Miles Davis (Miles Dewey Davis III, Alton, Illinois, May 26, 1926 – Santa M… Read Full Bio ↴Miles Davis (Miles Dewey Davis III, Alton, Illinois, May 26, 1926 – Santa Monica, California, September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader and composer.
Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. Many well-known musicians rose to prominence as members of Davis' ensembles, including saxophonists Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, George Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Branford Marsalis and Kenny Garrett; trombonist J. J. Johnson; pianists Horace Silver, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett; guitarists John McLaughlin, John Scofield and Mike Stern; bassists Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Marcus Miller and Darryl Jones, ; and drummers Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, and Al Foster.
Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926, to a relatively affluent family in Alton, Illinois. His father, Dr. Miles Henry Davis, was a dentist. In 1927 the family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois. They also owned a substantial ranch in northern Arkansas, where Davis learned to ride horses as a boy.
Davis' mother, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, wanted her son to learn the piano; she was a capable blues pianist but kept this fact hidden from her son. His musical studies began at 13, when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged lessons with local musician Elwood Buchanan. Davis later suggested that his father's instrument choice was made largely to irk his wife, who disliked the trumpet's sound. Against the fashion of the time, Buchanan stressed the importance of playing without vibrato; he was reported to have slapped Davis' knuckles every time he started using heavy vibrato. Davis would carry his clear signature tone throughout his career. He once remarked on its importance to him, saying, "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything." Clark Terry was another important early influence.
By age 16, Davis was a member of the music society and playing professionally when not at school. At 17, he spent a year playing in Eddie Randle's band, the Blue Devils. During this time, Sonny Stitt tried to persuade him to join the Tiny Bradshaw band, then passing through town, but Davis' mother insisted that he finish his final year of high school.
In 1944, the Billy Eckstine band visited East St. Louis. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were members of the band, and Davis was brought in on third trumpet for a couple of weeks because the regular player, Buddy Anderson, was out sick. Even after this experience, once Eckstine's band left town, Davis' parents were still keen for him to continue formal academic studies.
In the fall of 1944, following graduation from high school, Davis moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School of Music.
Upon arriving in New York, he spent most of his first weeks in town trying to get in contact with Charlie Parker, despite being advised against doing so by several people he met during his quest, including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Finally locating his idol, Davis became one of the cadre of musicians who held nightly jam sessions at two of Harlem's nightclubs, Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's. The group included many of the future leaders of the bebop revolution: young players such as Fats Navarro, Freddie Webster, and J. J. Johnson. Established musicians including Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke were also regular participants.
Davis dropped out of Juilliard, after asking permission from his father. In his autobiography, Davis criticized the Juilliard classes for centering too much on the classical European and "white" repertoire. However, he also acknowledged that Juilliard helped give him a grounding in music theory that would prove valuable in later years.
Davis began playing professionally, performing in several 52nd Street clubs with Coleman Hawkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. In 1945, he entered a recording studio for the first time, as a member of Herbie Fields's group. This was the first of many recordings to which Davis contributed in this period, mostly as a sideman. He finally got the chance to record as a leader in 1946, with an occasional group called the Miles Davis Sextet plus Earl Coleman and Ann Hathaway—one of the rare occasions when Davis, by then a member of the groundbreaking Charlie Parker Quintet, can be heard accompanying singers. In these early years, recording sessions where Davis was the leader were the exception rather than the rule; his next date as leader would not come until 1947.
Around 1945, Dizzy Gillespie parted ways with Parker, and Davis was hired as Gillespie's replacement in his quintet, which also featured Max Roach on drums, Al Haig (replaced later by Sir Charles Thompson and Duke Jordan) on piano, and Curley Russell (later replaced by Tommy Potter and Leonard Gaskin) on bass.
With Parker's quintet, Davis went into the studio several times, already showing hints of the style for which he would become known. On an oft-quoted take of Parker's signature song, "Now's the Time", Davis takes a melodic solo, whose unbop-like quality anticipates the "cool jazz" period that would follow. The Parker quintet also toured widely. During a stop in Los Angeles, Parker had a nervous breakdown that landed him in the Camarillo State Mental Hospital for several months, and Davis found himself stranded. He roomed and collaborated for some time with bassist Charles Mingus, before getting a job on Billy Eckstine's California tour, which eventually brought him back to New York. In 1948, Parker returned to New York, and Davis rejoined his group.
The relationships within the quintet, however, were growing tense. Parker's erratic behavior (attributable to his well-known drug addiction) and artistic choices (both Davis and Roach objected to having Duke Jordan as a pianist and would have preferred Bud Powell) became sources of friction. In December 1948, disputes over money (Davis claims he was not being paid) began to strain their relationship even further. Davis finally left the group following a confrontation with Parker at the Royal Roost.
For Davis, his departure from Parker's group marked the beginning of a period in which he worked mainly as a freelancer and as a sideman in some of the most important combos on the New York jazz scene.
In 1948 Davis grew close to the Canadian composer and arranger Gil Evans. Evans' house had become the meeting place for several young musicians and composers (including Davis, Roach, pianist John Lewis, and baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan) unhappy with the increasingly virtuoso instrumentalism that dominated the bebop scene of the time. Evans had been the arranger for the Claude Thornhill orchestra, and it was the sound of this group, as well as Duke Ellington's example, that suggested the creation of an unusual line-up: a nonet including a French horn and a tuba (this accounts for the "tuba band" moniker that was to be associated with the combo).
Davis took an active role in the project, so much so that it soon became "his project". The objective was to achieve a sound similar to the human voice, through carefully arranged compositions and by emphasizing a relaxed, melodic approach to the improvisations.
The nonet debuted in the summer of 1948, with a two-week engagement at the Royal Roost. The sign announcing the performance gave a surprising prominence to the role of the arrangers: "Miles Davis Nonet. Arrangements by Gil Evans, John Lewis and Gerry Mulligan". It was, in fact, so unusual that Davis had to persuade the Roost's manager, Ralph Watkins, to allow the sign to be worded in this way; he prevailed only with the help of Monte Kay, the club's artistic director.
The nonet was active until the end of 1949, along the way undergoing several changes in personnel: Roach and Davis were constantly featured, along with Mulligan, tuba player Bill Barber, and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who had been preferred to Sonny Stitt (whose playing was considered too bop-oriented). Over the months, John Lewis alternated with Al Haig on piano, Mike Zwerin with Kai Winding on trombone (Johnson was touring at the time), Junior Collins with Sandy Siegelstein and Gunther Schuller on French horn, and Al McKibbon with Joe Shulman on bass. Singer Kenny Hagood was added for one track during the recording sessions.
The presence of white musicians in the group angered some African American jazz players, many of whom were unemployed at the time, but Davis rebuffed their criticisms.
A contract with Capitol Records granted the nonet several recording sessions between January 1949 and April 1950. The material they recorded was released in 1956 on an album whose title, Birth of the Cool, gave its name to the "cool jazz" movement that developed at the same time and partly shared the musical direction begun by Davis' group.
For his part, Davis was fully aware of the importance of the project, which he pursued to the point of turning down a job with Duke Ellington's orchestra.
The importance of the nonet experience would become clear to critics and the larger public only in later years, but, at least commercially, the nonet was not a success. The liner notes of the first recordings of the Davis Quintet for Columbia Records call it one of the most spectacular failures of the jazz club scene. This was bitterly noted by Davis, who claimed the invention of the cool style and resented the success that was later enjoyed—in large part because of the media's attention—by white "cool jazz" musicians (Mulligan and Dave Brubeck in particular).
This experience also marked the beginning of the lifelong friendship between Davis and Gil Evans, an alliance that would bear important results in the years to follow.
The first half of the 1950s was, for Davis, a period of great personal difficulty. At the end of 1949, he went on tour in Paris with a group including Tadd Dameron, Kenny Clarke (who remained in Europe after the tour), and James Moody. Davis was fascinated by Paris and its cultural environment, where black jazz musicians, and African Americans in general, often felt better respected than they did in their homeland. While in Paris, Davis began a relationship with French actress and singer Juliette Greco.
Many of his new and old friends (Davis, in his autobiography, mentions Clarke) tried to persuade him to stay in France, but Davis decided to return to New York. Back in the States, he began to feel deeply depressed. The depression was due in part to his separation from Greco, in part to his feeling underappreciated by the critics (who were hailing Davis' former collaborators as leaders of the cool jazz movement), and in part to the unraveling of his liaison with a former St. Louis schoolmate who was living with him in New York and with whom he had two children.
These are the factors to which Davis traces a heroin habit that deeply affected him for the next four years. Though Davis denies it in his autobiography, it is also likely that the environment in which he was living played a role. Most of Davis' associates at the time, some of them perhaps in imitation of Charlie Parker, had drug addictions of their own (among them, sax players Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon, trumpeters Fats Navarro and Freddie Webster, and drummer Art Blakey). For the next four years, Davis supported his habit partly with his music and partly by living the life of a hustler. By 1953, his drug addiction was beginning to impair his ability to perform. Heroin had killed some of his friends (Navarro and Freddie Webster). He himself had been arrested for drug possession while on tour in Los Angeles, and his drug habit had been made public in a devastating interview that Cab Calloway gave to Down Beat.
Realizing his precarious condition, Davis tried several times to end his drug addiction, finally succeeding in 1954 after returning to his father's home in St. Louis for several months and literally locking himself in a room until he had gone through a painful withdrawal. During this period he avoided New York and played mostly in Detroit and other midwestern towns, where drugs were then harder to come by.
Despite all the personal turmoil, the 1950–54 period was actually quite fruitful for Davis artistically. He made quite a number of recordings and had several collaborations with other important musicians. He got to know the music of Chicago pianist Ahmad Jamal, whose elegant approach and use of space influenced him deeply. He also definitively severed his stylistic ties with bebop.
In 1951, Davis met Bob Weinstock, the owner of Prestige Records, and signed a contract with the label. Between 1951 and 1954, he released many records on Prestige, with several different combos. While the personnel of the recordings varied, the lineup often featured Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey. Davis was particularly fond of Rollins and tried several times, in the years that preceded his meeting with John Coltrane, to recruit him for a regular group. He never succeeded, however, mostly because Rollins was prone to make himself unavailable for months at a time. In spite of the casual occasions that generated these recordings, their quality is almost always quite high, and they document the evolution of Davis' style and sound. During this time he began using the Harmon mute, held close to the microphone, in a way that grew to be his signature, and his phrasing, especially in ballads, became spacious, melodic, and relaxed. This sound was to become so characteristic that the use of the Harmon mute by any jazz trumpet player since immediately conjures up Miles Davis.
The most important Prestige recordings of this period (Dig, Blue Haze, Bags' Groove, Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants, and Walkin') originated mostly from recording sessions in 1951 and 1954, after Davis' recovery from his addiction. Also of importance are his five Blue Note recordings, collected in the Miles Davis, Volume 1 album.
With these recordings, Davis assumed a central position in what is known as hard bop. In contrast with bebop, hard bop used slower tempos and a less radical approach to harmony and melody, often adopting popular tunes and standards from the American songbook as starting points for improvisation. Hard bop also distanced itself from cool jazz by virtue of a harder beat and by its constant reference to the blues, both in its traditional form and in the form made popular by rhythm and blues. A few critics go as far as to call Walkin' the album that created hard bop, but the point is debatable, given the number of musicians who were working along similar lines at the same time (and of course many of them recorded or played with Davis).
Also in this period Davis gained a reputation for being distant, cold, and withdrawn and for having a quick temper. Among the several factors that contributed to this reputation were his contempt for the critics and specialized press and some well-publicized confrontations with the public and with fellow musicians. (One occasion, in which he had a near fight with Thelonious Monk during the recording of Bags' Groove, received wide exposure in the specialized press.)
The "nocturnal" quality of Davis' playing and his somber reputation, along with his whispering voice, earned him the lasting moniker of "prince of darkness", adding a patina of mystery to his public persona.
Back in New York and in better health, in 1955 Davis attended the Newport Jazz Festival, where his performance (and especially his solo on "'Round Midnight") was greatly admired and prompted the critics to hail the "return of Miles Davis". At the same time, Davis recruited the players for a formation that became known as his "first great quintet": John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.
None of these musicians, with the exception of Davis, had received a great deal of exposure before that time; Chambers, in particular, was very young (19 at the time), a Detroit player who had been on the New York scene for only about a year, working with the bands of Bennie Green, Paul Quinichette, George Wallington, J. J. Johnson, and Kai Winding. Coltrane was little known at the time, in spite of earlier collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Johnny Hodges. Davis hired Coltrane as a replacement for Sonny Rollins, after unsuccessfully trying to recruit Cannonball Adderley.
