Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 â€" September 28, 1991) was an
American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the
most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and
20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in a
five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major
stylistic developments in jazz.Born in Alton, Illinois, and raised in
East St. Louis, Davis left to study at the Juilliard School in New
York City, before dropping out and making his professional debut as a
member of saxophonist Charlie Parker's bebop quintet from 1944 to
1948. Shortly after, he recorded the Birth of the Cool sessions for
Capitol Records, which were instrumental to the development of cool
jazz. In the early 1950s, Miles Davis recorded some of the earliest
hard bop music while on Prestige Records but did so haphazardly due to
a heroin addiction. After a widely acclaimed comeback performance at
the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, he signed a long-term contract with
Columbia Records and recorded the 1957 album 'Round About Midnight. It
was his first work with saxophonist John Coltrane and bassist Paul
Chambers, key members of the sextet he led into the early 1960s.
During this period, he alternated between orchestral jazz
collaborations with arranger Gil Evans, such as the Spanish-influenced
Sketches of Spain (1960), and band recordings, such as Milestones
(1958) and Kind of Blue (1959). The latter recording remains one of
the most popular jazz albums of all time, having sold over five
million copies in the U.S.Davis made several lineup changes while
recording Someday My Prince Will Come (1961), his 1961 Blackhawk
concerts, and Seven Steps to Heaven (1963), another mainstream success
that introduced bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and
drummer Tony Williams. After adding saxophonist Wayne Shorter to his
new quintet in 1964, Davis led them on a series of more abstract
recordings often composed by the band members, helping pioneer the
post-bop genre with albums such as E.S.P (1965) and Miles Smiles
(1967), before transitioning into his electric period. During the
1970s, he experimented with rock, funk, African rhythms, emerging
electronic music technology, and an ever-changing line-up of
musicians, including keyboardist Joe Zawinul, drummer Al Foster, and
guitarist John McLaughlin. This period, beginning with Davis' 1969
studio album In a Silent Way and concluding with the 1975 concert
recording Agharta, was the most controversial in his career,
alienating and challenging many in jazz. His million-selling 1970
record Bitches Brew helped spark a resurgence in the genre's
commercial popularity with jazz fusion as the decade progressed.After
a five-year retirement due to poor health, Davis resumed his career in
the 1980s, employing younger musicians and pop sounds on albums such
as The Man with the Horn (1981) and Tutu (1986). Critics were often
unreceptive but the decade garnered Davis his highest level of
commercial recognition. He performed sold-out concerts worldwide,
while branching out into visual arts, film, and television work,
before his death in 1991 from the combined effects of a stroke,
pneumonia and respiratory failure. In 2006, Davis was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which recognized him as "one of the
key figures in the history of jazz". Rolling Stone described him as
"the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of
the most important musicians of the 20th century," while Gerald Early
called him inarguably one of the most influential and innovative
musicians of that period.
American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the
most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and
20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musical directions in a
five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major
stylistic developments in jazz.Born in Alton, Illinois, and raised in
East St. Louis, Davis left to study at the Juilliard School in New
York City, before dropping out and making his professional debut as a
member of saxophonist Charlie Parker's bebop quintet from 1944 to
1948. Shortly after, he recorded the Birth of the Cool sessions for
Capitol Records, which were instrumental to the development of cool
jazz. In the early 1950s, Miles Davis recorded some of the earliest
hard bop music while on Prestige Records but did so haphazardly due to
a heroin addiction. After a widely acclaimed comeback performance at
the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, he signed a long-term contract with
Columbia Records and recorded the 1957 album 'Round About Midnight. It
was his first work with saxophonist John Coltrane and bassist Paul
Chambers, key members of the sextet he led into the early 1960s.
During this period, he alternated between orchestral jazz
collaborations with arranger Gil Evans, such as the Spanish-influenced
Sketches of Spain (1960), and band recordings, such as Milestones
(1958) and Kind of Blue (1959). The latter recording remains one of
the most popular jazz albums of all time, having sold over five
million copies in the U.S.Davis made several lineup changes while
recording Someday My Prince Will Come (1961), his 1961 Blackhawk
concerts, and Seven Steps to Heaven (1963), another mainstream success
that introduced bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and
drummer Tony Williams. After adding saxophonist Wayne Shorter to his
new quintet in 1964, Davis led them on a series of more abstract
recordings often composed by the band members, helping pioneer the
post-bop genre with albums such as E.S.P (1965) and Miles Smiles
(1967), before transitioning into his electric period. During the
1970s, he experimented with rock, funk, African rhythms, emerging
electronic music technology, and an ever-changing line-up of
musicians, including keyboardist Joe Zawinul, drummer Al Foster, and
guitarist John McLaughlin. This period, beginning with Davis' 1969
studio album In a Silent Way and concluding with the 1975 concert
recording Agharta, was the most controversial in his career,
alienating and challenging many in jazz. His million-selling 1970
record Bitches Brew helped spark a resurgence in the genre's
commercial popularity with jazz fusion as the decade progressed.After
a five-year retirement due to poor health, Davis resumed his career in
the 1980s, employing younger musicians and pop sounds on albums such
as The Man with the Horn (1981) and Tutu (1986). Critics were often
unreceptive but the decade garnered Davis his highest level of
commercial recognition. He performed sold-out concerts worldwide,
while branching out into visual arts, film, and television work,
before his death in 1991 from the combined effects of a stroke,
pneumonia and respiratory failure. In 2006, Davis was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which recognized him as "one of the
key figures in the history of jazz". Rolling Stone described him as
"the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of
the most important musicians of the 20th century," while Gerald Early
called him inarguably one of the most influential and innovative
musicians of that period.
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