Introduction to Jazz: Miles Davis, his life and music

Résumé du document

Miles Davis is an American jazz composer and a trumpet player. He was born in Illinois in 1926 and died in California in 1991. Miles devoted himself to music throughout his life. He was and still is, even if dead, a key character in Jazz music. He has played all forms of Jazz, has created some of them, and is a model for all Jazz aspirants. What is outstanding is that Miles Davis has always been at the top of Jazz music, from 1944 to 1991.

During his long career, Miles has played with all the key Jazz figures of this period. Miles belonged to many different music styles; jazz, bebop, cool jazz, jazz modal and jazz fusion. His bands (from the jazz to the jazz fusion) have been a springboard for many other music players, such as Kenny Garrett or John Coltrane. I will try to describe the life and the music of Miles Davis, from 1926 to 1991. In the first section of this document, I will examine the biography of Miles, his beginning, from his birth to 1955. Then, I will focus on the years 1955-1964, from the end of the bebop style to his first quintet. In the third section, I will examine the period 1964-1975, which includes the very important second quintet, and the transition from Jazz to electric Jazz (this is the Electrical revolution). To conclude, I will deal with his last ten years, from 1981 to 1991, and his come-back after a hiatus of six years.

Extraits

[...] He decided then to create his first Great Quintet in 1955. The First Great Quintet was formed of John COLTRANE (tenor saxophone), Red GARLAND (piano), Paul CHAMBERS (double-bass), Philly JOE-JONES (drums) and himself (saxophone). This quintet was a new start for Miles, and according to many people, this quintet was probably one of the best hard bop band. Between 1955 and 1958, this quintet recorded 4 albums, Cookin', Relaxin', Steamin' and Workin'. Then, in 1958, a sixth player came in the band, which became a sestet. [...]

[...] But all these issues do not stop him and his trumpet. In 1944, at the age of 18, he discovered the bebop. Just after graduated, he left the Blue Devils and entered first in a band from NewOrleans (Six Brown Cats) and then he entered the Big Band, of Billy ECKSTINE, which gathered the most modern musicians of the time, such as Dizzy GILLESPIE or the saxophonist Charlie PARKER. In 1944, Miles' father bought a ranch and allows Miles to enter New-York school of music Juilliard. [...]

[...] In 1960, Miles went in Europe with his quintet (composed by COLTRANE, KELLY, CHAMBERS, COBB and himself). This tour in Europe had huge consequences on the band as Coltrane's performances were quite bad. He decided to leave the group. Miles was still exploring new sounds at this time. To replace COLTRANE, he decided to add Sonny STITT to the band; the sound was more and more aggressive and close to hard bop. At the same period appeared a new musical wave, free jazz. [...]

[...] Thanks to Miles, more and more people felt concerned by jazz music. The years after 1981, Miles recorded few albums, as for example We Want Miles or Star People, which are more described as blues music. He also decided to record more modern music and to cover music of other artists (i.e Cindy LAUPER). Then, Miles had some problems with Columbia Records and moved to Warner. Miles made many changes in his music during the last years of his career. [...]

[...] Miles knows that he is gifted and always wants to explore, to find new sounds. He even said that always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question With the second quintet, Miles had clearly the willingness to discover and explore new sounds. According to Miles, play what's there, play what's not there.“ This is a very description of what he did. With his new saxophonist, Wayne SHORTER, Miles has finally found the person he needed for his quintet to discover new things. [...]