The repertoire included many bebop mainstays, standards from the Great American Songbook and the pre-bop era, and some traditional tunes. The prevailing style of the group was a development of the Davis experience in the previous years—Davis playing long, legato, and essentially melodic lines, while Coltrane, who during these years emerged as a leading figure on the musical scene, contrasted by playing high-energy solos.
With the new formation also came a new recording contract. In Newport, Davis had met Columbia Records producer George Avakian, who persuaded him to sign with his label. The quintet made its debut on record with the extremely well received 'Round About Midnight. Before leaving Prestige, however, Davis had to fulfill his obligations during two days of recording sessions in 1956. Prestige released these recordings in the following years as four albums: Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, and Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. While the recording took place in a studio, each record of this series has the structure and feel of a live performance, with several first takes on each album. The records became almost instant classics and were instrumental in establishing Davis' quintet as one of the best on the jazz scene.
The quintet was disbanded for the first time in 1957, following a series of personal problems that Davis blames on the drug addiction of the other musicians. Davis played some gigs at the Cafe Bohemia with a short-lived formation that included Sonny Rollins and drummer Art Taylor, and then traveled to France, where he recorded the score to Louis Malle's film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. With the aid of French session musicians Barney Wilen, Pierre Michelot, and René Urtreger, and American drummer Kenny Clarke, he recorded the entire soundtrack with an innovative procedure, without relying on written material: starting from sparse indication of the harmony and a general feel of a given piece, the group played by watching the movie on a screen in front of them and improvising.
Returning to New York in 1958, Davis recruited alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Coltrane, who in the meantime had freed himself from his drug habits, was available after a highly fruitful experience with Thelonious Monk and was hired back, as was Philly Joe Jones. With the quintet re-formed as a sextet, Davis recorded Milestones, an album anticipating the new directions he was preparing to give to his music.
Almost immediately after the recording of Milestones, Davis fired Garland and, shortly afterward, Jones, again for behavioral problems; he replaced them with Bill Evans—a young white pianist with a strong classical background—and drummer Jimmy Cobb. With this revamped formation, Davis began a year during which the sextet performed and toured extensively and produced a record (1958 Miles, also known as 58 Sessions). Evans had a unique, impressionistic approach to the piano, and his musical ideas had a strong influence on Davis. But after only eight months on the road with the group, he was burned out and left. He was soon replaced by Wynton Kelly, a player who brought to the sextet a swinging, bluesy approach that contrasted with Evans' more delicate playing.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Davis recorded a series of albums with Gil Evans, often playing flugelhorn as well as trumpet. The first, Miles Ahead (1957), showcased his playing with a jazz big band and a horn section arranged by Evans. Songs included Dave Brubeck's "The Duke," as well as Léo Delibes's "The Maids of Cadiz," the first piece of European classical music Davis had recorded. Another distinctive feature of the album was the orchestral passages that Evans had devised as transitions between the different tracks, which were joined together with the innovative use of editing in the post-production phase, turning each side of the album into a seamless piece of music.
In 1958, Davis and Evans were back in the studio to record Porgy and Bess, an arrangement of pieces from George Gershwin's opera of the same name. The lineup included three members of the sextet: Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Davis called the album one of his favorites.
Sketches of Spain (1959–1960) featured songs by contemporary Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo and also Manuel de Falla, as well as Gil Evans originals with a Spanish flavor. Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (1961) includes Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, along with other compositions recorded in concert with an orchestra under Evans' direction.
Sessions with Davis and Evans in 1962 resulted in the album Quiet Nights, a short collection of bossa novas that was released against the wishes of both artists: Evans stated it was only half an album, and blamed the record company; Davis blamed producer Teo Macero, whom he didn't speak to for more than two years. This was the last time Evans and Davis made a full album together; despite the professional separation, however, Davis noted later that "my best friend is Gil Evans."
In March and April 1959, Davis re-entered the studio with his working sextet to record what is widely considered his magnum opus, Kind of Blue. He called back Bill Evans, months away from forming what would become his own seminal trio, for the album sessions, as the music had been planned around Evans' piano style. Both Davis and Evans were personally acquainted with the ideas of pianist George Russell regarding modal jazz, Davis from discussions with Russell and others before the Birth of the Cool sessions, and Evans from study with Russell in 1956. Davis, however, had neglected to inform current pianist Kelly of Evans' role in the recordings; Kelly subsequently played only on the track "Freddie Freeloader" and was not present at the April dates for the album. "So What" and "All Blues" had been played by the sextet at performances prior to the recording sessions, but for the other three compositions, Davis and Evans prepared skeletal harmonic frameworks that the other musicians saw for the first time on the day of recording, to allow a fresher approach to their improvisations. The resulting album has proven to be both highly popular and enormously influential. According to the RIAA, Kind of Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time, having been certified as quadruple platinum (4 million copies sold). In December 2009, the US House of Representatives voted 409–0 to pass a resolution honoring the album as a national treasure.
The trumpet Davis used on the recording is currently displayed in the music building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It was donated to the school by Arthur "Buddy" Gist, who met Davis in 1949 and became a close friend. The gift was the reason why the jazz program at UNCG is named the "Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program."
Later in 1959, while taking a break outside the famous Birdland nightclub in New York City, Davis along with others were told by a police officer to clear the side walk and subsequently didn't. The officer said that he would arrest Miles and reached for his cuffs when Miles leaned toward him (boxing style), the police officer fell backward with his cuffs falling. Seconds later a detective came up behind Miles and hit him on the head with a baton resulting in blood getting on his suit. Miles was then arrested, where in the station police harassed him by bumping into him on purpose. Davis attempted to pursue the case in the courts, before eventually dropping the proceedings in a plea bargain in order to recover his suspended Cabaret Card, enabling him to return to work in New York clubs.
Davis persuaded Coltrane to play with the group on one final European tour in the spring of 1960. Coltrane then departed to form his classic quartet, although he returned for some of the tracks on Davis' 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come. After Coltrane, Davis tried various saxophonists, including Jimmy Heath, Sonny Stitt, and Hank Mobley. The quintet with Hank Mobley was recorded in the studio and on several live engagements at Carnegie Hall and the Black Hawk jazz club in San Francisco. Stitt's playing with the group is found on a recording made in Olympia, Paris (where Davis and Coltrane had played a few months before) and the Live in Stockholm album.
In 1963, Davis' longtime rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb departed. He quickly got to work putting together a new group, including tenor saxophonist George Coleman and bassist Ron Carter. Davis, Coleman, Carter and a few other musicians recorded half the tracks for an album in the spring of 1963. A few weeks later, seventeen-year-old drummer Tony Williams and pianist Herbie Hancock joined the group, and soon afterward Davis, Coleman, and the new rhythm section recorded the rest of Seven Steps to Heaven.
The rhythm players melded together quickly as a section and with the horns. The group's rapid evolution can be traced through the Seven Steps to Heaven album, In Europe (July 1963), My Funny Valentine (February 1964), and Four and More (also February 1964). The quintet played essentially the same repertoire of bebop tunes and standards that earlier Davis bands had played, but they tackled them with increasing structural and rhythmic freedom and, in the case of the up-tempo material, breakneck speed.
Coleman left in the spring of 1964, to be replaced by avant-garde saxophonist Sam Rivers, on the suggestion of Tony Williams. Rivers remained in the group only briefly, but was recorded live with the quintet in Japan; this configuration can be heard on Miles in Tokyo! (July 1964).
By the end of the summer, Davis had persuaded Wayne Shorter to leave Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and join the quintet. Shorter became the group's principal composer, and some of his compositions of this era (including "Footprints" and "Nefertiti") have become standards. While on tour in Europe, the group quickly made their first official recording, Miles in Berlin (September 1964). On returning to the United States later that year, ever the musical entrepreneur, Davis (at Jackie DeShannon's urging) was instrumental in getting The Byrds signed to Columbia Records.
By the time of E.S.P. (1965), Davis' lineup consisted of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). The last of his acoustic bands, this group is often referred to as "the second great quintet."
A two-night Chicago performance in late 1965 is captured on The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, released in 1995. Unlike their studio albums, the live engagement shows the group still playing primarily standards and bebop tunes. It is reasonable to point out though, that whilst some of the titles remain the same as the tunes employed by the 1950s quintet, the speed and distance of departure from the framework of the standards bears no comparison. It could even be said that the listening experience to these standards as live performances is as much of a radical take on the jazz of the time as the new compositions of the studio albums listed below.
The recording of Live at the Plugged Nickel was not issued anywhere in the 1960s, first appearing as a Japan-only partial issue in the late 1970s, then as a double-LP in the USA and Europe in 1982. It was followed by a series of studio recordings: Miles Smiles (1966), Sorcerer (1967), Nefertiti (1967), Miles in the Sky (1968), and Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968). The quintet's approach to improvisation came to be known as "time no changes" or "freebop," because they abandoned the more conventional chord-change-based approach of bebop for a modal approach. Through Nefertiti, the studio recordings consisted primarily of originals composed by Shorter, with occasional compositions by the other sidemen. In 1967, the group began to play their live concerts in continuous sets, each tune flowing into the next, with only the melody indicating any sort of demarcation. Davis's bands would continue to perform in this way until his retirement in 1975.
Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjaro, on which electric bass, electric piano, and electric guitar were tentatively introduced on some tracks, pointed the way to the subsequent fusion phase of Davis' career. Davis also began experimenting with more rock-oriented rhythms on these records. By the time the second half of Filles de Kilimanjaro had been recorded, bassist Dave Holland and pianist Chick Corea had replaced Carter and Hancock in the working band, though both Carter and Hancock would occasionally contribute to future recording sessions. Davis soon began to take over the compositional duties of his sidemen.
Davis' influences included late-1960s acid rock and funk artists such as Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix, many of whom he met through Betty Mabry (later Betty Davis), a young model and songwriter Davis married in September 1968 and divorced a year later. The musical transition required that Davis and his band adapt to electric instruments in both live performances and the studio.
By the time In a Silent Way had been recorded in February 1969, Davis had augmented his quintet with additional players. At various times Hancock or Joe Zawinul was brought in to join Corea on electric keyboards, and guitarist John McLaughlin made the first of his many appearances with Davis. By this point, Shorter was also doubling on soprano saxophone. After recording this album, Williams left to form his group Lifetime and was replaced by Jack DeJohnette.
Six months later an even larger group of musicians, including Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and Bennie Maupin, recorded the double LP Bitches Brew, which became a huge seller, reaching gold status by 1976. This album and In a Silent Way were among the first fusions of jazz and rock that were commercially successful, building on the groundwork laid by Charles Lloyd, Larry Coryell, and others who pioneered a genre that would become known as "jazz-rock fusion".
During this period, Davis toured with Shorter, Corea, Holland, and DeJohnette. The group's repertoire included material from Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, and the 1960s quintet albums, along with an occasional standard.
In 1972, Davis was introduced to the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen by Paul Buckmaster, leading to a period of new creative exploration. Biographer J. K. Chambers wrote that "the effect of Davis' study of Stockhausen could not be repressed for long. . . . Davis' own 'space music' shows Stockhausen's influence compositionally." His recordings and performances during this period were described as "space music" by fans, by music critic Leonard Feather, and by Buckmaster, who described it as "a lot of mood changes—heavy, dark, intense—definitely space music."
Both Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way feature "extended" (more than 20 minutes each) compositions that were never actually "played straight through" by the musicians in the studio. Instead, Davis and producer Teo Macero selected musical motifs of various lengths from recorded extended improvisations and edited them together into a musical whole that exists only in the recorded version. Bitches Brew made use of such electronic effects as multi-tracking, tape loops, and other editing techniques. Both records, especially Bitches Brew, proved to be big sellers.
Starting with Bitches Brew, Davis' albums began to often feature cover art much more in line with psychedelic art or black power movements than that of his earlier albums. He took significant cuts in his usual performing fees in order to open for rock groups like the Steve Miller Band, the Grateful Dead, and Santana. Several live albums were recorded during the early 1970s at these performances: Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970) - It's About That Time, Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West, and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East.
By the time of Live-Evil in December 1970, Davis' ensemble had transformed into a much more funk-oriented group. Davis began experimenting with wah-wah effects on his horn. The ensemble with Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, and Michael Henderson, often referred to as the "Cellar Door band" (the live portions of Live-Evil were recorded at a Washington, DC, club by that name), never recorded in the studio, but is documented in the six-CD box set The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, which was recorded over four nights in December 1970.
