Modern jazz largely owes its stripes to Miles Davis…
Challenging and unpredictable, Davis’ career was made by pushing the limits of what jazz was capable of, and added unprecedented depth to how it can be enjoyed. At the front line of several critical developments in jazz music, from cool jazz in the 1940s to jazz fusion in the 60s-80s, he’s a household name for a reason.
With his distinctly rough-round-the-edges tone, Davis’ trumpet bounds through time signatures and complex melodies, steering us through a whirlwind of beats, tones, and hi-hats that’s at once deliberate and manic. At another time, it might be slow, purposeful, and lingering; at another, smooth and easy.
His magnum opus, Kind of Blue reached quadruple platinum in sales on October, 2008, after being released in 1959. By many, it’s considered the finest jazz record ever made; as well as one of the most influential.
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Miles Davis, New York, 1958
Photo by: Robert W. Kelley © Life Picture Collection
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Miles Davis Live in New York 1982
Photo by: George Lange
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Miles Davis, 1958
Photo by: Robert W. Kelley © Life Picture Collection
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Miles Davis Smoking
Photo by: Robert W. Kelley © Life Picture Collection
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Miles Davis and his Trumpet
Photo by: AGIP / Bridgeman Images
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Miles Davis at the Civic Opera House
Photo by: Ted Williams
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Miles Davis at the Newport Jazz Festival
Photo by: David Redfern
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Miles at Birdland
Photo by: Bridgeman Images
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Miles Davis, 1959
Photo by: Bridgeman Images
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Miles Davis French Knight
Photo by: Bridgeman Images
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Jeanne Moreau and Miles Davis
Photo by: AGIP / Bridgeman Images
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Miles Davis at Hammersmith
Photo by: Stephen Wright
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