Learn About Miles Davis’s Life and Influence on Jazz Music

Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, composer, and bandleader, who is often cited as one of the most important and influential figures of cool jazz. Davis was a virtuoso trumpeter who constantly evolved his sound.

• Early life: Davis was born in Alton, Illinois in 1926, and raised in East St. Louis. He expressed interest in music from a young age and took up the trumpet at age nine. His interest in music continued through high school, and he enrolled in what is now the Juilliard School in New York City to continue his studies. He dropped out after only three semesters to perform full-time.
• Early career: Davis freelanced as a musician and collaborated with other jazz musicians like bassist Charles Mingus and pianist Thelonious Monk. Davis also played in a number of big bands, including those led by Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine, and became a member of Charlie Parker’s quintet, where he played with jazz drummer Max Roach. In 1948, Davis turned down an opportunity to join Duke Ellington’s orchestra to form a nonet with musicians like arranger and pianist Gil Evans, and saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz. Their sound would evolve to include French horns and tubas, and influence what is known as the West Coast Jazz style.
• Mid-century heyday: During the 1950s, Davis formed small groups featuring jazz legends like Julian Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Red Garland, and Philly Joe Jones. In the 1960s, he also performed with bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Davis experimented with jazz fusion, adding electronic instruments to his classical jazz repertoire.
• Late-twentieth century accolades: Davis, a musical legend himself, was often surrounded by other musical greats, which would further influence his sound and career. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammy Organization in 1990, and ten of his albums have been inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame (including Bitches Brew, Birth of the Cool, and Kind of Blue). Fifteen years after his death, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame in 2006.

Miles Davis is often credited with changing the sound of jazz for generations to come. Some characteristics of Davis’ music include:

1. 1. Simple: Unlike some of his inspirations and collaborators, Davis kept his tunes less complex, slower, and more melodic. He frequently reworked and polished his solos while still keeping the spirit of the improvisation.
2. 2. Lack of vibrato: Early on in his training, Davis’s music teacher Elwood Buchanan advised him to play without vibrato, a technique that defined the sound of jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong. Playing without vibrato made for a smoother and more emotional sound, which allowed Davis to deliver the message of his music in a more straightforward manner.
3. 3. Innovative: Davis had an intimate sound that evolved throughout the decades of his career. Davis experimented with jazz fusion, funk, synthesizers, rock, and African rhythms, fusing a variety of sounds together to leave a lasting creative legacy.

Miles Davis was an innovator in jazz music, helping to define jazz fusion, and develop modal jazz. Most notably, Davis used his trumpet as a way to emulate the sound of the human voice by cutting out vibrato, turning his jazz into a smoother and more emotional form of music.

Davis constantly found new ways to connect musically and emotionally with his audiences, without overwhelming his listeners with a barrage of improvisational instrumentals. Davis has influenced artists across various musical genres, including Lenny Kravitz, The Allman Brothers Band, Carlos Santana, and Lana Del Rey.

Some of Davis’ jazz albums include:

1. 1. ‘Round About Midnight (1957): ‘Round About Midnight was Davis’ first album with Columbia Records—released after he signed a long-term contract with the label—and his first work with saxophone player John Coltrane and bassist Paul Chambers.
2. 2. Birth of the Cool (1957): The songs on this record showcase classical music techniques like polyphony—two individual melodies played together in harmony—which came to define and help develop the genre of cool jazz.
3. 3. Miles Ahead (1957): Davis plays the flugelhorn on a few tracks of Miles Ahead, which combines classical music and jazz styles. Each track on the album flows into the next, forming a suite (an ordered set of musical compositions).
4. 4. Milestones (1958): John Coltrane features on Davis’s album Milestones, which is considered one of the cornerstones of jazz history. This album introduced much of the world to modal jazz—which simplified jazz’s harmonic structure and let improvisers explore different structures and relaxed tempos in their solos.
5. 5. Porgy and Bess (1959): Porgy and Bess was a collaboration between Davis and musician Gil Evans. Davis and Evans arranged the album together, which contains a number of tracks from George Gershwin’s 1935 opera Porgy and Bess.
6. 6. Kind of Blue (1959): Kind of Blue features a collection of recordings that are considered the defining examples of modern jazz. The collection had an influence on classical, rock, and jazz genres, and was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 “Greatest Albums of All Time” list.
7. 7. Sketches of Spain (1960): This album took orchestral jazz in a new direction, and was praised for its lyricism and grace. Sketches of Spain earned Davis the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Composition.
8. 8. Nefertiti (1967): Nefertiti was Davis’ last acoustic album before his electronic period. The compositions for this album were written mainly by keyboardist Herbie Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
9. 9. In a Silent Way (1969): Davis recorded In a Silent Way in a single session and marked his foray into electronic sounds, which was groundbreaking in the jazz-fusion movement.
10. 10. Bitches Brew (1970): Davis’s album Bitches Brew album reinvigorated the popularity of jazz fusion, and is notable for its use of electronic sounds, which furthered his influence on jazz-rock and funk musicians.

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