Remembering Miles Davis

05/25/2000 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(5/25/00, 7 a.m. ET) - It has been widely reported that today (May 25) would have been trumpet legend Miles Davis's 74th birthday, although many sources report his birthday as May 26.

Miles Dewey Davis III was born in Alton, Illinois, in 1926 and grew up in East St. Louis. He got his first trumpet at age 13 and played in his high school band and in a local R&B group. In 1944, Davis came to New York to study at the prestigious Julliard School of Music, but spent most of his time at the jazz clubs on 52nd Street, and eventually left Julliard.

He made his recording debut in early 1945, and by the end of that year was playing with legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker. Davis played with Parker until 1948, when he formed his own nonet and helped inaugurate the "cool jazz" movement; the group's performance sessions were known as the "Birth of the Cool."

In the early '50s, Davis kicked a serious drug problem and went on to become a major star and a highly influential artist. The decade saw the release of such classic albums as Kind Of Blue, Round About Midnight,Miles Ahead, Circle In The Round, Milestones,Sketches Of Spain, and Porgy And Bess.

Davis's groups always included musicians who were themselves exceptional and innovative players, such as saxophonists John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The lineups changed frequently, and by the mid-'60s included the now-legendary ensemble of keyboardist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams Tony Williams, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who further explored and expanded the parameters of jazz music. Some of the classic albums that were released during this period include My Funny Valentine, ESP, Miles Smiles, Nefertiti, Filles De Kilimanjaro, and Four And More.

By the end of the '60s, Davis decided to experiment with electronic instruments, influenced by such artists as Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. As the decade drew to a close, his group included keyboardists Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, guitarist John McLaughlin, bassist Dave Holland, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Lenny White. They blended rock and funk rhythms with jazz improvisation, and the 1969 albums Bitches Brew and In A Silent Way are two of the recordings that launched the fusion era.

In 1975, plagued by poor health and drug problems, Davis retired. He re-emerged on the music scene in 1981, and throughout the '80s he continued to record and tour. Some of the top artists who played in his various combos include: bassist Marcus Miller, saxophonists Bill Evans, Branford Marsalis, and Kenny Garrett; guitarists John Scofield and Mike Stern; and keyboardist George Duke. The memorable albums released in this period included Tutu, Amandla, and You're Under Arrest.

In the summer of 1991, Quincy Jones convinced Davis to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival and he performed a strong set of classics, although clearly in fragile health. Two months later -- on September 28, 1991 -- Miles Davis died of pneumonia at the age of 65.

-- Lucy Tauss, New York

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