In 1970, Davis contributed extensively to the soundtrack of a documentary about the African-American boxer heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Himself a devotee of boxing, Davis drew parallels between Johnson, whose career had been defined by the fruitless search for a Great White Hope to dethrone him, and Davis' own career, in which he felt the musical establishment of the time had prevented him from receiving the acclaim and rewards that were due him. The resulting album, 1971's A Tribute to Jack Johnson, contained two long pieces that featured musicians (some of whom were not credited on the record) including guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, Herbie Hancock on a Farfisa organ, and drummer Billy Cobham. McLaughlin and Cobham went on to become founding members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971.
As Davis stated in his autobiography, he wanted to make music for the young African-American audience. On the Corner (1972) blended funk elements with the traditional jazz styles he had played his entire career. The album was highlighted by the appearance of saxophonist Carlos Garnett. Critics were not kind to the album; in his autobiography, Davis stated that critics could not figure out how to categorize it, and he complained that the album was not promoted by the "traditional" jazz radio stations.
After recording On the Corner, Davis put together a new group, with only Michael Henderson, Carlos Garnett, and percussionist Mtume returning from the previous band. It included guitarist Reggie Lucas, tabla player Badal Roy, sitarist Khalil Balakrishna, and drummer Al Foster. It was unusual in that none of the sidemen were major jazz instrumentalists; as a result, the music emphasized rhythmic density and shifting textures instead of individual solos. This group, which recorded in the Philharmonic Hall for the album In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall (1972), was unsatisfactory to Davis. Through the first half of 1973, he dropped the tabla and sitar, took over keyboard duties, and added guitarist Pete Cosey. The Davis/Cosey/Lucas/Henderson/Mtume/Foster ensemble would remain virtually intact over the next two years. Initially, Dave Liebman played saxophones and flute with the band; in 1974, he was replaced by Sonny Fortune.
Big Fun (1974) was a double album containing four long improvisations, recorded between 1969 and 1972. Similarly, Get Up With It (1974) collected recordings from the previous five years. Get Up With It included "He Loved Him Madly", a tribute to Duke Ellington, as well as one of Davis' most lauded pieces from this era, "Calypso Frelimo". It was his last studio album of the 1970s.
In 1974 and 1975, Columbia recorded three double-LP live Davis albums: Dark Magus, Agharta, and Pangaea. Dark Magus captures a 1974 New York concert; the latter two are recordings of consecutive concerts from the same February 1975 day in Osaka. At the time, only Agharta was available in the US; Pangaea and Dark Magus were initially released only by CBS/Sony Japan. All three feature at least two electric guitarists (Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey, deploying an array of Hendrix-inspired electronic distortion devices; Dominique Gaumont is a third guitarist on Dark Magus), electric bass, drums, reeds, and Davis on electric trumpet and organ. These albums were the last he was to record for five years. Davis was troubled by osteoarthritis (which led to a hip replacement operation in 1976, the first of several), sickle-cell anemia, depression, bursitis, ulcers, and a renewed dependence on alcohol and drugs (primarily cocaine), and his performances were routinely panned by critics throughout late 1974 and early 1975. By the time the group reached Japan in February 1975, Davis was nearing a physical breakdown and required copious amounts of alcohol and narcotics to make it through his engagements. Nonetheless, as noted by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, during these concerts his trumpet playing "is of the highest and most adventurous order."
After a Newport Jazz Festival performance at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on July 1, 1975, Davis withdrew almost completely from the public eye for six years. As Gil Evans said, "His organism is tired. And after all the music he's contributed for 35 years, he needs a rest."
Davis characterized this period in his memoirs as a colorful time when wealthy women lavished him with sex and drugs. In reality, he had become completely dependent on various drugs, spending nearly all of his time propped up on a couch in his apartment watching television, leaving only to find more drugs. In 1976, Rolling Stone reported rumors of his imminent demise. Although he stopped practicing trumpet on a regular basis, Davis continued to compose intermittently and made three attempts at recording during his exile from performing; these sessions (one with the assistance of Paul Buckmaster and Gil Evans, who left after not receiving promised compensation) bore little fruit and remain unreleased.
In 1979, he placed in the yearly top-ten trumpeter poll of Down Beat. Columbia continued to issue compilation albums and records of unreleased vault material to fulfill contractual obligations.
During his period of inactivity, Davis saw the fusion music that he had spearheaded over the past decade enter into the mainstream. When he emerged from retirement, Davis' musical descendants would be in the realm of New Wave rock, and in particular the styling of Prince.
By 1979, Davis had rekindled his relationship with actress Cicely Tyson. With Tyson, Davis would overcome his cocaine addiction and regain his enthusiasm for music. As he had not played trumpet for the better part of three years, regaining his famed embouchure proved to be particularly arduous. While recording The Man with the Horn (sessions were spread sporadically over 1979–1981), Davis played mostly wahwah with a younger, larger band.
The initial large band was eventually abandoned in favor of a smaller combo featuring saxophonist Bill Evans and bass player Marcus Miller, both of whom would be among Davis' most regular collaborators throughout the decade. He married Tyson in 1981; they would divorce in 1988. The Man with the Horn was finally released in 1981 and received a poor critical reception despite selling fairly well. In May, the new band played two dates as part of the Newport Jazz Festival. The concerts, as well as the live recording We Want Miles from the ensuing tour, received positive reviews.
By late 1982, Davis' band included French percussionist Mino Cinelu and guitarist John Scofield, with whom he worked closely on the album Star People. In mid-1983, while working on the tracks for Decoy, an album mixing soul music and electronica that was released in 1984, Davis brought in producer, composer and keyboardist Robert Irving III, who had earlier collaborated with him on The Man with the Horn. With a seven-piece band, including Scofield, Evans, keyboardist and music director Irving, drummer Al Foster and bassist Darryl Jones (later of The Rolling Stones), Davis played a series of European gigs to positive receptions. While in Europe, he took part in the recording of Aura, an orchestral tribute to Davis composed by Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg. You're Under Arrest, Davis' next album, was released in 1985 and included another brief stylistic detour. Included on the album were his interpretations of Cyndi Lauper's ballad "Time After Time," and "Human Nature" from Michael Jackson. Davis considered releasing an entire album of pop songs and recorded dozens of them, but the idea was scrapped. Davis noted that many of today's accepted jazz standards were in fact pop songs from Broadway theater, and that he was simply updating the "standards" repertoire with new material.
You're Under Arrest also proved to be Davis' final album for Columbia. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis publicly dismissed Davis' more recent fusion recordings as not being "'true' jazz", comments Davis initially shrugged off, calling Marsalis "a nice young man, only confused". This changed after Marsalis appeared, unannounced, onstage in the midst of a Davis performance. Marsalis whispered into Davis' ear that "someone" had told him to do so; Davis responded by ordering him off the stage.
Davis grew irritated at Columbia's delay releasing Aura. The breaking point in the label-artist relationship appears to have come when a Columbia jazz producer requested Davis place a goodwill birthday call to Marsalis. Davis signed with Warner Brothers shortly thereafter.
Davis collaborated with a number of figures from the British new wave movement during this period, including Scritti Politti. At the invitation of producer Bill Laswell, Davis recorded some trumpet parts during sessions for Public Image Ltd's Album, according to Public Image's John Lydon in the liner notes of their Plastic Box box set. In Lydon's words, however, "strangely enough, we didn't use (his contributions)." (Also according to Lydon in the Plastic Box notes, Davis favorably compared Lydon's singing voice to his trumpet sound.)
Having first taken part in the Artists United Against Apartheid recording, Davis signed with Warner Brothers records and reunited with Marcus Miller. The resulting record, Tutu (1986), would be his first to use modern studio tools — programmed synthesizers, samples and drum loops — to create an entirely new setting for Davis' playing. Ecstatically reviewed on its release, the album would frequently be described as the modern counterpart of Sketches of Spain and won a Grammy in 1987.
He followed Tutu with Amandla, another collaboration with Miller and George Duke, plus the soundtracks to four movies: Street Smart, Siesta, The Hot Spot, and Dingo. He continued to tour with a band of constantly rotating personnel and a critical stock at a level higher than it had been for 15 years. His last recordings, both released posthumously, were the hip hop-influenced studio album Doo-Bop and Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux, a collaboration with Quincy Jones for the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival in which Davis performed the repertoire from his 1940s and 1950s recordings for the first time in decades.
In 1988 he had a small part as a street musician in the film Scrooged, starring Bill Murray. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. In 1989, Miles was interviewed on the television show '60 minutes' by Harry Reasoner.
In early 1991, he appeared in the Rolf de Heer film Dingo as a jazz musician. In the film's opening sequence, Davis and his band unexpectedly land on a remote airstrip in the Australian outback and proceed to perform for the stunned locals. The performance was one of Davis' last on film.
Miles Davis died on September 28, 1991 from a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.
Miles Davis is regarded as one of the most innovative, influential and respected figures in the history of jazz music. He has been described as “one of the great innovators in jazz”. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll noted "Miles Davis played a crucial and inevitably controversial role in every major development in jazz since the mid-'40s, and no other jazz musician has had so profound an effect on rock. Miles Davis was the most widely recognized jazz musician of his era, an outspoken social critic and an arbiter of style - in attitude and fashion - as well as music". His album Kind of Blue is the best-selling album in the history of jazz music and was praised by the United States House of Representatives to "pass a symbolic resolution honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure."
As an innovative bandleader and composer, Miles Davis has influenced many notable musicians and bands from diverse genres. These include Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin, Tangerine Dream, Brand X, Mtume, Benny Bailey, Joe Bonner, Don Cherry, Urszula Dudziak, Bill Evans, Bill Hardman, The Lounge Lizards, Hugh Masekela , John McLaughlin, King Crimson, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Lydia Lunch, Talk Talk, Michael Franks, Sting, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jiří Stivín, Tim Hagans, Julie Christensen, Vassar Clements, Snooky Young, Prince and Christian Scott.
Miles' influence on the people who played with him has been described by music writer and author Christopher Smith as follows:
Miles Davis' artistic interest was in the creation and manipulation of ritual space, in which gestures could be endowed with symbolic power sufficient to form a functional communicative, and hence musical, vocabulary. [...] Miles' performance tradition emphasized orality and the transmission of information and artistic insight from individual to individual. His position in that tradition, and his personality, talents, and artistic interests, impelled him to pursue a uniquely individual solution to the problems and the experiential possibilities of improvised performance.
His approach, owing largely to the African American performance tradition that focused on individual expression, emphatic interaction, and creative response to shifting contents, had a profound impact on generations of jazz musicians.
In 1986, the New England Conservatory awarded Miles Davis an Honorary Doctorate for his extraordinary contributions to music. Since 1960 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) has honored him with eight Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.
Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. Many well-known musicians rose to prominence as members of Davis' ensembles, including saxophonists Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, George Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Branford Marsalis and Kenny Garrett; trombonist J. J. Johnson; pianists Horace Silver, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett; guitarists John McLaughlin, John Scofield and Mike Stern; bassists Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Marcus Miller and Darryl Jones, ; and drummers Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, and Al Foster.
Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926, to a relatively affluent family in Alton, Illinois. His father, Dr. Miles Henry Davis, was a dentist. In 1927 the family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois. They also owned a substantial ranch in northern Arkansas, where Davis learned to ride horses as a boy.
Davis' mother, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, wanted her son to learn the piano; she was a capable blues pianist but kept this fact hidden from her son. His musical studies began at 13, when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged lessons with local musician Elwood Buchanan. Davis later suggested that his father's instrument choice was made largely to irk his wife, who disliked the trumpet's sound. Against the fashion of the time, Buchanan stressed the importance of playing without vibrato; he was reported to have slapped Davis' knuckles every time he started using heavy vibrato. Davis would carry his clear signature tone throughout his career. He once remarked on its importance to him, saying, "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything." Clark Terry was another important early influence.
By age 16, Davis was a member of the music society and playing professionally when not at school. At 17, he spent a year playing in Eddie Randle's band, the Blue Devils. During this time, Sonny Stitt tried to persuade him to join the Tiny Bradshaw band, then passing through town, but Davis' mother insisted that he finish his final year of high school.
In 1944, the Billy Eckstine band visited East St. Louis. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were members of the band, and Davis was brought in on third trumpet for a couple of weeks because the regular player, Buddy Anderson, was out sick. Even after this experience, once Eckstine's band left town, Davis' parents were still keen for him to continue formal academic studies.
