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In terms of importance to the history of jazz, few knowledgeable critics would balk at describing him as an innovative genius with an unmistakable style and unmatched musical range. Stylistically, his vast catalogue encompasses bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz, and jazz-rock fusion. He was a pivotal figure in the evolution of the latter three. His recordings, along with the live performances of his many seminal bands, were vital in jazz's increased artistic acceptance. A popularizer as well as an innovator, Davis became famous for both his languid, melodic style and his laconic and at times confrontational personality. As an increasingly well-paid and fashionably-dressed jazz musician, Davis was a symbol of the music's commercial and artistic potential.
Davis is the latest, and perhaps the last, in the line of supremely innovative and influential jazz trumpeters that starts with Buddy Bolden and runs through Joe King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Roy EldridgeRoy David Eldridge ( January 30, 1911- February 6, 1989) was a jazz trumpet player in the Swing era. His sophisticated use of harmony resulted in him sometimes being seen as a link between Louis Armstrong-era swing music and Dizzy Gillespie-era bebop., and Dizzy GillespieCarl Van Vechten, 1955 Dizzy Gillespie ( October 21, 1917 January 6, 1993) was born John Birks Gillespie in Cheraw, South Carolina. He was an African-American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, was a major fi. Davis has been compared to Duke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (Born: April 29, 1899 in Washington, DC Died: May 24, 1974 in New York City) was an American jazz composer, pianist and bandleader. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and in 1973, the Legion of Honor b as a musical innovator. Both were skillful players on their instruments but were not considered technical virtuosos. Both expressed their musical ideas more as bandleaders, although Davis soloed much more than Ellington. Both tailored their compositions to the players in their bands.
Davis was born Miles Dewey Davis III into a relatively wealthy African-American family living in Alton, IllinoisAlton is a city located in Madison County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 30,496. On November 7, 1837 abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy was shot to death by a mob of supporters of slavery while he was attempting t, being the son of Miles Davis II, a successful East St. Louis dentist. His mother Cleo, a capable pianistThis article deals with those who play the piano. For other uses, see pianist (disambiguation). A pianist is a person who plays the piano reasonably well. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an orchestra or smaller ensemble, or accom, wanted Miles to learn the violinThe violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a fifth apart. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola, cello and double bass. The lowest string (and hen but, for his thirteenth birthday, his father bought him a trumpet. Davis took to it immediately, and by age fifteen he was playing in public with bandleader Eddie Randall and studying under local trumpeter Elwood Buchanan. Against the fashion of the time, Buchanan stressed the importance of playing without vibratoVibrato is a musical effect where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound. Sometimes, vibrato is erroneously referred to as tremolo (notably in the, and Davis would carry his clear signature tone throughout his career. This became a characteristic of the "cool" sound, although Davis also pioneered the use of a metal mute, which to a degree supplied overtones similar to vibrato.
In 1945, after having graduated from high school and playing for a brief time with Charlie Parker in Billy Eckstine's band, he moved to New York City ostensibly to take up a scholarship at the Juilliard School of Music. In reality, however, he neglected his studies and immediately set about tracking down his heroes: amongst them Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Coleman Hawkins.
By 1948 he had served his apprenticeship as a sideman, both on stage and record, and a recording career of his own was beginning to blossom. Davis began to work with a nonet that featured then-unusual instrumentation such as french horn and tuba. The nonet featured a young Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz. After some gigs at New York's Royal Roost, Davis was signed by Capitol Records. The nonet released several singles in 1949 and 1950 featuring arrangements by Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, and John Lewis. This began his collaboration with Evans, with whom he would collaborate on many of his major works over the next twenty years. The sides saw only limited release until 1957, when they were released as the album Birth of the Cool.
Playing in the jazz clubs of New York, Davis was in frequent contact with users and dealers of illegal drugs and by 1950, in common with many of his contemporaries, he had developed a serious heroin addiction, possibly aggravated by the lukewarm reception his first personal recordings had received. For the first part of that decade, although he gigged a great deal and played many sessions, they were mostly uninspired and it seemed that his talent was going to waste. No one was more aware of this than Davis himself, and in 1954 he returned to East St. Louis and, with the help and encouragement of his father, he kicked heroin, literally locking himself away from society until free of the drug.
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