DAVIS, MILES

born May 25, 1926, Alton, Ill., U.S. died Sept. 28, 1991, Santa Monica, Calif. Miles Davis, 1969 in full Miles Dewey Davis Iii American jazz musician, a great trumpeter who as a bandleader and composer was one of the major influences on the art from the late 1940s. The son of a prosperous dental surgeon, Davis began playing the trumpet at age 13 and was soon performing with local jazz bands in St. Louis. He moved to New York City in 1944 to study at the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School), which he soon left to play bebop with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. He played primarily in Parker's bands from 1945 until becoming the leader of a short-lived nonet (194849) whose studio recordings became the album Birth of the Cool (1949). One of the pioneering cool jazz groups, the nonet featured the saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz and the pianist-arrangers Gil Evans and John Lewis. Davis' great period began in 1954 with his classic, blues-centred all-star album performances Walkin' and Bags Groove. In contrast to the bebop trumpet virtuosos, Davis played a direct, unornamented melodic style, based upon quarter-notes and rich with inflections, in his horn's middle registers. Growing confidence in his technique led to the most daring improvising of his career, with his intermittent 195557 quintet, which included tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The great tension of this group's playing resulted from the drastic rhythmic contrasts of its members. In his 195760 recordings of Gil Evans' colourist orchestrations (Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain), Davis played flugelhorn and trumpet and improvised upon static harmonies, a practice that came to be called modal improvising. Possibly the most famous of Davis' albums was Kind of Blue, by his 1959 sextet that included saxophonists Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley and pianist Bill Evans. Subsequently Davis returned to modal playing only intermittently for several years, meanwhile gradually piecing together a new quintet centred on drummer Tony Williams and including pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. This group, too, achieved peaks of nervous tension and rhythmic contrast, using the harmonic techniques of free jazz by 1966. By 1969 Davis was playing an original kind of jazz-rock fusion music, accompanied by electronic instruments on the highly influential album Bitches Brew. The emotional and technical range of his music narrowed in his fusion years, especially after a brief retirement (197580). Though occasionally given to multinote flurries, Davis generally displayed one of the most economical and thoughtful trumpet styles in modern jazz. The deliberation, pacing, and lyricism in his improvisations are striking. Davis was the most popular jazz artist of the post-World War II era. Many younger musicians arrived at the beginnings of their own popularity while playing in his groups. He has been credited with composing several jazz standards, including Four, Milestones, and So What.