In the fall of 1944, following graduation from high school, Davis moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School of Music.
Upon arriving in New York, he spent most of his first weeks in town trying to get in contact with Charlie Parker, despite being advised against doing so by several people he met during his quest, including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Finally locating his idol, Davis became one of the cadre of musicians who held nightly jam sessions at two of Harlem's nightclubs, Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's. The group included many of the future leaders of the bebop revolution: young players such as Fats Navarro, Freddie Webster, and J. J. Johnson. Established musicians including Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke were also regular participants.
Davis dropped out of Juilliard, after asking permission from his father. In his autobiography, Davis criticized the Juilliard classes for centering too much on the classical European and "white" repertoire. However, he also acknowledged that Juilliard helped give him a grounding in music theory that would prove valuable in later years.
Davis began playing professionally, performing in several 52nd Street clubs with Coleman Hawkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. In 1945, he entered a recording studio for the first time, as a member of Herbie Fields's group. This was the first of many recordings to which Davis contributed in this period, mostly as a sideman. He finally got the chance to record as a leader in 1946, with an occasional group called the Miles Davis Sextet plus Earl Coleman and Ann Hathaway—one of the rare occasions when Davis, by then a member of the groundbreaking Charlie Parker Quintet, can be heard accompanying singers. In these early years, recording sessions where Davis was the leader were the exception rather than the rule; his next date as leader would not come until 1947.
Around 1945, Dizzy Gillespie parted ways with Parker, and Davis was hired as Gillespie's replacement in his quintet, which also featured Max Roach on drums, Al Haig (replaced later by Sir Charles Thompson and Duke Jordan) on piano, and Curley Russell (later replaced by Tommy Potter and Leonard Gaskin) on bass.
With Parker's quintet, Davis went into the studio several times, already showing hints of the style for which he would become known. On an oft-quoted take of Parker's signature song, "Now's the Time", Davis takes a melodic solo, whose unbop-like quality anticipates the "cool jazz" period that would follow. The Parker quintet also toured widely. During a stop in Los Angeles, Parker had a nervous breakdown that landed him in the Camarillo State Mental Hospital for several months, and Davis found himself stranded. He roomed and collaborated for some time with bassist Charles Mingus, before getting a job on Billy Eckstine's California tour, which eventually brought him back to New York. In 1948, Parker returned to New York, and Davis rejoined his group.
The relationships within the quintet, however, were growing tense. Parker's erratic behavior (attributable to his well-known drug addiction) and artistic choices (both Davis and Roach objected to having Duke Jordan as a pianist and would have preferred Bud Powell) became sources of friction. In December 1948, disputes over money (Davis claims he was not being paid) began to strain their relationship even further. Davis finally left the group following a confrontation with Parker at the Royal Roost.
For Davis, his departure from Parker's group marked the beginning of a period in which he worked mainly as a freelancer and as a sideman in some of the most important combos on the New York jazz scene.
In 1948 Davis grew close to the Canadian composer and arranger Gil Evans. Evans' house had become the meeting place for several young musicians and composers (including Davis, Roach, pianist John Lewis, and baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan) unhappy with the increasingly virtuoso instrumentalism that dominated the bebop scene of the time. Evans had been the arranger for the Claude Thornhill orchestra, and it was the sound of this group, as well as Duke Ellington's example, that suggested the creation of an unusual line-up: a nonet including a French horn and a tuba (this accounts for the "tuba band" moniker that was to be associated with the combo).
Davis took an active role in the project, so much so that it soon became "his project". The objective was to achieve a sound similar to the human voice, through carefully arranged compositions and by emphasizing a relaxed, melodic approach to the improvisations.
The nonet debuted in the summer of 1948, with a two-week engagement at the Royal Roost. The sign announcing the performance gave a surprising prominence to the role of the arrangers: "Miles Davis Nonet. Arrangements by Gil Evans, John Lewis and Gerry Mulligan". It was, in fact, so unusual that Davis had to persuade the Roost's manager, Ralph Watkins, to allow the sign to be worded in this way; he prevailed only with the help of Monte Kay, the club's artistic director.
The nonet was active until the end of 1949, along the way undergoing several changes in personnel: Roach and Davis were constantly featured, along with Mulligan, tuba player Bill Barber, and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who had been preferred to Sonny Stitt (whose playing was considered too bop-oriented). Over the months, John Lewis alternated with Al Haig on piano, Mike Zwerin with Kai Winding on trombone (Johnson was touring at the time), Junior Collins with Sandy Siegelstein and Gunther Schuller on French horn, and Al McKibbon with Joe Shulman on bass. Singer Kenny Hagood was added for one track during the recording sessions.
The presence of white musicians in the group angered some African American jazz players, many of whom were unemployed at the time, but Davis rebuffed their criticisms.
A contract with Capitol Records granted the nonet several recording sessions between January 1949 and April 1950. The material they recorded was released in 1956 on an album whose title, Birth of the Cool, gave its name to the "cool jazz" movement that developed at the same time and partly shared the musical direction begun by Davis' group.
For his part, Davis was fully aware of the importance of the project, which he pursued to the point of turning down a job with Duke Ellington's orchestra.
The importance of the nonet experience would become clear to critics and the larger public only in later years, but, at least commercially, the nonet was not a success. The liner notes of the first recordings of the Davis Quintet for Columbia Records call it one of the most spectacular failures of the jazz club scene. This was bitterly noted by Davis, who claimed the invention of the cool style and resented the success that was later enjoyed—in large part because of the media's attention—by white "cool jazz" musicians (Mulligan and Dave Brubeck in particular).
This experience also marked the beginning of the lifelong friendship between Davis and Gil Evans, an alliance that would bear important results in the years to follow.
The first half of the 1950s was, for Davis, a period of great personal difficulty. At the end of 1949, he went on tour in Paris with a group including Tadd Dameron, Kenny Clarke (who remained in Europe after the tour), and James Moody. Davis was fascinated by Paris and its cultural environment, where black jazz musicians, and African Americans in general, often felt better respected than they did in their homeland. While in Paris, Davis began a relationship with French actress and singer Juliette Greco.
Many of his new and old friends (Davis, in his autobiography, mentions Clarke) tried to persuade him to stay in France, but Davis decided to return to New York. Back in the States, he began to feel deeply depressed. The depression was due in part to his separation from Greco, in part to his feeling underappreciated by the critics (who were hailing Davis' former collaborators as leaders of the cool jazz movement), and in part to the unraveling of his liaison with a former St. Louis schoolmate who was living with him in New York and with whom he had two children.
These are the factors to which Davis traces a heroin habit that deeply affected him for the next four years. Though Davis denies it in his autobiography, it is also likely that the environment in which he was living played a role. Most of Davis' associates at the time, some of them perhaps in imitation of Charlie Parker, had drug addictions of their own (among them, sax players Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon, trumpeters Fats Navarro and Freddie Webster, and drummer Art Blakey). For the next four years, Davis supported his habit partly with his music and partly by living the life of a hustler. By 1953, his drug addiction was beginning to impair his ability to perform. Heroin had killed some of his friends (Navarro and Freddie Webster). He himself had been arrested for drug possession while on tour in Los Angeles, and his drug habit had been made public in a devastating interview that Cab Calloway gave to Down Beat.
Realizing his precarious condition, Davis tried several times to end his drug addiction, finally succeeding in 1954 after returning to his father's home in St. Louis for several months and literally locking himself in a room until he had gone through a painful withdrawal. During this period he avoided New York and played mostly in Detroit and other midwestern towns, where drugs were then harder to come by.
Despite all the personal turmoil, the 1950–54 period was actually quite fruitful for Davis artistically. He made quite a number of recordings and had several collaborations with other important musicians. He got to know the music of Chicago pianist Ahmad Jamal, whose elegant approach and use of space influenced him deeply. He also definitively severed his stylistic ties with bebop.
In 1951, Davis met Bob Weinstock, the owner of Prestige Records, and signed a contract with the label. Between 1951 and 1954, he released many records on Prestige, with several different combos. While the personnel of the recordings varied, the lineup often featured Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey. Davis was particularly fond of Rollins and tried several times, in the years that preceded his meeting with John Coltrane, to recruit him for a regular group. He never succeeded, however, mostly because Rollins was prone to make himself unavailable for months at a time. In spite of the casual occasions that generated these recordings, their quality is almost always quite high, and they document the evolution of Davis' style and sound. During this time he began using the Harmon mute, held close to the microphone, in a way that grew to be his signature, and his phrasing, especially in ballads, became spacious, melodic, and relaxed. This sound was to become so characteristic that the use of the Harmon mute by any jazz trumpet player since immediately conjures up Miles Davis.
The most important Prestige recordings of this period (Dig, Blue Haze, Bags' Groove, Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants, and Walkin') originated mostly from recording sessions in 1951 and 1954, after Davis' recovery from his addiction. Also of importance are his five Blue Note recordings, collected in the Miles Davis, Volume 1 album.
With these recordings, Davis assumed a central position in what is known as hard bop. In contrast with bebop, hard bop used slower tempos and a less radical approach to harmony and melody, often adopting popular tunes and standards from the American songbook as starting points for improvisation. Hard bop also distanced itself from cool jazz by virtue of a harder beat and by its constant reference to the blues, both in its traditional form and in the form made popular by rhythm and blues. A few critics go as far as to call Walkin' the album that created hard bop, but the point is debatable, given the number of musicians who were working along similar lines at the same time (and of course many of them recorded or played with Davis).
Also in this period Davis gained a reputation for being distant, cold, and withdrawn and for having a quick temper. Among the several factors that contributed to this reputation were his contempt for the critics and specialized press and some well-publicized confrontations with the public and with fellow musicians. (One occasion, in which he had a near fight with Thelonious Monk during the recording of Bags' Groove, received wide exposure in the specialized press.)
The "nocturnal" quality of Davis' playing and his somber reputation, along with his whispering voice, earned him the lasting moniker of "prince of darkness", adding a patina of mystery to his public persona.
Back in New York and in better health, in 1955 Davis attended the Newport Jazz Festival, where his performance (and especially his solo on "'Round Midnight") was greatly admired and prompted the critics to hail the "return of Miles Davis". At the same time, Davis recruited the players for a formation that became known as his "first great quintet": John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.
None of these musicians, with the exception of Davis, had received a great deal of exposure before that time; Chambers, in particular, was very young (19 at the time), a Detroit player who had been on the New York scene for only about a year, working with the bands of Bennie Green, Paul Quinichette, George Wallington, J. J. Johnson, and Kai Winding. Coltrane was little known at the time, in spite of earlier collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Johnny Hodges. Davis hired Coltrane as a replacement for Sonny Rollins, after unsuccessfully trying to recruit Cannonball Adderley.
The repertoire included many bebop mainstays, standards from the Great American Songbook and the pre-bop era, and some traditional tunes. The prevailing style of the group was a development of the Davis experience in the previous years—Davis playing long, legato, and essentially melodic lines, while Coltrane, who during these years emerged as a leading figure on the musical scene, contrasted by playing high-energy solos.
With the new formation also came a new recording contract. In Newport, Davis had met Columbia Records producer George Avakian, who persuaded him to sign with his label. The quintet made its debut on record with the extremely well received 'Round About Midnight. Before leaving Prestige, however, Davis had to fulfill his obligations during two days of recording sessions in 1956. Prestige released these recordings in the following years as four albums: Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, and Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. While the recording took place in a studio, each record of this series has the structure and feel of a live performance, with several first takes on each album. The records became almost instant classics and were instrumental in establishing Davis' quintet as one of the best on the jazz scene.
The quintet was disbanded for the first time in 1957, following a series of personal problems that Davis blames on the drug addiction of the other musicians. Davis played some gigs at the Cafe Bohemia with a short-lived formation that included Sonny Rollins and drummer Art Taylor, and then traveled to France, where he recorded the score to Louis Malle's film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. With the aid of French session musicians Barney Wilen, Pierre Michelot, and René Urtreger, and American drummer Kenny Clarke, he recorded the entire soundtrack with an innovative procedure, without relying on written material: starting from sparse indication of the harmony and a general feel of a given piece, the group played by watching the movie on a screen in front of them and improvising.
Returning to New York in 1958, Davis recruited alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Coltrane, who in the meantime had freed himself from his drug habits, was available after a highly fruitful experience with Thelonious Monk and was hired back, as was Philly Joe Jones. With the quintet re-formed as a sextet, Davis recorded Milestones, an album anticipating the new directions he was preparing to give to his music.
