| Birth: | May 25, 1926 | | Death: | Sep. 28, 1991 | 
Jazz Musician. The son of a middle-class dentist from Alton, Illinois, he won a scholarship to Julliard in 1944, but there is no evidence that he ever attended the institution. Rather, upon his arrival in New York, he joined up with the modern jazz leader Charlie Parker, joining his "All-Star" quintet on trumpet. Quickly learning that he would never be able to match Parker's technical virtuousity, Davis adopted a cooler, more laid back approach to his solos, playing very few notes and concentrating on harmony and tone, often employing a characteristic Harmon mute. He would explore these ideas further in 1949 with a nine-piece band under the direction of Gil Evans. This ensemble echewed the blues-based tonality common to most previous jazz styles, opting instead for a "cooler" timbre which would lend its name to their best-known recording, "Birth of the Cool." He led more traditional jazz quintets through the 1950s, but would reach an epiphany leading a sextet of renowned musicians in 1958 and 1959. With John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Julian "Cannonball" Adderly on alto sax, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums, the group explored "modal" pieces, replacing the traditional ideas of chord progression with patterns based on scales. Their 1959 album, "Kind of Blue", is widely regarded as the greatest jazz album of all time. Miles Davis would lead similar groups through the 1960s, including such luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, Joe Zalwinul, Wayne Shorter, and John McLaughlin. In the late 1960s, his style radically changed, embracing the influences of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone to create the embryonic style of jazz-rock, also known as fusion, as exemplified on his albums "In a Silent Way" (1969) and "Bitches Brew" (1970). He would continue in this style until a self-imposed retirement in 1976. Miles Davis returned to recording in 1982 with "The Man With the Horn," this time playing in a more commercial jazz-pop idiom. He would continue with such lighter fare until his death from pneumonia in 1991. (bio by: Stuthehistoryguy)
Search Amazon for Miles Davis | | | Burial:
Woodlawn Cemetery
Bronx
Bronx County
New York, USA
Plot: Alpine, at intersection of Heather and Fir Avenues
GPS (lat/lon): 40.8851318, -73.8713913 |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 261 |
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Thanks for bringing your style of jazz to the forefront. Job well done. Rest in Peace you were the best that did the damn thing.
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Roz
Added: Nov. 20, 2009 |
Rest in peace.
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Marty from Baltimore
Added: Nov. 18, 2009 |
God bless you always, Miles Davis. Remembering all jazz legends.
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Christian Fernandez
Added: Nov. 6, 2009 |
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(4.6 after 147 votes)
