watchnerd
Grand Contributor
And Billie, Miles, Trane....mid 20th century jazz is so full of substance abuse wreckage to be a cliche to the point where academic papers have been written about it.
The lost years: The impact of cirrhosis on the history of jazz
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
"According to Miles Davis, “Many of the great bebop players were heroin addicts” (Davis with Troupe, 1989, p. 129). In that set heroin was one of the greatest symbols of hipness (Fitterling, 1997, p. 33). Heroin extended the natural high that playing produced and stretched out the process of winding down after performing. It served to soften the edges of the gritty world in which musicians were forced to earn their living. And, as some said, it made it easier to perform at the accelerated pace bop music demanded by slowing everything down. Drummer Art Blakey said, “it didn't make anyone play better, but it did make you hear better” (Ward & Burns, 2000, p. 358)"
