliver Kaderbhai, Phelps plays a Davis acolyte trying to learn from the master, while the pressure of a record company advance looms over him.