Post on 14-Mar-2020
Miles Davis
Miles Davis III was born on May 25, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. He came from a wealthy and well educated family. His father, a dentist was a proud man who believed strongly in the rights of African Americans.
Miles, his brother and sister attended an all
African American school where they had very
good teachers, but the poor conditions of the building left Miles with bitter memories. He
also experienced other racial incidents both in
and out of school, including being called
racial names.
Miles was interested in
sports, but was too skinny
to be a star. When he
was given an old trumpet
by a friend of his father’s,
he started to take music
lessons. By the time he
was twelve, music was
his only interest.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis
wanted Miles to study
classical music as they
disapproved of the
popular music of he
day. He secretly
listened to the jazz
music however, of
Louis Armstrong, Duke
Ellington and others.
After high school in 1944,
Davis left for New York to
study at Juilliard, one of
the nation’s most
outstanding schools of
music. He studied
classical music and
composing during the day
and traveled from club to
club listening to jazz
during the night. He
especially liked the music
of Charlie Parker.
Miles dropped out of Juilliard and formed his own band. They were
one of the first groups of record “cool jazz”. Unlike bebop, cool was a softer, more structured type of
jazz. It used some of the techniques and
instruments of classical music. Their recording “The Birth of Cool” has become a classic and was the beginning of a
new kind of jazz.
In 1949 Miles played
at the Paris Jazz
Festival and became
well known in
Europe.
Unfortunately, he
become addicted to
heroin and his
career suffered.
In a desperate move
to kick his heroin
habit, Miles locked
himself in a small
house on his father’s
farm. For seven or
eight days, he
suffered the pains of
withdrawal, but he
broke his habit and
began to put his life
together again.
During the later half of
the 1950’s, Davis
organized a new band
and recorded Kind of
Blue, which is
considered by many
to be the most
influential recording in
jazz history.
The 1960s was the decade of rock music, and Davis became concerned that young African Americans would lose touch with jazz. He considered jazz a part of the culture of African Americans, so he began experimenting by blending the two. It worked, and fusion, another form of jazz was created.
Davis was known and admired all over the world. Other musicians copied his style, mannerisms and dress. He performed and recorded until the end of his life in 1991 when he died from complications of respiratory failure and the results of a hard lifestyle including drugs. He was 65 years old.