Almost immediately after the recording of Milestones, Davis fired Garland and, shortly afterward, Jones, again for behavioral problems; he replaced them with Bill Evans—a young white pianist with a strong classical background—and drummer Jimmy Cobb. With this revamped formation, Davis began a year during which the sextet performed and toured extensively and produced a record (1958 Miles, also known as 58 Sessions). Evans had a unique, impressionistic approach to the piano, and his musical ideas had a strong influence on Davis. But after only eight months on the road with the group, he was burned out and left. He was soon replaced by Wynton Kelly, a player who brought to the sextet a swinging, bluesy approach that contrasted with Evans' more delicate playing.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Davis recorded a series of albums with Gil Evans, often playing flugelhorn as well as trumpet. The first, Miles Ahead (1957), showcased his playing with a jazz big band and a horn section arranged by Evans. Songs included Dave Brubeck's "The Duke," as well as Léo Delibes's "The Maids of Cadiz," the first piece of European classical music Davis had recorded. Another distinctive feature of the album was the orchestral passages that Evans had devised as transitions between the different tracks, which were joined together with the innovative use of editing in the post-production phase, turning each side of the album into a seamless piece of music.
In 1958, Davis and Evans were back in the studio to record Porgy and Bess, an arrangement of pieces from George Gershwin's opera of the same name. The lineup included three members of the sextet: Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Davis called the album one of his favorites.
Sketches of Spain (1959–1960) featured songs by contemporary Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo and also Manuel de Falla, as well as Gil Evans originals with a Spanish flavor. Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (1961) includes Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, along with other compositions recorded in concert with an orchestra under Evans' direction.
Sessions with Davis and Evans in 1962 resulted in the album Quiet Nights, a short collection of bossa novas that was released against the wishes of both artists: Evans stated it was only half an album, and blamed the record company; Davis blamed producer Teo Macero, whom he didn't speak to for more than two years. This was the last time Evans and Davis made a full album together; despite the professional separation, however, Davis noted later that "my best friend is Gil Evans."
In March and April 1959, Davis re-entered the studio with his working sextet to record what is widely considered his magnum opus, Kind of Blue. He called back Bill Evans, months away from forming what would become his own seminal trio, for the album sessions, as the music had been planned around Evans' piano style. Both Davis and Evans were personally acquainted with the ideas of pianist George Russell regarding modal jazz, Davis from discussions with Russell and others before the Birth of the Cool sessions, and Evans from study with Russell in 1956. Davis, however, had neglected to inform current pianist Kelly of Evans' role in the recordings; Kelly subsequently played only on the track "Freddie Freeloader" and was not present at the April dates for the album. "So What" and "All Blues" had been played by the sextet at performances prior to the recording sessions, but for the other three compositions, Davis and Evans prepared skeletal harmonic frameworks that the other musicians saw for the first time on the day of recording, to allow a fresher approach to their improvisations. The resulting album has proven to be both highly popular and enormously influential. According to the RIAA, Kind of Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time, having been certified as quadruple platinum (4 million copies sold). In December 2009, the US House of Representatives voted 409–0 to pass a resolution honoring the album as a national treasure.
The trumpet Davis used on the recording is currently displayed in the music building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It was donated to the school by Arthur "Buddy" Gist, who met Davis in 1949 and became a close friend. The gift was the reason why the jazz program at UNCG is named the "Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program."
Later in 1959, while taking a break outside the famous Birdland nightclub in New York City, Davis along with others were told by a police officer to clear the side walk and subsequently didn't. The officer said that he would arrest Miles and reached for his cuffs when Miles leaned toward him (boxing style), the police officer fell backward with his cuffs falling. Seconds later a detective came up behind Miles and hit him on the head with a baton resulting in blood getting on his suit. Miles was then arrested, where in the station police harassed him by bumping into him on purpose. Davis attempted to pursue the case in the courts, before eventually dropping the proceedings in a plea bargain in order to recover his suspended Cabaret Card, enabling him to return to work in New York clubs.
Davis persuaded Coltrane to play with the group on one final European tour in the spring of 1960. Coltrane then departed to form his classic quartet, although he returned for some of the tracks on Davis' 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come. After Coltrane, Davis tried various saxophonists, including Jimmy Heath, Sonny Stitt, and Hank Mobley. The quintet with Hank Mobley was recorded in the studio and on several live engagements at Carnegie Hall and the Black Hawk jazz club in San Francisco. Stitt's playing with the group is found on a recording made in Olympia, Paris (where Davis and Coltrane had played a few months before) and the Live in Stockholm album.
In 1963, Davis' longtime rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb departed. He quickly got to work putting together a new group, including tenor saxophonist George Coleman and bassist Ron Carter. Davis, Coleman, Carter and a few other musicians recorded half the tracks for an album in the spring of 1963. A few weeks later, seventeen-year-old drummer Tony Williams and pianist Herbie Hancock joined the group, and soon afterward Davis, Coleman, and the new rhythm section recorded the rest of Seven Steps to Heaven.
The rhythm players melded together quickly as a section and with the horns. The group's rapid evolution can be traced through the Seven Steps to Heaven album, In Europe (July 1963), My Funny Valentine (February 1964), and Four and More (also February 1964). The quintet played essentially the same repertoire of bebop tunes and standards that earlier Davis bands had played, but they tackled them with increasing structural and rhythmic freedom and, in the case of the up-tempo material, breakneck speed.
Coleman left in the spring of 1964, to be replaced by avant-garde saxophonist Sam Rivers, on the suggestion of Tony Williams. Rivers remained in the group only briefly, but was recorded live with the quintet in Japan; this configuration can be heard on Miles in Tokyo! (July 1964).
By the end of the summer, Davis had persuaded Wayne Shorter to leave Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and join the quintet. Shorter became the group's principal composer, and some of his compositions of this era (including "Footprints" and "Nefertiti") have become standards. While on tour in Europe, the group quickly made their first official recording, Miles in Berlin (September 1964). On returning to the United States later that year, ever the musical entrepreneur, Davis (at Jackie DeShannon's urging) was instrumental in getting The Byrds signed to Columbia Records.
By the time of E.S.P. (1965), Davis' lineup consisted of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). The last of his acoustic bands, this group is often referred to as "the second great quintet."
A two-night Chicago performance in late 1965 is captured on The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, released in 1995. Unlike their studio albums, the live engagement shows the group still playing primarily standards and bebop tunes. It is reasonable to point out though, that whilst some of the titles remain the same as the tunes employed by the 1950s quintet, the speed and distance of departure from the framework of the standards bears no comparison. It could even be said that the listening experience to these standards as live performances is as much of a radical take on the jazz of the time as the new compositions of the studio albums listed below.
The recording of Live at the Plugged Nickel was not issued anywhere in the 1960s, first appearing as a Japan-only partial issue in the late 1970s, then as a double-LP in the USA and Europe in 1982. It was followed by a series of studio recordings: Miles Smiles (1966), Sorcerer (1967), Nefertiti (1967), Miles in the Sky (1968), and Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968). The quintet's approach to improvisation came to be known as "time no changes" or "freebop," because they abandoned the more conventional chord-change-based approach of bebop for a modal approach. Through Nefertiti, the studio recordings consisted primarily of originals composed by Shorter, with occasional compositions by the other sidemen. In 1967, the group began to play their live concerts in continuous sets, each tune flowing into the next, with only the melody indicating any sort of demarcation. Davis's bands would continue to perform in this way until his retirement in 1975.
Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjaro, on which electric bass, electric piano, and electric guitar were tentatively introduced on some tracks, pointed the way to the subsequent fusion phase of Davis' career. Davis also began experimenting with more rock-oriented rhythms on these records. By the time the second half of Filles de Kilimanjaro had been recorded, bassist Dave Holland and pianist Chick Corea had replaced Carter and Hancock in the working band, though both Carter and Hancock would occasionally contribute to future recording sessions. Davis soon began to take over the compositional duties of his sidemen.
Davis' influences included late-1960s acid rock and funk artists such as Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix, many of whom he met through Betty Mabry (later Betty Davis), a young model and songwriter Davis married in September 1968 and divorced a year later. The musical transition required that Davis and his band adapt to electric instruments in both live performances and the studio.
By the time In a Silent Way had been recorded in February 1969, Davis had augmented his quintet with additional players. At various times Hancock or Joe Zawinul was brought in to join Corea on electric keyboards, and guitarist John McLaughlin made the first of his many appearances with Davis. By this point, Shorter was also doubling on soprano saxophone. After recording this album, Williams left to form his group Lifetime and was replaced by Jack DeJohnette.
Six months later an even larger group of musicians, including Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and Bennie Maupin, recorded the double LP Bitches Brew, which became a huge seller, reaching gold status by 1976. This album and In a Silent Way were among the first fusions of jazz and rock that were commercially successful, building on the groundwork laid by Charles Lloyd, Larry Coryell, and others who pioneered a genre that would become known as "jazz-rock fusion".
During this period, Davis toured with Shorter, Corea, Holland, and DeJohnette. The group's repertoire included material from Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, and the 1960s quintet albums, along with an occasional standard.
In 1972, Davis was introduced to the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen by Paul Buckmaster, leading to a period of new creative exploration. Biographer J. K. Chambers wrote that "the effect of Davis' study of Stockhausen could not be repressed for long. . . . Davis' own 'space music' shows Stockhausen's influence compositionally." His recordings and performances during this period were described as "space music" by fans, by music critic Leonard Feather, and by Buckmaster, who described it as "a lot of mood changes—heavy, dark, intense—definitely space music."
Both Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way feature "extended" (more than 20 minutes each) compositions that were never actually "played straight through" by the musicians in the studio. Instead, Davis and producer Teo Macero selected musical motifs of various lengths from recorded extended improvisations and edited them together into a musical whole that exists only in the recorded version. Bitches Brew made use of such electronic effects as multi-tracking, tape loops, and other editing techniques. Both records, especially Bitches Brew, proved to be big sellers.
Starting with Bitches Brew, Davis' albums began to often feature cover art much more in line with psychedelic art or black power movements than that of his earlier albums. He took significant cuts in his usual performing fees in order to open for rock groups like the Steve Miller Band, the Grateful Dead, and Santana. Several live albums were recorded during the early 1970s at these performances: Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970) - It's About That Time, Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West, and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East.
By the time of Live-Evil in December 1970, Davis' ensemble had transformed into a much more funk-oriented group. Davis began experimenting with wah-wah effects on his horn. The ensemble with Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, and Michael Henderson, often referred to as the "Cellar Door band" (the live portions of Live-Evil were recorded at a Washington, DC, club by that name), never recorded in the studio, but is documented in the six-CD box set The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, which was recorded over four nights in December 1970.
In 1970, Davis contributed extensively to the soundtrack of a documentary about the African-American boxer heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Himself a devotee of boxing, Davis drew parallels between Johnson, whose career had been defined by the fruitless search for a Great White Hope to dethrone him, and Davis' own career, in which he felt the musical establishment of the time had prevented him from receiving the acclaim and rewards that were due him. The resulting album, 1971's A Tribute to Jack Johnson, contained two long pieces that featured musicians (some of whom were not credited on the record) including guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, Herbie Hancock on a Farfisa organ, and drummer Billy Cobham. McLaughlin and Cobham went on to become founding members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971.
As Davis stated in his autobiography, he wanted to make music for the young African-American audience. On the Corner (1972) blended funk elements with the traditional jazz styles he had played his entire career. The album was highlighted by the appearance of saxophonist Carlos Garnett. Critics were not kind to the album; in his autobiography, Davis stated that critics could not figure out how to categorize it, and he complained that the album was not promoted by the "traditional" jazz radio stations.
After recording On the Corner, Davis put together a new group, with only Michael Henderson, Carlos Garnett, and percussionist Mtume returning from the previous band. It included guitarist Reggie Lucas, tabla player Badal Roy, sitarist Khalil Balakrishna, and drummer Al Foster. It was unusual in that none of the sidemen were major jazz instrumentalists; as a result, the music emphasized rhythmic density and shifting textures instead of individual solos. This group, which recorded in the Philharmonic Hall for the album In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall (1972), was unsatisfactory to Davis. Through the first half of 1973, he dropped the tabla and sitar, took over keyboard duties, and added guitarist Pete Cosey. The Davis/Cosey/Lucas/Henderson/Mtume/Foster ensemble would remain virtually intact over the next two years. Initially, Dave Liebman played saxophones and flute with the band; in 1974, he was replaced by Sonny Fortune.
