Facts about Miles Davis
4 Good Links
Miles Davis
Downbeat magazine has an archive of articles, images and moreThe Sound of Miles Davis
Extensive discography and background on MilesMiles Davis Official Site
Biography, discography and audio filesMiles Davis
Sony's offbeat site, with sound samples and background informationShare this:
Miles Davis Biography
In the 1940s, Miles Davis went off to New York City to study music at Julliard. He ended up playing jazz with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie instead, soon playing trumpet behind some of the biggest bandleaders of the era. As a bandleader himself during the 1950s and ’60s, his influence led to "cool" jazz and the emergence of the musician as composer and arranger. He recorded many classic albums, including Relaxin’ With Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool, and, with compositional help from Bill Evans, Kind of Blue; his 1969 Bitches Brew, merging jazz with rock and free-form improvisation, made the top 40 pop charts. Unlike many trumpeters of his era, Davis relied on tone rather than speed, often using a mute with his horn. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of the past century.
Extra credit
Many sources claim 25 May as Davis’s birth date, and some sources list 29 September as his death date.