John Szwed is Professor of Music and Jazz Studies at Columbia University, and Director of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University. He is the author of a number of books, including Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth, Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World and So What: The Life of Miles Davis.

Miles Davis remains one of the jazz greats, a crucial influence on the development of jazz over the last five decades, and perhaps the most remarkably original of any musician in the genre.

John Szwed's remarkable 'life' explores Miles both in terms of his impact on jazz and as one of the great Black Americans, as political figure, icon and archetypal cool dude. So What fills in the gaps left by myth-making about Miles' life, telling the story of his childhood, his depressions and his relationship with heroin as well as his remarkable musical career.