Trumpet | 1926-1991

Miles Davis grew up in East St. Louis, received a trumpet at thirteen from his father, a dentist, dropped out of Juilliard to play bebop on 52nd Street, and spent two years in Charlie Parker's quintet before leading his own sessions. The Birth of the Cool nonet recordings (Capitol, 1949-50) introduced a spacious, orchestral approach to jazz improvisation that became the foundation of cool jazz. After overcoming a heroin addiction in 1954, he performed a breakthrough solo set at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival and signed with Columbia Records. The first great quintet, with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, produced "Kind of Blue" (1959), built on modal scales rather than chord changes and now RIAA certified five-times platinum as the best-selling jazz album ever recorded. The second great quintet, with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams (1964-68), developed a rhythmically open approach that made the relationship between melody, harmony and time genuinely fluid. "Bitches Brew" (Columbia, 1970), recorded with electric instruments, studio editing and a rotating cast of musicians including Shorter, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, founded jazz fusion and divided critics who had followed him across every previous change. A 1972 car accident led to a five-year retirement. He returned in 1981 and performed until weeks before his death. Davis died in Santa Monica, California on 28 September 1991, aged 65.