Chuck Nessa Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonnymax Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 A wonderful actor and a role model for women of color in the sixties. Rest easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 If you're old enough to have watched The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman when it first aired...unforgettable. RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 46 minutes ago, JSngry said: If you're old enough to have watched The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman when it first aired...unforgettable. RIP It was 1974 so I was 8 or 9, loved it even though I hardly understood the full scope of the history being portrayed. Frankly I think if I watched again and saw the end shot with her drinking from the "white" water fountain I'd turn into a complete blubbering puddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 I was 18 or so, and I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmonkie Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 I saw her at a Miles Davis concert in a theater with a revolving stage when they were married. She was sitting front row. When the stage revolved Miles towards her, he'd play right to her. Once he lifted his pants leg and showed her his spindly leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 Remember seeing her in ‘Roots’. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 14 hours ago, sonnymax said: A wonderful actor and a role model for women of color in the sixties. Rest easy. I remember seeing that and wondering "Wow that model really looks like Cicely Tyson". IIRC Her relationship with Miles wasn't that well known at the time-- at least not by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 I wonder if Tyson ever commented specifically about her image being on the cover for Sorcerer — anyone know? (Either contemporaneously, or years later.) I know the whole bit about Miles’ reaction to seeing the white women on the cover of Miles Ahead, and Frances then being on the covers of Someday My Prince Will Come and E.S.P. (am I forgetting another one with Cicely? — I don’t think so, but there were a lot of alternate covers issued in various countries over the years, from what I gather from Discogs). Then that’s Betty Mabry on the cover of Filles De Kilimanjaro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HutchFan Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 I'm sad to hear of Tyson's passing. R.I.P. I vividly remember seeing The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman as a kid. It must've been a re-run though -- since I was only 6 years old in '74. Around the same time that I saw the movie -- maybe 4th grade? -- I remember getting To Be a Slave, Julius Lester's collection of slave narratives for young people, at my school's book fair. I still have the book. They go together in my mind. Both made a lasting impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) Interesting to read that Miles and Cicely were planning to marry in 1968 but in the end he switched to Betty Mabry. I recall that she accompanied Miles on the long awaited 1982 visit to the UK and was filmed pushing him through immigration in a wheelchair I think. Edited January 29, 2021 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted January 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 43 minutes ago, sidewinder said: Interesting to read that Miles and Cicely were planning to marry in 1968 but in the end he switched to Betty Mabry. I recall that she accompanied Miles on the long awaited 1982 visit to the UK and was filmed pushing him through immigration in a wheelchair I think. She accompanied him to the Chicago Jazz Festival in September of 1982. She quietly watched the performance from the wings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 Can anyone confirm - didn't Miles abuse at least some of his wives/girl friends? Was Cicely among them? I'm not seeing mention of that and if I am totally off base I will delete, but my first thought when I saw "married to Miles Davis" was "and he beat her a time or two". Would like to be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said: She accompanied him to the Chicago Jazz Festival in September of 1982. She quietly watched the performance from the wings. The UK performance was in April of 1982 I think. I caught one of those performances at the RFH, which was televised here by Channel 4. Great kudos to Cicely for accompanying him that year, after the minor stroke issue. My seat was well back and the house was packed but there was an amazing atmosphere. Last time he played here was over 10 years before. Edited January 29, 2021 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 19 minutes ago, Dan Gould said: Can anyone confirm - didn't Miles abuse at least some of his wives/girl friends? Was Cicely among them? I'm not seeing mention of that and if I am totally off base I will delete, but my first thought when I saw "married to Miles Davis" was "and he beat her a time or two". Would like to be wrong. I thought similarly. I think the abuse was outlined in the autobio but can't remember who the victim was/were. from his wiki page fwiw " The relationship involved numerous incidents of Davis' domestic violence towards Taylor. He later wrote, "Every time I hit her, I felt bad because a lot of it really wasn't her fault but had to do with me being temperamental and jealous."[118][119][120] One reason for his behavior was that in 1963 he had increased his use of alcohol and cocaine to reduce joint pain caused by sickle cell anemia" referencing abuse of Frances Taylor. and then, same source " in 2013, The A.V. Club published an article titled "Miles Davis beat his wives and made beautiful music,"[249] In the article, writer Sonia Saraiya praises Davis as a musician, but criticizes him as a person, in particular, his abuse of his wives.[249] Others, such as Francis Davis, have criticized his treatment of women, describing it as "contemptible".[231] " No explicit reference to Cicely Tyson as a victim of such behaviour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 I get the impression that Cicely Tyson wouldn’t have stood for any such nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmonahan Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 8 hours ago, JSngry said: If you're old enough to have watched The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman when it first aired...unforgettable. RIP I am and she was. RIP. gregmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said: I wonder if Tyson ever commented specifically about her image being on the cover for Sorcerer — anyone know? (Either contemporaneously, or years later.) I know the whole bit about Miles’ reaction to seeing the white women on the cover of Miles Ahead, and Frances then being on the covers of Someday My Prince Will Come and E.S.P. (am I forgetting another one with Cicely? — I don’t think so, but there were a lot of alternate covers issued in various countries over the years, from what I gather from Discogs). Then that’s Betty Mabry on the cover of Filles De Kilimanjaro. I think Frances was also on the cover of The Black Hawk Lps. (She was the hostess at a Hamburger Hamlet I sometimes ate at in LA.) 3 hours ago, Dan Gould said: Can anyone confirm - didn't Miles abuse at least some of his wives/girl friends? Was Cicely among them? I'm not seeing mention of that and if I am totally off base I will delete, but my first thought when I saw "married to Miles Davis" was "and he beat her a time or two". Would like to be wrong. LA Times handles it well, I think. Mentions her marriage to Miles (and his abuse) only in the last paragraph of a long obit. https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2021-01-28/cicely-tyson-dies Edited January 29, 2021 by medjuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 1 hour ago, medjuck said: I think Frances was also on the cover of The Black Hawk Lps. (She was the hostess at a Hamburger Hamlet I sometimes ate at in LA.) Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 31 minutes ago, jazzbo said: Yes! Aha, right you are! I’ve never been a fan of the Blackhawk albums, and haven’t owned copies in 20 years. But a little googling confirms it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) Wow I've never seen that before. This is the one I remember. Is that one even Frances? Edited January 30, 2021 by medjuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 That has to be a bootleg cover. . . Miles from the late sixties and Sarah Vaughan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 46 minutes ago, medjuck said: Wow I've never seen that before. This is the one I remember. Is that one even Frances? That's the one I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al in NYC Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 A truly great actress RIP. I was fortunate enough to see her in her late career Tony-winning star turn in Trip to Bountiful on Broadway. She was indeed amazing and touching in a role that put her on stage for about 2 hours straight at 88. As for the Miles connection, a close friend of my parents who was not a jazz fan but knew Cicely Tyson well through her work in the civil rights movement always referred to Miles as "that awful little man", and said of their marriage "I have no idea why she married him, I don't know why anyone even likes him". Further into Ms. Tyson's connection to jazz, she can be seen on Sunday night 1/31 on TCM in an extensive early film role in the pretty strange 1966 jazz movie A Man Called Adam. Starring Sammy Davis Jr. as a rather Milesesque character, with a supporting cast of Louis Armstrong, Ossie Davis, Frank Sinatra Jr., Mel Torme, Kai Winding, Peter Lawford, and Lola Falana, a Benny Carter score, and Sammy's trumpeting dubbed by Nat Adderley. Crazy baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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