FREE ESSAY ON MILES

MILES

Even in the beginning he was already miles ahead. It's very evident that Miles knew and
lived by that old axiom if it's named, then it's outmoded. Miles Dewey Davis was born May
25, 1926 in Alton, Illinois and grew up in East St. Louis. Miles collected records and
for his 13th birthday was given his first trumpet. By age 16, Miles was playing
professionally and received his first real taste of what playing jazz was like when Billy
Eckstine's band was traveling through and needed to replace a sick horn player. At that
time, the band employed Diz and Bird and for two weeks Miles soaked it up!
Undoubtedly, the fire had been ignited. After high school, Miles was off to study music
and enrolled in Juilliard in September 1944. Practicing his ass off every day and feeding
his mind every night Miles' sound was taking shape. As a sideman, Miles recorded his
first recording in New York with singer Rubberleggs Williams and later recorded Now,s The
Time & Ko-Ko in Parker's quintet. 
Miles Davis was known to the general public primarily as a trumpet player. However, in
the world of music he had a great deal of influence not only as a innovative bandleader
but also as a composer. His music and style was important in the development of
improvisational techniques incorporating modes rather than standard chord changes. Miles
experiments with modal playing reached its apotheosis in 1959 with his recording of Kind
Of Blue. 
Brought up in the Bebop tradition and taught under the auspice of Bird and others, Miles
was now ready to lead. After a few solo records, Miles transformed jazz into it's next
phase with his BIRTH OF THE COOL sessions, which were recorded 1949-50. These sessions
took Bebop, with it's fast running styled chords, which changed on every beat, to a more
modal concept and chords that changed every other measure, like in the tune Dig. As a
experiment, Miles formed a nine piece band, with Mulligan, Evans and Lewis as arrangers
and incorporating Gunther Schuller on French Horn. This made the band have a lighter and
more relaxing sound. Miles himself would frequently use the flugelhorn and muted trumpet.
This sound seemed natural to Miles' tone. Instantly identifiable, Miles' tone had rich
middle register and/or cooing, crooning, muted or mewling, fierce as though shredding
complacency or tender as a man treading on eggshells. Very contradictory to Miles'
temperament, this sound was so gentle and simple it rang of a secret side of Miles. 
Davis' most radical veer from jazz tradition came in the late '60s and early '70s when,
under the intoxicating influence of such artists as Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, Davis
ushered in the age of fusion with a steamy electric concoction of bubbling funk,
explosive rock and abrasive jazz. The music ruffled the feathers of jazz purists who were
unwilling to accept Davis' vision for the ever-evolving genre. However, rock fans were
blown away. The trumpeter's 1970 fusion masterwork, Bitches Brew, sold over 4000,000
copies in a year, making it the biggest selling jazz album in history.
Even though Davis died Sept. 28, 1991, the trumpeting jazz titan continues to impact the
contemporary music world. In 1962, Davis was elected by the Readers into the Down Beat
Hall of Fame.