Big Fun (1974) was a double album containing four long improvisations, recorded between 1969 and 1972. Similarly, Get Up With It (1974) collected recordings from the previous five years. Get Up With It included "He Loved Him Madly", a tribute to Duke Ellington, as well as one of Davis' most lauded pieces from this era, "Calypso Frelimo". It was his last studio album of the 1970s.
In 1974 and 1975, Columbia recorded three double-LP live Davis albums: Dark Magus, Agharta, and Pangaea. Dark Magus captures a 1974 New York concert; the latter two are recordings of consecutive concerts from the same February 1975 day in Osaka. At the time, only Agharta was available in the US; Pangaea and Dark Magus were initially released only by CBS/Sony Japan. All three feature at least two electric guitarists (Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey, deploying an array of Hendrix-inspired electronic distortion devices; Dominique Gaumont is a third guitarist on Dark Magus), electric bass, drums, reeds, and Davis on electric trumpet and organ. These albums were the last he was to record for five years. Davis was troubled by osteoarthritis (which led to a hip replacement operation in 1976, the first of several), sickle-cell anemia, depression, bursitis, ulcers, and a renewed dependence on alcohol and drugs (primarily cocaine), and his performances were routinely panned by critics throughout late 1974 and early 1975. By the time the group reached Japan in February 1975, Davis was nearing a physical breakdown and required copious amounts of alcohol and narcotics to make it through his engagements. Nonetheless, as noted by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, during these concerts his trumpet playing "is of the highest and most adventurous order."
After a Newport Jazz Festival performance at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on July 1, 1975, Davis withdrew almost completely from the public eye for six years. As Gil Evans said, "His organism is tired. And after all the music he's contributed for 35 years, he needs a rest."
Davis characterized this period in his memoirs as a colorful time when wealthy women lavished him with sex and drugs. In reality, he had become completely dependent on various drugs, spending nearly all of his time propped up on a couch in his apartment watching television, leaving only to find more drugs. In 1976, Rolling Stone reported rumors of his imminent demise. Although he stopped practicing trumpet on a regular basis, Davis continued to compose intermittently and made three attempts at recording during his exile from performing; these sessions (one with the assistance of Paul Buckmaster and Gil Evans, who left after not receiving promised compensation) bore little fruit and remain unreleased.
In 1979, he placed in the yearly top-ten trumpeter poll of Down Beat. Columbia continued to issue compilation albums and records of unreleased vault material to fulfill contractual obligations.
During his period of inactivity, Davis saw the fusion music that he had spearheaded over the past decade enter into the mainstream. When he emerged from retirement, Davis' musical descendants would be in the realm of New Wave rock, and in particular the styling of Prince.
By 1979, Davis had rekindled his relationship with actress Cicely Tyson. With Tyson, Davis would overcome his cocaine addiction and regain his enthusiasm for music. As he had not played trumpet for the better part of three years, regaining his famed embouchure proved to be particularly arduous. While recording The Man with the Horn (sessions were spread sporadically over 1979–1981), Davis played mostly wahwah with a younger, larger band.
The initial large band was eventually abandoned in favor of a smaller combo featuring saxophonist Bill Evans and bass player Marcus Miller, both of whom would be among Davis' most regular collaborators throughout the decade. He married Tyson in 1981; they would divorce in 1988. The Man with the Horn was finally released in 1981 and received a poor critical reception despite selling fairly well. In May, the new band played two dates as part of the Newport Jazz Festival. The concerts, as well as the live recording We Want Miles from the ensuing tour, received positive reviews.
By late 1982, Davis' band included French percussionist Mino Cinelu and guitarist John Scofield, with whom he worked closely on the album Star People. In mid-1983, while working on the tracks for Decoy, an album mixing soul music and electronica that was released in 1984, Davis brought in producer, composer and keyboardist Robert Irving III, who had earlier collaborated with him on The Man with the Horn. With a seven-piece band, including Scofield, Evans, keyboardist and music director Irving, drummer Al Foster and bassist Darryl Jones (later of The Rolling Stones), Davis played a series of European gigs to positive receptions. While in Europe, he took part in the recording of Aura, an orchestral tribute to Davis composed by Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg. You're Under Arrest, Davis' next album, was released in 1985 and included another brief stylistic detour. Included on the album were his interpretations of Cyndi Lauper's ballad "Time After Time," and "Human Nature" from Michael Jackson. Davis considered releasing an entire album of pop songs and recorded dozens of them, but the idea was scrapped. Davis noted that many of today's accepted jazz standards were in fact pop songs from Broadway theater, and that he was simply updating the "standards" repertoire with new material.
You're Under Arrest also proved to be Davis' final album for Columbia. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis publicly dismissed Davis' more recent fusion recordings as not being "'true' jazz", comments Davis initially shrugged off, calling Marsalis "a nice young man, only confused". This changed after Marsalis appeared, unannounced, onstage in the midst of a Davis performance. Marsalis whispered into Davis' ear that "someone" had told him to do so; Davis responded by ordering him off the stage.
Davis grew irritated at Columbia's delay releasing Aura. The breaking point in the label-artist relationship appears to have come when a Columbia jazz producer requested Davis place a goodwill birthday call to Marsalis. Davis signed with Warner Brothers shortly thereafter.
Davis collaborated with a number of figures from the British new wave movement during this period, including Scritti Politti. At the invitation of producer Bill Laswell, Davis recorded some trumpet parts during sessions for Public Image Ltd's Album, according to Public Image's John Lydon in the liner notes of their Plastic Box box set. In Lydon's words, however, "strangely enough, we didn't use (his contributions)." (Also according to Lydon in the Plastic Box notes, Davis favorably compared Lydon's singing voice to his trumpet sound.)
Having first taken part in the Artists United Against Apartheid recording, Davis signed with Warner Brothers records and reunited with Marcus Miller. The resulting record, Tutu (1986), would be his first to use modern studio tools — programmed synthesizers, samples and drum loops — to create an entirely new setting for Davis' playing. Ecstatically reviewed on its release, the album would frequently be described as the modern counterpart of Sketches of Spain and won a Grammy in 1987.
He followed Tutu with Amandla, another collaboration with Miller and George Duke, plus the soundtracks to four movies: Street Smart, Siesta, The Hot Spot, and Dingo. He continued to tour with a band of constantly rotating personnel and a critical stock at a level higher than it had been for 15 years. His last recordings, both released posthumously, were the hip hop-influenced studio album Doo-Bop and Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux, a collaboration with Quincy Jones for the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival in which Davis performed the repertoire from his 1940s and 1950s recordings for the first time in decades.
In 1988 he had a small part as a street musician in the film Scrooged, starring Bill Murray. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. In 1989, Miles was interviewed on the television show '60 minutes' by Harry Reasoner.
In early 1991, he appeared in the Rolf de Heer film Dingo as a jazz musician. In the film's opening sequence, Davis and his band unexpectedly land on a remote airstrip in the Australian outback and proceed to perform for the stunned locals. The performance was one of Davis' last on film.
Miles Davis died on September 28, 1991 from a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.
Miles Davis is regarded as one of the most innovative, influential and respected figures in the history of jazz music. He has been described as “one of the great innovators in jazz”. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll noted "Miles Davis played a crucial and inevitably controversial role in every major development in jazz since the mid-'40s, and no other jazz musician has had so profound an effect on rock. Miles Davis was the most widely recognized jazz musician of his era, an outspoken social critic and an arbiter of style - in attitude and fashion - as well as music". His album Kind of Blue is the best-selling album in the history of jazz music and was praised by the United States House of Representatives to "pass a symbolic resolution honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure."
As an innovative bandleader and composer, Miles Davis has influenced many notable musicians and bands from diverse genres. These include Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin, Tangerine Dream, Brand X, Mtume, Benny Bailey, Joe Bonner, Don Cherry, Urszula Dudziak, Bill Evans, Bill Hardman, The Lounge Lizards, Hugh Masekela , John McLaughlin, King Crimson, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Lydia Lunch, Talk Talk, Michael Franks, Sting, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jiří Stivín, Tim Hagans, Julie Christensen, Vassar Clements, Snooky Young, Prince and Christian Scott.
Miles' influence on the people who played with him has been described by music writer and author Christopher Smith as follows:
Miles Davis' artistic interest was in the creation and manipulation of ritual space, in which gestures could be endowed with symbolic power sufficient to form a functional communicative, and hence musical, vocabulary. [...] Miles' performance tradition emphasized orality and the transmission of information and artistic insight from individual to individual. His position in that tradition, and his personality, talents, and artistic interests, impelled him to pursue a uniquely individual solution to the problems and the experiential possibilities of improvised performance.
His approach, owing largely to the African American performance tradition that focused on individual expression, emphatic interaction, and creative response to shifting contents, had a profound impact on generations of jazz musicians.
In 1986, the New England Conservatory awarded Miles Davis an Honorary Doctorate for his extraordinary contributions to music. Since 1960 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) has honored him with eight Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.
