Don Cheadle “gravitated to” jazz music from an early age.
The 49-year-old Golden Globe-winning actor is making his directorial debut in forthcoming biopic, Miles Ahead, which centres on the life of late trumpet player Miles Davis.
Don is also depicting the music legend in his picture, but he’s not daunted by the task, because his parents blasted songs by Miles throughout his childhood.
“Those were the ones I gravitated to,” he recalled to USA Today, noting tunes by Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley were also playing frequently in his parents’ household.
Don saw Miles play a concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver in 1981, when the actor was just 16 years old.
“I never forgot the performance. It was the We Want Miles tour. It was incredible,” he gushed.
Don admits he admired saxophone player Charlie’s musicianship most when he was growing up.
He used to replay records all the time in an attempt to master the jazz player’s craft.
"[I played albums] at half the speed, so I could transcribe what the solo was, and figure out what he was doing, the fingering,” he remembered. “I couldn't play it at that lighting fast speed, but it gave me an understanding and insight to the music. When I was a seventh- or eighth-grader, that's what I was doing.”
Miles Ahead, which also stars Ewan McGregor, is currently filming in Cincinnati, Ohio.
