MILES DAVIS

MILES APART
ALTON
BIRTH OF COOL
BE THE SPOON
PICASSO OF JAZZ
KIND OF BLUE
MODAL HARMONIES
COOL IS FOREVER
GREAT QUINTET THE SEQUEL
ELECTRIC
THE COMEBACK
MILES DAVIS IS 8 FEET TALL
A MAN OF MANY SEASONS
UNAPPROACHABLE

MILES APART

Miles Davis was a fabulous talent that touched many across the world. He is deeply regarded as one of the very few jazz greats of our time who possessed the ability to improvise and swing while maintaining a constant tempo, building character and soul into the notes.

ALTON

He was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. Although he is known primarily as a trumpet player, in the world of music he was elevated the level of living legend and had a great deal of influence as an innovative bandleader and composer.

BIRTH OF COOL

Miles grew up in East St. Louis and gained a chance to sit in with Billy Ecksine's big band when it stopped in the city. This is when he first met Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, who were with the band at that time. Soon after, Miles was attending The Juilliard School of Music (at that time it was called the Institute of Musical Arts) but quickly traded his academic studies for real life experience when he gained a spot to join Benny Carter's band. Soon after, he got his big break recording as a lead with Charlie Parker in 1947.

BE THE SPOON

Like his counterparts, Thelonious Monk and Count Bassie, Miles was a true master of restraint with regard to the creative process of his improved lines. He was in complete in control of his spontaneity. As in Zen Buddhism, he was the music.

PICASSO OF JAZZ

Much like Picasso, Miles was constantly reinventing himself and his sound. He was an artist that defied and despised categorization yet in doing so he left behind him many periods that did just that.

KIND OF BLUE

Kind of Blue is considered by many to be the greatest and most influential jazz album of all time. Even people who don't listen to jazz, own this album and for good reason. The casting pure perfection, Miles is joined by John Coltrane, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. As Bill Evans put it in the album?s liner notes, "As the painter needs his framework of parchment, the improvising musical group needsits framework in time."

MODAL HARMONIES

Modal harmonies is one of the reasons the album, Kind of Blue is so famous. Essentially modal music is the use of scales rather than conventional chord sequences. Modes were the seven scales used in medieval music and rediscovered by modern composers, such as Miles Davis and Claude Debussy.

COOL IS FOREVER

After his Kind of Blue period between 1955 to 1961 came his Sketches of Spain Period from 1957 to 1968. During this time he worked with Gil Evans and created the albums, "Miles Ahead", "Porgy and Bess" and "Sketches of Spain". Gil was able to give Miles the backing to make him the "singer of songs".

GREAT QUINTET THE SEQUEL

When Miles assembled Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams he stepped headlong into his Second Great Quintet Period. The band straddled both the traditions of jazz and the new frontiers that laid ahead. The band generated the great albums "ESP", "Miles Smiles", "Sorcerer", "Nerfertiti" and "Miles in the Sky". "Miles in the Sky" saw the addition of the electric piano adding to the funk the band was incorporating into its rhythmic palette.

ELECTRIC

By the end of the 60's Miles had made a complete commitment to move his music into the electric age with electric keyboards, bass and guitar. His "Bitches Brew" album produced during this time was a tremendous hit, selling over 400,000 copies in its first year of release. The album has been seen as the great divide between traditional jazz and jazz mutation.

THE COMEBACK

He retired in 1976 with the album, "Get Up With It". However, he couldn't maintain the silence for long. Four short years later, Miles had a new band and this time the sounds was contemporary but not as abstract. His last great recording was the album, "Aura" which brought back memories of an earlier Miles to ears of his adoring fans.

MILES DAVIS IS 8 FEET TALL

His popularity was so great that he has been mistakenly given credit for composing the modern jazz standards of Blue in Green as well as Tune Up and Four. Both of which were actually created by Bill Evans and Eddie Vinson respectively.

A MAN OF MANY SEASONS

Miles was also considered a great abstract painter having been influenced heavily by the Milan-based design movement known as "Memphis" founded by Ettore Scottsass. The Memphis style is known for hot colors and clashing shapes that mixed and matched a variety of historical motifs closely resembling postmodernism. His paintings were a reflection of his own style much like his lighting setups and clothing. His artwork eventually gained favor all over the world including New York, Spain, West Germany and Japan.

UNAPPROACHABLE

If you've seen the new Tom Cruise/Jamie Foxx film, "Collateral" then you've seen some pretty cool mentionings of Miles Davis. When he was in his zone, he might have appeared cool and calm but he was working. During those moments he was miles away from everybody, doing his own thing, you couldn't bother him with anything while performing. He was simply and truly unapproachable. Listen to Miles.