Yellow
Miles Davis Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Yellow' by these artists:
"Coldplay" Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
20syl Yellow Hello, hello See you lalala (E la cop di endo) Hello,…
244 ENDLI-x 朝焼けた ソラ 街中を Yellow に染めて 僕のハート 潰す ふわふわ が嫌い 辛くとも 自分にとって 一…
244 ENDRI-x I haven’t heard from you in months I tried to contact…
A.C.K. & Simon Point So I was walking down the street the other day I…
A/J Hello hello hello Can you hear me Yellow yellow yellow I see…
Abandoning Sunday Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Adam Kay & Suman Biswas Look at your skin Look at its off-white hue Look at your…
aiko あなたと言葉を交わす 端々で愛してるか確認する 不器用じゃない ただ臆病なだけ 真っ直ぐに言えないのは お互い様だから少…
AL-PHA-X I haven’t heard from you in months I tried to contact…
Albany Avenue I was on the front seat But hardly driving My mind is…
Alex Parks Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Allen & Bright Black Dog, yellow morning c trip down memory lane It's been …
Amber Leigh Irish Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Aminé I, yeah, I, hey Hey-ey, uh Hey, uh I was down, yeah, now…
And end I know your mother's favorite Flower You don't know how much…
Andreas-Tek What did you do with those yellow eyes The ones that…
austin chriswell/coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Baker / Coloccia / Mueller If all is yellow in your world Then let me be…
Bas Rotten Push it in Push it in down my throat The lies you…
Base Ball Bear ごらんよ 非常にElectricな月が 照らす都市はYellow その瞬間(とき)に僕は 君の色 誰にも知られず 僕は生…
BBC Children in Need Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Boyce Avenue Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Boys Noize & Snoop Dogg Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is Black and yellow, black…
Brazil XXI Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Brian Rich How do I disappear Without anybody knowing? Will anybody ev…
Brittin Lane Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
Brooke White Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Caballero JeanJass Je brûle, j'brûle, j'brûle la molécule Je fume, j'fume, j'fu…
Calema Se perguntares quem eu sou De eu onde vim pra onde…
Cameron Philip your smile could light up a room i've seen it happen…
Cardigan Club We'll do it all Everything On our own We don't need Anything…
Caroline Pennell Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Chris Casey What's going on what's popping, nah I ain't get the…
Chris Martin Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra [Orchestra] Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Clara Yolks If you run I run If you fall I laugh And I…
Cocknbullkid Sleeping with the light on, Ever since I was young In a…
Cold Play Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Cold Play & Dizzee Rascal Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Cold.Play You said I'm gonna try I know you'd never lie So how…
Coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Coldplay [JPTC] Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay - SdCardBackUp Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Coldplay (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover) Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay (Mp3Mad.CoM) I think about stuff that i could hide In front of…
Coldplay (piano cover) Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay (RoyalJatt.Com) I think about stuff that i could hide In front of…
Coldplay (wapos.ru) Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay - After After Before - By www.musikandomp3.com Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Coldplay - [EMG] Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
COLDPLAY . Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
COLDPLAY live 2012 Look at the stars Look how they shine for you ... And everyt…
Coldplay [Www.RockDL.Net] Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay%01Musicfire.in Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Coldplay(酷玩乐队) Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay-MaRJuaNa Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
coldplay.. Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Coldplay/Musicfire.in Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Coldplay䐀 Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Connie Isla Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
D-D Brown [Intro] Yeah ah ha you know what it is Black and yellow, bla…
DAGames Life's my drug, life's my thrive Yellow as the sun, got…
Damian McGinty Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And all…
DEAN It's just a breath of fresh air out my window She…
Dean Ray Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And all…
Disciples When everything isn't yellow Will we still smile through bro…
Disciples Robin Schulz When everything isn't yellow Will we still smile through br…
DYS So tired of all the lies Can't see so open your…
E.M. Cooper Your favourite colour is yellow You never told me that But I…
Ed Alleyne-Johnson The sunrise Both my eyes Are filled With your light Your bl…
Eko Oh oo Yeah, chaii Uh, yea, Yeah, yeah Rap, oooo O my Lord, L…
Emm Gryner Can you see the yellow on the road Lying there for…
Emma-Jean Thackray I wish I wouldn't disappear Just be present here But I conti…
Emmit Fenn Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
England To see the morning sunrise every day I care not where The…
Ethan Butler Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
False-Heads Always wanna be something you're not Always trynna make some…
Fana Hues He’ll love me all if night long if I say…
Fang ในวันนี้ที่มีแต่ฉัน ฟังเพลงรักอยู่เพียงลำพัง มีใครบ้างไหมที่…
Field Guide Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Fine and Mellow Who that be You already know its me MellowYellow In these st…
For the Fallen Dreams Now you've finally realized what it feels like to be…
Fran Makes Dinner I KNOW I'M WIDE AWAKE and I don't want to…
Frank Sinatra I remember when the sunlight had a special kind of…
Frederic 夜よ 冷たい夜よ 遠くの星を指差し近づいた どうして 目に映るモノしか信じれない大人になってたの 真夜中の光を 光を …
Fwdslxsh ... I'm getting high, i'm getting high, i'm getting high, i'…
G4 Look at the stars, look how they shine for you And…
Gourmet I’m cyan, magenta yellow’s such a boring word I much preferr…
GRAPEVINE もしかして何か 違ってきたんじゃないだろうか 親しくなるものの 壁は厚い 優しく言われても レフトからライトへスルー も…
Hamad 45 feat. Kc Rebell Yellow Flex und Jayjo, Sex mit J. Lo Yellow Bei uns heißt es…
Hatsune Miku Itsu dakarou Kimi no warau koe tooku Shiwase no owari nante …
Hearts Colors Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
HI-D Yeah hello Smiling cuz im happy Showing colour yellow She go…
Honeykomb Brazy Loca (Loca) Loca Dance or die Loca (Loca) She′s playin' dum…
ian sweet Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Imani Waddy He takes her to sunshine from a light glow She asks…
India.Arie Every time I hear you say hello All I see is…
Ingeborg Fosse Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Jabari9-11 Tes yeux me paralysent babe Non ne fais pas tes valises C'es…
Jake Knox OVERVIEW LISTEN OTHER RECORDINGS PEOPLE ALSO SEARCH FOR …
Jem Look at the stars, look how they shine for you And…
Jodie Whittaker Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
John Harp Thank you for being kind Welcome to my life I…
josh Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Joy Frost Look at the stars look how they shine for you And…
Juan Luis Cavazos Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
JubyPhonic Basically I killed the cat, my curiosity caught me Destroyin…
Juliana Chahayed I just wanna see where this can go My pride, my…
Kaela Kimura (木村カエラ) 雨に打たれちゃったってめげないぜ 誰にとってみたって 私は lady チャラい態度で 甘ったれてないで いい女でも I …
Kai Black and white Sleepwalking through my life Colour blind Wa…
Kamiyama Yoh つまりは好奇心に囚われてたんだ 大切な物なら壊したんだ 明かりの灯らないホールケーキ 木製の君と踊ってたんだ クローゼ…
Karaoke - Coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Karizma Duo Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
Kashmir Coming home, throw my leatherjacket on the floor I drink a…
Katherine Ho 我想知道 流星能飛多久 它的美麗 是否 值得去尋求 夜空的花 散落在你身後 幸福了我很久 值得去等候 於是我心狂奔 從黃…
Kelvin Declined I am the man there on the moon I eat my…
Ken Nordine In the beginning, oh, long before that. When light was decid…
Kevin Abstract Passed the pilot, took my bottle All my sorrows, home tomorr…
Kim Sawol 노란 불빛을 보면 쫓아가는 버릇이 있어요 버릇이 있어요 그곳은 포근하고 달콤한 것들로 꾸며져 있겠죠 꾸며져…
Kim Wan Sun Lafielo 시계추처럼 흔들리는 빛 처음 보는 색깔들의 moving light 찰나의 순간 신기루처럼 사…
Kim Wan-sun look at the stars look at they shine for you and everything…
Kimura Kaela 木村カエラ 雨に打たれちゃったってめげないぜ 誰にとってみたって 私は lady チャラい態度で 甘ったれてないで いい女でも I …
KITCHEN - Coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Leaving Time Yellow hue through the dark My eyes draw a dizzying haze Int…
Leche Malo Gimme that run around I'ma sleep on the couch Baby girl hold…
Lee Hong Gi 하늘이 물들어가 날 비춰 내릴 때 고개를 올려본다 눈물은 흘려도 돼 한…
Lenii Keep a straight face, donʼt let it show Keep the same…
Leo ESSA MINA SE PERDE QUANDO EU CHEGO COM A MINHA…
Lil Fleem Feel mellow, not low but just my level They said the…
Llama Farmers Well I've tried and I've tried and I cannot conceive.…
lo-key design We walked a thousand miles Through yellow fields You kissed …
Lounge Against The Machine Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Luan Mei I've been trying to understand All the Feelings in my…
M-Swift So I was walking down the street the other day I…
Made in Hepburn 分かってるフリやめる 作り笑いのせいにせず、と口に出せ ず 嘘に慣れる いつもそうです 混ざりそう、透明な外は浅い朝 …
Malrun Yellow Creeping in the night To brand you and take you away …
Mantra Niente d' importante. Io sono vivere. Pericoloso e…
marianne beaulieu Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Mavi Phoenix What you say though? Everything is yellow It's Coldplay now,…
Maxuu Hi! There is no start: Falling apart, young leaves by the…
media youth 回りを気にする目付きで キョロキョロキョロキョロしながら 流行ばりを追いかけ 個性なんかは何も無い 強いヤツヘはペコペコ…
Mind Body & Soul (New Age) Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Minje 알 수는 없지만 길에 멈춰선 널 계속 바라봐 너는 알지만 Let's going down Try everyth…
Mitch Rip Nah nah nah nah nah Nah nah nah nah nah Nah nah…
mol-74 時が止まったようになって それはまさに恋のような 息が詰まったようになって それはまさに恋のような 感覚が鈍る 時が進…
Molly Tetterton When I think about last year I think of the…
Movie Sounds Unlimited I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm And…
Mr O and the world I can do love If you can do me We could be…
Mr. Sweetdream Woke up early Sunlight pouring through Tryna find that yello…
Myles Cameron Ooo, so yellow Ooo yellow Ooo, so yellow And it was ooo, yel…
Nathanie Does it get better with the times? Or do you acclimate…
Natty Bong Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
Nikko Gray & Imani Waddy He takes her to sunshine from a light glow She asks…
Nilsson Very far away in a foreign land Live the yellow woman…
Noah Gundersen Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 6 Contant cry mob yellow and lights out make a bitch shake lif…
Nyarons 勾玉はまるみたいな 予感の的中 瞬きも忘れそうな 時間の最中 ねぇ 教えて 君のちょっとダメなところ 武勇伝よりも知り…
o2. 睡到中午的理由 不外乎前晚太過認真生活 宅男的世界多姿多彩 不管多晚都不睡多晚都不睡 坐在螢幕前的我 單純害怕太陽所以閃…
Ofln - Coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Okkervil River You can only talk so much about things That are never,…
On the Rocks I said I hit the LIE in my old ass…
Ortopilot Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Paige Did my soul arrive safely? ′Cause the packaging's fine But t…
Pane Yellow, Yellow, Yellow, Yellow Yellow, Yellow, Yellow, Yello…
PEACH. Yellow (uh) You've got me feeling kind of yellow Look in the…
Perkele There are people who want to bring me down cause…
Peter Thomas Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Petra Haden and Bill Frisell Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And all…
Petra Haden and Bill Frisell & Bill Frisell look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Pins Dimeh Et j'fume du yellow toute la night Et j'fais du yellow…
Pity Party (Girls Club) (This doesn′t hurt as bas as it used to) Love is…
Polyana Felbel Tommy Finke & Daniel Brandl Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Priscilla Lynn Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
R.A.G.E Everything yellow Pour it up Pour in the Mello Living large …
Reece A cool winter wind sweeps on Broadway The seasons come near…
rem time rem time 握りしめたこの手が 覚えてる感覚を 忘れるには少し黙っていてよ 来たことのないこの場所でさえ 見え隠れするのさ 君の下手…
Renee Jeremy Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
Rich Brian How do I disappear Without anybody knowing? Will anybody ev…
Richard Cheese Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
Robin Schulz When everything isn't yellow Will we still smile through bro…
Rockabye Baby! Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Russ Round her neck she wore a yellow ribbon She wore it…
s.p.e.c.i.e.s. 君が泣く度 背中を向けて 気付かないふりをしていた くだらない事 つまらない事 いつも笑いあえていたのに 時が経つほど …
Sam Sam Heaven is a-bathing in sunshine And not a road comes back…
Scala & Kolacny Brothers Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And all…
Section Days gone by It was lights out ten o'clock in the…
Shane Eagle Yellow, yellow, yellow Yellow, yellow, yellow I got yellow …
Sheila E Every girl of culture's got a favorite car The kind…
Shoom-m So I was walking down the street the other day I…
Souls In Chains [Verse1][jD] I was in love with an idea, the idea of…
Stereo Avenue Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Street Noise All this time great divide I want you to know that…
Taichi Mukai Let me tell you only one thing Feel like it's been…
Tanis Mateo Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, Ooh Yeah, Ooh …
Tanya Chua Look at the stars; look how they shine for you And everythin…
Th&o. Hello hello hello Can you hear me Yellow yellow yellow I see…
The Bear Romantic And it doesn't make much sense Are these Curtains or your…
The Cheserasera 間延びした季節を抜けたら 間延びした僕らも 終わりを告げよう だけど名前を呼んで 振り向いた目に映る 微かな灯を僕達は …
The Child Oh no, no no no no no, no Hey Summertime, the summertime…
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra feat. James Morgan A bright sunny morning, The kids were playing in a field…
The Cooltrane Quartet Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
THE ORAL CIGARETTES Yellow 愛し方も忘れるくらい Yellow 誰よりも思っているから 大切な日々もその声も 守っていたいから Yel…
The Section Days gone by It was lights out ten o'clock in the…
The Sunvizors I will come to meet you in a foreign country I'll…
The Winebottles If you stay you might understand This is not any ordinary…
theory/theory Man on the moon mad at the man on the…
Tim Bram Yellow is the color of my mind A selection of the…
Tireek Only thing I ever got for free was an ass…
