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Miles Davis's Birth Of The Cool Jazz

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Miles Davis was born in 1926 in Illinois to a dentist and a music teacher. He was introduced to music fairly early when his father gave him a trumpet at age 13. His music teacher also influenced him early by having him play the trumpet without vibrato which was the style common to the time by other trumpeters, such as Louis Armstrong. Davis performed throughout high school and at the age of 17 was asked by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker to replace one of their sick band members. In 1944 he traveled to New York to learn more about music at Julliard School. During his time there he collaborated with Charlie Parker and other musicians with whom he helped form the basis of bebop (“Miles Davis”). Davis eventually left Julliard to explore his own voice and came across a composer named Gil Evans and they began to exchange ideas. They were looking for something other than swing and bebop and formed a style called “cool jazz” (Kirker, Tim). This new style was evident in his album Birth of the Cool which was performed with a nine-piece band that included artists such as Max Roach, John Lewis, Lee Konitz, and Gerry Mulligan (Macnie, Jim). …show more content…

So instead of chords, which are vertical, it requires scales, which are horizontal, to make it sound appealing. This method also makes the artist rely on things such as melody, rhythm, and emotion which give the song an entirely different sound. Miles Davis also was at the forefront of this style of jazz in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s. His song Milestones and even more so his album called Kind of Blue are excellent examples of the use of modal jazz and this work heavily influenced other jazz musicians of the era. In the 1960’s John Coltrane explored this style in his work with the pianist McCoy Tyner. They took modal jazz in a more spiritual direction with his albums entitled My Favorite Things, Impressions, and A Love Supreme

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Just like any amazing artist, Miles’ Davis fame and skill did not come overnight. Back in high was when his first job experiences began. He worked at local bars and played at gigs, whenever he had the chance. These were only the beginning, one year later Davis joined the Blue Devils—his first band. He soon to attend Julliard, which led to the launch of his successful career.

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Miles Davis was an extremely talented African American trumpet player from St. Louis who changed the way of Jazz between the 1950s and 1990s. Being one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles was the first jazz musician after the hippie era to influence many listeners in his jazz and rock rhythms. From Miles’ career of almost half a century he received countless awards for his outrageous talent and the music he had produced throughout his lifetime. Miles Davis was a successful Jazz Musician with a loving and supportive family; even though his career ended he is still known and remembered to this day.

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The last album, which was called “The Shape of Jazz to Come”, belonged to Ornette Coleman. The all four albums opened the different era in the jazz history. According to me, the album of Miles Davis, which was “King of Blue”, was very soft, it means that it was an easy listened album. This is quite good feature for albums, but not everyone as me prefer

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The nonet was his chance to prove himself to the jazz community, Davis at the time was not as established as many of the other musicians of the cool jazz movement and he was determined to change that. It was during this time Davis forged a working relationship with arranger Gil Evans, Evans and Davis work on few albums together. Both men had a relationship that was like magic; they worked together to release the album, Birth of Cool, in 1954. This album was responsible for drawing attention to the cool jazz movement and influencing the future of the movement. Davis at the time of the cool jazz movement was gripped by heroin addiction and much of his music influenced by the addiction; Davis made the decision to quit the drug and come back a new man.

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