Miles Davis was born into a relatively affluent African-American family in Alton, Illinois (near St. Louis), in 1926. The following year his family moved to East St. Louis.
Davis’ mom originally wanted her son to learn to play the piano. At the age of 13, however, Miles’ musical destiny was set when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged for lessons. By 16, Davis had joined the local musicians union and was making money as a professional musician. Davis became part of Billy Eckstine’s band, as third trumpeter, along with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
Birth of the Cool
Miles was known for defying the conventional way of playing the trumpet at the time. Most jazz trumpet was played with heavy vibrato, but Miles believed that a crisp, clear note was the way to go. He played for several bands before finally setting out on his own.
In 1957, Miles released an album called “Birth of the Cool.” He had recorded prior to this, but it wasn’t until this time that people really began to notice. With the popularity of the album, Miles began to tour the world. He became a huge success in Paris, where American jazz was greeted with enthusiasm.
Miles formed great bands and his sidemen included some of what would become legendary names in jazz: Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Thelonius Monk, J.J. Johnson and Charles Mingus, to name a few.
Kind of Blue
While Miles released many great albums before 1959, it was his teaming with Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly that would produce one of the greatest recordings in the history of modern music. While jazz had become packed with chords and vibrato in recent times when they went into the studio, Evans encouraged Miles to pursue his quest for a cleaner, simpler sound. The result was the classic “Kind of Blue.”
The album was a tremendous success at the time, making Miles one of the most popular performers and giving him tremendous wealth. His subsequent albums were also huge hits and his pinnacle may have come when he formed the quintet of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
The quintet released many popular albums including the double-live album since released on two CDs known as “Miles Davis: The Complete Concert of 1964.” It is one of the greatest live albums, of any musical genre, ever recorded.
Going Electric
Always looking for new directions, during the late 60s and early 70s Miles began to explore a more electric sound. While this alienated many of his hardcore fans, the albums he released have become major influences on modern funk and hip hop. “Bitches Brew” is probably the most famous of those albums
Final Days
Miles continued to tour relentlessly throughout his life. Even though his health began to fail in his later years, he continued to tour and continued to pull together bands of some of the most talented young musicians he could find. He also was fond of taking popular music of the day and giving them a special jazz-infused treatment.
In 1991 Miles suffered a stroke and then pneumonia and, finally, respiratory failure. He was 65 and died in Santa Monica, California
The Greatest
Without a doubt Miles Davis’ influence is felt in the world of modern music. His efforts as an activist and civil rights advocate still resonate. It is has also been expressed that anyone interested in jazz need only buy Miles’ early works and then one album from each of his sidemen for a truly excellent jazz collection.
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