Miles Davis, throughout a professional biographical career lasting 50 years, played the trumpet in a lyrical picture like, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless harmon mute to make his sound on cds more personal and intimate. But if his approach to his instrument was constant, his approach to jazz was dazzlingly protean.
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To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-'40s to the early '90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period, and he often led the way in those changes, both with his own performances and recordings and by choosing sidemen and collaborators who forged the new directions. It can even be argued that jazz stopped evolving when Davis wasn't there to push it forward.
Miles Davis was one of the greatest visionaries and most important figures in jazz history. He was born in a well-to-do family in East St. Louis. He became a local phenomenon and toured locally with Billy Eckstine's band while he was in high school. He moved to New York under the guise of attending the Julliard School of Music. However, his real intentions were to hook up with Charlie Parker and Dizzy
Gillespie. He quickly climbed up the ranks while learning from Bird and Diz and became the trumpet player for Charlie Parker's group for nearly 3 years.
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The recordings of the nonet were packaged by Capitol records and released under the name The Birth of the Cool The group featured Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, and Max Roach, among others. This was one of the first instances in which Miles Davis demonstrated a recurring move that angered some: he brought in musicians regardless of race. He once said he'd give a guy with green skin and "polka-dotted breath" a job, as long as they could play sax as well as Lee Konitz.
After spending 4 years fighting a heroin addiction, he conquered it, inspired by the discipline of the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. After a triumphant performance of Thelonious Monk's classic 'Round Midnight at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, Miles Davis became a hot commodity. He put together a permanent quintet that featured John Coltrain, Red Garland, "Philly Joe" Jones, and Paul Chambers.
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During this time, Miles Davis and Gil Evans collaborated again and made another unique record, Sketches of Spain, in which Miles Davis plays Spanish Flamenco music backed by an orchestra. His tone is so beautiful and clear, it almost sounds like his trumpet is singing. After experimenting with different groups for 3 years, Miles Davis,
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For 5 years, this group pushed the limits of freedom and made some fiery jazz! In 1968, Miles Davis 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 and a year later, he added British guitarist John McLaughlin replaced Tony Williams (who left to form his own band) with Jack DeJohnette, and he took jazz in yet a whole new direction with the record Bitches Brew, in which he fused Rock Music with jazz and went heavily into electric music. This record fired the first shot in the Fusion revolution which took jazz to a whole new level of popularity.
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