Tony Thames Wow Watch this I roll the dice with all 6's on 'em Ooh I…
Tyler the Creator Now when I first saw you I could tell you was…
Tyra Chantey Would you prey on my weakness? Satisfying you, while I keep…
Uchuu I walk endless night I don′t know you still live Where is…
uchuu; I walk endless night I don't know you still live Where …
ukewithnix Look at the starsLook how they shine for youAnd all…
Various Artists Look at the stars; look how they shine for you And…
Volume Проще говоря, опять попал я в плен любопытства, Пытаясь унич…
Wakeup Starlight Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
Warren Hue I see yellow sunshine in the morning I'm feeling better…
Warrenisyellow I see yellow sunshine in the morning I'm feeling better ever…
Whirlwind Heat I don't mind the way she stares all day And if…
White Go, yellow pests, go, go, yellow pests Go back to your…
White Brooke Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
wifisfuneral At time like this is when I miss my bitch Sit…
Willows Young Crow Oh I just gotta tell ya I'm brittle as they come Fickle…
X.E.X I haven’t heard from you in months I tried to contact…
Xana You don't need to run the yellow We can take the…
xono That bitch dumb, she stupid she special Still singing high n…
Yann Tiersen Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
Yellow ในวันนี้ที่มีแต่ฉัน ฟังเพลงรักอยู่เพียงลำพัง มีใครบ้างไหมที่…
Yellow - Coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
YeLLOW Generation Warning atari chirase Breaking out! Breaking out! Kuzureru …
YOH KAMIYAMA つまりは好奇心に囚われてたんだ 大切なものなら壊したんだ 明かりの灯がないホールケーキ 木製の君と踊ってたんだ クロー…
Zaa cari Mino Safy & Leonard A Only thing I ever got for free was an ass…
[www.musikaki.blog.br]/Coldplay Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
¿áÍæ(Coldplay) Look at the star…
フレデリック 夜よ 冷たい夜よ 遠くの星を指差し近づいた どうして 目に映るモノしか信じれない大人になってたの 真夜中の光を 光を …
前島麻由 Get down I hear an alarm I′m just listening to it Throw back…
向井太一 視線合うたび また逸らしたり 照れる僕を 優しく笑っている 君のために すべて完璧に 今夜もきっと 思い出を重ねる …
島﨑信長 Hi! 褒められた歌声 子供ながらに本気にした 会話が弾む夕ご飯 もっと歌うよ家族のために 見守っているパパとママ …
木村カエラ 雨に打たれちゃったってめげないぜ 誰にとってみたって 私は lady チャラい態度で 甘ったれてないで いい女でも I …
李文慧 Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything…
神山羊 つまりは好奇心に囚われてたんだ 大切な物なら壊したんだ 明かりの灯らないホールケーキ 木製の君と踊ってたんだ クローゼ…
蔡健雅 Look at the stars; Look how they shine for you And everythi…
蔡健雅 Tanya Look at the stars; look how they shine for you And everythin…
酷玩(Coldplay) Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everythi…
酷玩乐队(Coldplay) Look at the star…
酷玩樂團COLDPLAY Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everythi…
김예림 I fire the bomb Asuka told me I we the kumi…
부활 너를 그리고 있는 너를 닮은 사진이 이제 마지막 남은 사진인걸 눈 감으면 떠오던 흐린…
욉鯤(Coldplay) Look at the star…
주시크 Yeah, I hate my days 이유도 없이 답이 없는데 지금 뭐할까? 내…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Miles Davis:
'Round About Midnight It begins to tell 'Round midnight, midnight I do pretty well…
52ND Street Theme The man who only lives for making money Lives a life…
A Gal in Calico Met a gal in calico, down in Santa Fe; Used to…
Ahmad I go through the strangest kind of changes Tryin' to find…
Ain No one to talk with All by myself No one to walk…
All Blues [instrumental]…
All of You I love the looks of you, the lure of you The…
All the Things You Are You are the promised kiss of springtime That makes the lonel…
Alone Together No choice now, it's too late Let him go, he gave…
Amandla Haa…, haa… Hanya ada satu didalam hatiku Hanya ada satu dala…
At Last At last, my love has come along my lonely days are…
Autumn Leaves The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of…
Autumn Leaves / The Theme The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of…
Baby Won't You Make Up Baby, won't you make up your mind What are you going…
Basin Street Blues Won't you come along with me To the Mississippi We'll take a…
Bird No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Birth of the Cool Theme Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you! Embrace me, you irrep…
Blue Merry Christmas I hope you have a white one, but for…
Blue in Green Hues of blues and greens surround me Knowing you have found…
Blue Room Don't worry I'm not looking at you Gorgeous and dressed in…
Blue Xmas Merry Christmas I hope you have a white one, but for…
Blues for Pablo Miles Davis - flugelhorn Bernie Glow - Lead trumpet Ernie Ro…
Boplicity [Instrumental]…
Budo / Goodnight my love, the tired old moon is descending Goodnig…
But for Me Old man sunshine listen you Never tell me dreams come true J…
Buzzard Song Boss, dat bird mean trouble. Once de buzzard fold his wing…
Bye Bye No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Bye Bye Black Bird No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Bye Bye Blackbird No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Circle (Jazz instrumental) Album notes: Miles Smiles is an album re…
Come Get It The man who only lives for making money Lives a life…
Come Rain or Come Shine I'm gonna love you Like no one's loved you Come rain or…
Dam That Dream Darn that dream, I dream each night You say you love…
Dear Old Stockholm (Instrumental)…
Devil May Care No cares for me I'm happy as I can be…
Don't Blame Me Ever since the lucky night I found you I've hung around…
Donna Oh Once upon a looking-for-Donna-time There was a sixteen …
Don’t Blame Me Ever since the lucky night I found you I've hung around…
Dr. Jackle Miles Davis - Trumpet, Piano (on "Sid′s Ahead") Cannonball A…
Dune Mosse Un viaggio in fondo ai tuoi occhi Dai d'illusi smammai Un vi…
East of the Sun East of the sun and west of the moon We'll build…
Embraceable You Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you! Embrace me, you irrepl…
Feio What is the musical topic, of the day? Bebop so the…
Go-Go %2B announcement Of the wonderful things that you get out of life…
Gondwana Por envidia se derramó la primera sangre en la Tierra fue…
Goodnight My Love Goodnight my love, the tired old moon is descending Goodnigh…
Half Nelson สหย หสบ ไข วหบกห ากน ากา ื นไจ งหบ าหน รหรา บไข…
Hallucination Goodnight my love, the tired old moon is descending Goodnig…
HANNIBAL Ah ya e ya Ah e yea ya Oba ibo si areo Ergua…
How Deep Is the Ocean How much do I love you? I'll tell you no lie How…
How High the Moon Somewhere there's music How faint the tune Somewhere there's…
Human Nature Come on feet start moving Got to get me there, ow Hey…
I Could Write a Book If they ask me, I could write a book About the…
I Fall In Love Too Easily I fall in love too easily, I fall in love…
I Got Rhythm Though folks with good intentions Tell me to save my tears W…
I Loves You Porgy I love you, Porgy Don't let him take me Don't let him…
I'll Be Around I'll be around no matter how you treat me now I'll…
I'll Remember April This lovely day will lengthen into evening We'll sigh goodby…
If I Could Write a Book If they ask me, I could write a book About the…
If I Were a Bell Ask me how do I feel, Now that we're cosy and…
Ife Verse I ------- What is the Musical topic, of the Day? Be…
In a Sentimental Mood In a Sentimental Mood I can see The stars come through…
In the Still of the Night In the still of the night As I gaze from my…
Indiana Back home again in Indiana, And it seems that I can…
Israel [Instrumental]…
It Say, it's only a paper moon Sailing over a cardboard sea But…
It Gets Better The man who only lives for making money Lives a life…
It Might as Well Be Spring I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm I'm as…
It Never Entered My Mind Once I laughed when I heard you saying That I'd be…
It's Only a Paper Moon Say, it's only a paper moon Sailing over a cardboard sea But…
It's Only A Papermoon Say, it's only a paper moon Sailing over a cardboard sea B…
Its Only a Paper Moon Say, it's only a paper moon Sailing over a cardboard sea But…
Jelly Jelly Hello baby, I had to call you on the phone Hello…
Jeru Why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to nine Bring…
June Night Just give me a June night The moonlight and you in…
Just Squeeze Me Want you to know I go for your squeezin' Want you…
Just You Just Me Just you, just me Let's find a cozy spot To cuddle and…
Just YouJust Me Just you, just me Let's find a cozy spot To cuddle and…
Lady be Good Listen to my tale of woe, It's terribly sad but…
Love for Sale Love for sale Appetizing young love for sale Love that's fre…
Love Me or Leave Me Love me or leave me and let me be lonely You…
Maiysha It's hard to be with you Too hard, that's what she…
Mean to Me You're mean to me Why must you be mean to me? Gee,…
Miles Look miles davis, i′ve been swayed by the cool. There's just…
Miles in Montreux I I fall in love too easily, I fall in love…
Mood In a Sentimental Mood I can see The stars come through…
Moon Dreams [Instrumental]…
My Funny Valentine My funny Valentine Sweet comic Valentine You make me smile w…
My Man's Gone Now My Man's Gone Now Ain't No Use A Listenin' For His Tired…
My Old Fame My old flame, I can't even think of his name…
My Silent Love I reach for you like I'd reach for a star Worshipping…
New Rhumba Do you know what it means to walk alone? And what…
Nice Work If You Can Get It The man who only lives for making money Lives a life…
No Blues It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened A…
Now's the Time Why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to nine Bring…
Oh Lady Be Good Listen to my tale of woe, It's terribly sad but…
Oh Patti I had a dream of us together In a world where…
Old Devil Moon I look at you and suddenly Something in your eyes I…
Old Folks Everyone knows him as Old Folks Like the seasons, he'll com…
On Green Dolphin Street It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened A…
On The Sunny Side Of The Street Walked with no one and talked with no one And I…
One And One - Unedited Master ريحه الشر فاحت الناس اللى راحت اكيد ارتاحت اما تقوم يوم من ن…
Perfect Way I took a backseat a backhander I took her back…
Pfrancing It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened A…
Pharaoh's Dance [instrumental]…
Rubberband Of Life Rubberband, rubberband, rubberband Rubberband, rubberband, r…
Sentimental Mood In a Sentimental Mood I can see The stars come through…
Séquence voiture Y'a tout à l'heure, quinze ans d'malheur, mon vieux Léon Qu…
So Near so Far You don't know this boogie is for real I used to…
So What Miles Davis walked off the stage That's what the folks are…
Solea Miles Davis - trumpet, flugelhorn Johnny Coles - trumpet B…
Some Day My Prince Will Come Somewhere waiting for me There is someone I'm longing to see…
Someday My Prince Will Come (A Somewhere waiting for me There is someone I'm longing to se…
Something I can't believe that you're not here with me To have…
Something's on Your Mind Baby, won't you make up your mind What are you going…
Song of Our Country Babe, you know about the autumn When the leaves are falling…
Splash In the day In the night Say it right Say it all You either…
Spring Is Here Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing? Spring is…
Springsville Miles Davis - flugelhorn Bernie Glow - Lead trumpet Ernie Ro…
Star Eyes Star eyes, That to me is what your eyes are, Soft as…
Stardust And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the…
Steeple Chase I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm I'm as…
Stella By Starlight The song a robin sings Through years of endless springs The …
Sticky Wicked Caramel-coated pseudo happy Call her sticky wicked Will she …
Street Blues Won't you come along with me To the Mississippi We'll take…
Summer Time It's summertime and the living is easy Fish are jumping and…
Summertime Summertime and the livin’ is easy Fish are jumpin’ and the…
That Old Black Magic Old black magic has me in its spell Old black magic…
That Old Black Music Old black magic has me in its spell Old black magic…
That Old Devil Moon I look at you and suddenly Something in your eyes I…
The Blue Room Don't worry I'm not looking at you Gorgeous and dressed in…
The Doo Bop Song Lets kick a verse for my man called Miles Seems to…
The Dream Darn that dream, I dream each night You say you love…
The Duke When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm…
The Jitterbug Waltz The night is getting on The band is getting slow The crowd…
The Maids of Cadiz Miles Davis - flugelhorn Bernie Glow - Lead trumpet Ernie Ro…
The Man I Love Someday he'll come along The man I love And he'll be big…
The Way You Look Tonight Some day, when I'm awfully low, When the world is cold, I…
There There is no greater love Than what I feel for you No…
Time After Time Time after time I tell myself that I'm So lucky to…
Time On My Hands When the day fades away into twilight The moon is my…
Tune Up When Lights Are Low Listen to the melody entrancing Blending in a soft and sweet…
Violet Something so wonderful and new A million colors just for you…
Wahoo You go to my head And you linger like a haunting…
Way You Look Tonight Some day, when I'm awfully low, When the world is cold, I…
We Three Kings of Orient Are We three kings of orient are Bearing gifts we traverse afar …
Well I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm I'm as…
When I Fall in Love When I fall in love It will be forever Or I'll never…
When Lights Are Low Listen to the melody entrancing Blending in a soft and sweet…
Whispering Don't worry I'm not looking at you Gorgeous and dressed in…
Will You Still Be Mine? Ever since my heart took such a tumble I've wondered if…
Yardbird Suite charlie parker tune: Eddie Jefferson arrangement) Verse I --…
Yesterday Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Now it…
You Go to My Head You go to my head And you linger like a haunting…
and many more tracks by Miles Davis.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Alec
One of my favorite albums ever. Miles discovering new frontiers in music
The Awesome Anarchist
Its my favorite album in all of music. The Ambience reminds me of Meshuggah's ambience
Unofficial Who
This is honestly one of those songs that sounds so fantastic, its honestly terrifying in a way, I had once listened to it at night before sleep and honestly couldn't sleep, made me really paranoid, fantastic piece!
Giovanni Eddy
This is prove of genius compared to Einstein, Mozart, and many others
Nicholas Ratliff
Sooooooo very very very very very very AMAZING!!!! I have only visions in response...words fail me.
Karin Godfrey
me too ! we also have to credit the Danish Composer Palle Mikkelborg
Toddmania Toddmania
This one really triggers the imagination
jonathan effemey
Brilliant!
Gianluca Tarchi
Definitely, the Aleister Crowley of the music history...
🗿
Réquiem - Arte Funerario
Majestuoso Miles...