Miles Davis

Born in East St. Louis, IL, Miles Davis was one of the greatest visionaries and most important figures in jazz history. His family was financially secure. He became a local phenom and toured with the Billy Eckstine band while attending high school.

He moved to New York under the guise of attending the Julliard School of Music. However, his true intentions were to join musically with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He very quickly soared to high ranks while learning from Bird (Charlie Parker) and Diz (Dizzy Gillespie. He became the trumpet player for Charlie Parker for nearly 3 years. In 1949, his first attempt at leading a group occurred. It was the first of many occurrences in which he would take jazz in a very new direction. With the help of arranger Gil Evans, he orchestrated a nonet (9 members) that played non-traditional instruments in a jazz setting-- French Horns and a Tuba.

His musical genius invented a more subtle, yet still challenging style that became known as "Cool Jazz." This style influenced many talented musicians who played primarily on the west coast and further expanded this style. The recordings of the nonet were recorded by Capitol Records and became known as "The Birth of the Cool". The group featured the talents of Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, and Max Roach, among others. This was one of the first of many instances that Miles demonstrated a recurring move that angered some musicians. He brought in musicians regardless of race. He is quoted as saying, "He'd give a guy with green skin and "polka-dotted breath" a job, as long as they could play the saxophone as well as Lee Konitz.

He suffered from heroine addiction and conquered it after a four year battle. He was greatly inspired by the discipline of the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

In 1955, after a brilliant performance of Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight at the Newport Jazz Festival, Miles became a very hot commodity. He organized a quintet that featured John Coltrane, Red Garland, "Philly Joe" Jones, and Paul Chambers. Miles had a gift for hearing the music, and putting together a band of incredible musicians whose contrasting styles resulted in the end he was looking for. He later added a 6th member, Cannonball Adderly and replaced Jones and Garland with Jimmy Cobb and Bill Evans.

In the late 50s, his groups popularized modal jazz and changed the direction of jazz again. It is with this great group of musicians, the sextet that he made 2 more classics, Milestones and Kind of Blue. After this time, most of his group left to form their own groups. Changing group members was a routing thing with Miles, after he had brought in the best up-and-coming musicians and trained them, they leave and form their own groups. The well known band leaders who started out with Miles include John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Red Garland, "Philly" Jo Jones, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, (Shorter and Zawinul would go on to form the fusion group Weather Report) Keith Jarrett, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, John McGlaughlin, Chick Corea, John Scofield, Kenny Garrett, Mike Stern, and Bob Berg.

Miles and Gil Evans collaborated and made another unique record, Sketches of Spain, in which Miles plays Spanish Flamenco music backed by an orchestra. His tone is beautiful and clear, it almost sounds like his trumpet is singing.

After experimenting with different groups for 3 years, Miles, n his late 30s (old by jazz standards), fused his group with young players to bring in fresh ideas. In 1963, he put together his 2nd legendary quintet: Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and 16 year old drumming protege Tony Williams. For 5 years, this group pushed the limits of freedom and made some fiery jazz music! In 1968, Miles brought in Joe Zawinul as a 2nd keyboardist and around this time, started experimenting with electric instruments. He made the classic "In a Silent Way". A year later, he added British guitarist John McGloughlin and replaced Tony Williams with Jack DeJohnette. He then took jazz in yet a whole new direction with the recording of "Bitches Brew", which fused Rock Music and jazz and went heavily into electric music. This recording fired the first shot in the fusion revolution which took jazz to a whole new level of popularity. In the early 1970s, Miles continued to experiment with electric instruments and fusing more funk into his sound.

In 1976, a combination of bad health, cocaine use, and lack of inspiration caused Miles to go into a 5-year retirement. During this time, he conquered his cocaine habit, received new inspiration and returned in 1981 and made a series of records. He dkepton pushing music, He started experimenting more with synthesizers and using studio techniques in his recordings. He won a series of Grammy Awards during this decade. Miles Davis died in 1991.

May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991