“I remember one day being in a music history class and a white woman was the teacher.
“She was up in front of the class saying that the reason black people played the blues was because they were poor and had to pick cotton.
“So they were sad and that’s where the blues came from, their sadness.
“My hand went up in a flash and I stood up and said, ‘I’m from East St. Louis and my father is rich, he’s a dentist, and I play the blues.
“My father never picked any cotton, and I didn’t wake up this morning sad and start playing the blues. There’s more to it than that.’”
The previous excerpt on Miles Dewey Davis’ experiences at Julliard is from his autobiography, “Miles, The Autobiography.”
Davis was born on May 26, 1926.
Unlike one might assume, his parents weren’t financially challenged by any means.
His father, Dr. Miles Henry Davis was a dentist, which gave the young Davis the chance to attend a good school.
After receiving a trumpet from his father, Davis practiced industriously.
For a few weeks in 1944, it so happened that he joined Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker while they were touring in St. Louis and in dire need of a trumpeter.
Shortly thereafter, the 18 year old Davis moved to New York City, where he started studying at Julliard.
His main goal didn’t turn out to be studying; he wanted to find Bird, better known as Charlie Parker, who was already a legend of his own time in the mid ‘40s.
After he located his idol, he became part of the New York jazz scene and was often found at Minton’s Playhouse and Monroe’s, two legendary clubs in Harlem.
Accomplishing this success and not feeling as if he belonged in that particular school, Davis decided to drop out of Julliard, with his father’s approval.
In 1945, a dream came true for Davis when Parker asked him to join his quintet, replacing Dizzy Gillespie.
Being a part of Parker’s combo was quite adventurous.
At one point Parker suffered from a breakdown in Los Angeles CA. and Davis became stranded.
Further artistic discrepancies over time led Davis to part from the group in 1948.
It was then that he developed the style he will forever be known for: cool jazz.
Contrary to the rather virtuous bebop, cool jazz focuses on lyricism, hence the emotional description, “cool.”
Davis also incorporated part of his west coast influences into this style, from when he was forced to remain in LA. An apt example of Davis’ first “cool” release is his record, “Birth of the Cool.”
In 1949, Davis traveled to Paris. African American jazz musicians were treated better than they were back in the States, which led his fellow musicians to stay in France, instead of returning to New York.
Upon his return to America, the founder of “the cool” fell into a heavy heroin addiction that influenced his lifestyle and his musical style.
Although still productive, the drug had such an intense impact that it took Davis until 1954 to get rid of his addiction, by isolating himself in St. Louis.
These five gentlemen then went on to release “Round About Midnight,” which was greatly appreciated by the public.
Unfortunately, the formation only lasted until 1957, partly due to some of the other group members struggling with their drug addictions.
Nevertheless, Davis used his time and flew out to Paris once again, where he recorded the score for Louis Malle’s motion picture “Elevator to the Gallows.”
He returned to New York City in 1958, to build a new formation that included the rehabilitated Coltrane.
The newly formed sextet recorded “Milestones,” an album that indicates a further change in Davis’ style.
In 1959, Davis recorded his very influential and most renowned masterpiece “Kind of Blue.” Together with Bill Evans (piano), Wynton Kelly (piano), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Paul Chambers (bass), John Coltrane (saxophone) and Canonball Adderley (saxophone), the group only needed two days to record an album that went on to be associated with jazz for eternity.
Davis would go on to build different collaborations, with whom he would tour the world. Moreover, he once again developed a new, more modern style, which is known as fusion and can be heard in 1970s “Bitches Brew.”
He continued releasing further albums and starring in small roles in film, until Sept. 28, 1991, when he passed away in Santa Monica. After suffering a stroke, Davis wasn’t able to recover.
He will always be remembered as one of the most influential jazz musicians, receiving among other things nine Grammys and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.