Sir. Miles Dewey Davis III Did More for Modern Music Than You Ever Thought
(All Photographs : Courtesy of the Miles Davis Estate Miles in Paris 1946)
Miles Davis Did More for Modern Music Than You Ever Thought. Miles in Paris 1946
Photo credit: Jean-Pierre Leloir.
Sir. Miles Dewey Davis III the African-American bandleader and composer was born on 26th May 1926. He attended Julliard School of Music and was at the forefront of jazz musicians for decades, setting trends and exploring musical styles.
Among his many influential recordings are: 'Birth of the Cool' 'Kind of Blue' 'Sketches of Spain' and 'In a Silent Way'. Davis' music will be remembered for its profound depth of feeling and intricacy.
He won many prizes and honors during his lifetime including a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1984; he received Denmark's prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize and in 1989, and he was also awarded the Grande Médaille de Vermeil by the city of Paris.
Davis died on 28th September 1991. In December 2009 a congressional resolution was unanimously passed to honor the album 'Kind of Blue' on its 50th anniversary;~ Rashid Booker " The Jazz Aficionado"
(All Photographs : Courtesy of the Miles Davis Estate Miles in Paris 1946)
New York City and the Bebop Scene (1944–1948)
In the fall of 1944, following graduation from high school, Davis moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School of Music. Upon arriving in New York, he spent most of his first weeks in town trying to get in contact with Charlie Parker, despite being advised against doing so by several people he met during his quest, including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Tommy Potter, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Max Roach, August 1947 Miles Dewey Davis III at the age of 18-19 years old, On The New York Scene with Charlie Yard Bird Parker ~ The founder of Modern So-Called Jazz. #HighArt
Finally locating his idol, Davis became one of the cadre of musicians who held nightly jam sessions at two of Harlem's nightclubs, Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's. The group included many of the future leaders of the bebop revolution: young players such as Fats Navarro, Freddie Webster, and J. J. Johnson. Established musicians includingThelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke were also regular participants.
Davis dropped out of Juilliard after asking permission from his father. In his autobiography, Davis criticized the Juilliard classes for centering too much on the classical European and "white" repertoire. However, he also acknowledged that, in addition to greatly improving his trumpet playing technique, Juilliard helped give him a grounding in music theory that would prove valuable in later years.
Davis began playing professionally, performing in several 52nd Street clubs with Coleman Hawkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. In 1945, he entered a recording studio for the first time, as a member of Herbie Fields's group.
This was the first of many recordings Davis contributed to in this period, mostly as a sideman.
He finally got the chance to record as a leader in 1946, with an occasional group called the Miles Davis Sextet plus Earl Coleman and Ann Hathaway—one of the rare occasions when Davis, by then a member of the groundbreaking Charlie Parker Quintet, can be heard accompanying singers.
In these early years, recording sessions where Davis was the leader were the exception rather than the rule; his next date as leader would not come until 1947.
Around 1945, Dizzy Gillespie parted ways with Parker, and Davis was hired as Gillespie's replacement in his quintet, which also featured Max Roach on drums, Al Haig(replaced later by Sir Charles Thompson and Duke Jordan) on piano, and Curley Russell (later replaced by Tommy Potter and Leonard Gaskin) on bass.
With Parker's quintet, Davis went into the studio several times, already showing hints of the style he would become known for. On an oft-quoted take of Parker's signature song, "Now's the Time", Davis takes a melodic solo, whose unbop-like quality anticipates the "cool jazz" period that followed. The Parker quintet also toured widely.
During a stop in Los Angeles, Parker had a nervous breakdown that landed him in the Camarillo State Mental Hospital for several months, and Davis found himself stranded.
He roomed and collaborated for some time with bassist Charles Mingus, before getting a job on Billy Eckstine's California tour, which eventually brought him back to New York. In 1948, Parker returned to New York, and Davis rejoined his group.
Davis dropped out of Juilliard after asking permission from his father. In his autobiography, Davis criticized the Juilliard classes for centering too much on the classical European and "white" repertoire. However, he also acknowledged that, in addition to greatly improving his trumpet playing technique, Juilliard helped give him a grounding in music theory that would prove valuable in later years.
Davis began playing professionally, performing in several 52nd Street clubs with Coleman Hawkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. In 1945, he entered a recording studio for the first time, as a member of Herbie Fields's group. This was the first of many recordings Davis contributed to in this period, mostly as a sideman.
He finally got the chance to record as a leader in 1946, with an occasional group called the Miles Davis Sextet plus Earl Coleman and Ann Hathaway—one of the rare occasions when Davis, by then a member of the groundbreaking Charlie Parker Quintet, can be heard accompanying singers. In these early years, recording sessions where Davis was the leader were the exception rather than the rule; his next date as leader would not come until 1947.
Around 1945, Dizzy Gillespie parted ways with Parker, and Davis was hired as Gillespie's replacement in his quintet, which also featured Max Roach on drums, Al Haig(replaced later by Sir Charles Thompson and Duke Jordan) on piano, and Curley Russell (later replaced by Tommy Potter and Leonard Gaskin) on bass. with Parker's quintet, Davis went into the studio several times, already showing hints of the style he would become known for.
Miles the first to experiment with Modal Jazz: The Great African-American Classical Art-Form Sir. Miles Dewey Davis III aka "Chief" co-founder of three schools of so-called Jazz --cool, hard-bop and fusion. Photo ©1989 Jeff Sedlik #HighArt Modal Jazz is not so much a style of jazz as it is a structure. Before the advent of modal music in the '50s, solo improvisations were based around the specific key of a piece -- that is, its tonal center, the starting point to which its melodies and chord progressions would return for a feeling of resolution or completeness.
Modal improvisations, on the other hand, were based on modes, or scales -- but not just the typical major and minor scales familiar to nearly all musicians. The most commonly used modes did relate to major scales, though; each note in the scale was also the first note of a new mode, which would incorporate all of the notes in the original major scale, but sounded different because the new starting point rearranged the order of distances between notes.
At a White House dinner party in 1987, a politician's wife made the mistake of asking Miles Davis why jazz was essentially dead in America. "Jazz is ignored here because the white man likes to win everything," Davis answered in his typically terse and brutal manner. Shaken, she fired back: "Well, what have you done that's so important in your life? Why are you here?"
"Well, I've changed music five or six times," he told her, "What have you done of any importance other than be white — and that ain't important to me — so tell me what your claim to fame is?"
Six is a low-ball estimate as to how many times Davis changed music. This scene, which Davis relays in his autobiography, is one of the most vivid illustrations of Davis' fierce pride on record. But he could back it up.
Davis was so intent on pushing the boundaries of his art that he changed the course of music in the process. He may have been a jazz musician, but he was fundamental to nearly all of modern music.
Rashid The Jazz Africionado Booker, keeping the idiom alive.
