Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis is renowned as one of the most important musicians of the 20th Century. As a bandleader, he led nearly every important jazz musician of the post-war period at some time, including: John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Chick Corea, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett. Davis was at the forefront of several major developments in post-war jazz: his 1957 album The Birth Of The Cool featured the 1949 and 1950 recordings that started "cool jazz"; his 1959 album, Kind Of Blue, broke all the rules of the predominant bebop style by introducing modal jazz; and In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew and A Tribute To Jack Johnson were instrumental in the development of jazz-fusion.
As a teenager in St.Louis, Illinois, Davis had experienced an epiphany when watching a bebop performance which featured Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. He moved to New York and started playing regularly with Parker, before forming a nine-piece band to record the three sessions in 1949 and 1950 which were hugely influential in developing the style of "cool jazz". It was the first of many innovations over five decades of recording. Kind of Blue introduced a new musical language by adopting the modal system of building solos around a scale, rather than a set of chords. It went on to become the biggest selling jazz album ever, and a common suggestion as an entry-point into jazz for beginners. In A Silent Way, and particularly Bitches Brew, were revolutionary and controversial, as Davis explored the boundaries between jazz and rock music and created jazz-fusion.
In the mid-70s, health problems saw Davis retreat from recording and performing, but he returned in the 80s to release several more acclaimed records and tour the world. Miles Davis died in 1991.
To use the music player, install Flash.
company
