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Davis, Miles Dewey (1926-1991)

American trumpeter and composer, who for five decades was at the forefront of stylistic developments in jazz, from bebop and “cool” jazz to modal jazz and jazz fusion. Born in Alton, Illinois, Davis played in the mid-1940s with the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and the saxophonists Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins, the leading bebop musicians. Aware of the technical limitations of his trumpet-playing, Davis took a new direction in 1948 with the formation of a short-lived but influential nine-piece band that made a virtue of his hesitant, probing trumpet style. With Gil Evans as arranger, this band introduced cool-as opposed to “hot”, or New Orleans-jazz on Birth of the Cool (recorded in 1949 and 1950, but not released until 1957).

Leading a standard quintet in the 1950s (recording the albums Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’, and Steamin’ during just two sessions in 1956), Davis again collaborated with Evans on the immensely popular albums Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), and Sketches of Spain (1960), all featuring Davis with a lush orchestral background. In 1959 Davis, accompanied by John Coltrane, released the album Kind of Blue, one of the first attempts to base jazz on modal rather than tonal harmonic progressions. He continued to explore in the 1960s and 1970s, with In a Silent Way (1969) taking modal improvisation towards free jazz and rock. Davis's music became controversial through his use of electronic instruments to produce a sound heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Sly Stone, and the classical innovations of Stockhausen. The combination of overdriven guitars, funky basslines, synthesizers, and non-Western percussion on Bitches Brew (1970), On the Corner (1972), Dark Magus (1974), Agharta, and Pangaea (the last two both recorded live on the same day in 1975) set the style for jazz fusion.

After a period in retirement, Davis returned with the smoother funk of The Man with the Horn (1981), interpreting pop songs (such as Cyndi Lauper’s “Time after Time”) and collaborating with a wide range of musicians (including John Lee Hooker and Sting). Davis's final (incomplete) album Doo-bop (1991) experimented with hip-hop, another part of his restless search for new audiences and fresh musical possibilities.