The Influence of Heroin on Mid Century Jazz

There was a lot of dope around the music scene and a lot of musicians were deep into drug, especially heroin. People--musicians--were considered hip in some circles if they shot smack. Some of the younger guys like Dexter Gordon, Tadd Dameron, Art Blakey, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, and myself--all of us--started getting heavily into heroin around the same time. Despite the fact that Freddie Webster had died from some bad stuff. Besides Bird, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, Fats Navarro, Gene Ammons were all using heroin, not to mention Joe Guy and Billie Holiday, too.There were a lot of white musicians--Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Red Rodney, and Chet Baker--who were also heavily into shooting drugs.
-Miles Davis in "Miles: the autobiography", page 129

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