14, 1947, with a quintet that included Parker on tenor saxophone.īut Mr. He made his first recording as a leader on Aug. It yielded the singles "Now's the Time" and "Koko." For the next few years he worked primarily with Parker, and his tentative, occasionally shaky playing evolved into a pared-down, middle-register style that created a contrast with Parker's aggressive forays. Davis recorded one of the first be-bop sessions in November 1945. Davis said later, "I played in the symphony, two notes, 'bop-bop,' every 90 bars, so I said, 'Let me out of here,' and then I left." In the fall of that year he joined Charlie Parker's quintet and dropped out of Juilliard. He also performed in the 52d Street clubs with the saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis. Davis made his first recording in May 1945 backing up a singer, Rubberlegs Williams. From them he learned the harmonic vocabulary of be-bop and began to forge a solo style. Gillespie introduced him to the coterie of be-bop musicians. He enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in September 1944, and for his first months in New York he studied classical music by day and jazz by night, in the clubs of 52d Street and Harlem. The experience made him decide to move to New York, the center of the be-bop revolution. But in 1944 the Billy Eckstine band, which then included two men who were beginning to create be-bop - Charlie Parker on alto saxophone and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet - arrived in St. Davis's parents made him turn down early offers to join big bands. Davis's mentor, and his local reputation grew quickly. Louis with Eddie Randall's Blue Devils.Ĭlark Terry, the trumpeter, one of his early idols, became Mr. He got his musicians' union card at 15 so he could perform around St. On his 13th birthday, he was given a trumpet and lessons with a local jazz musician, Elwood Buchanan. Miles Dewey Davis 3d was born May 25, 1926, in Alton, Ill., the son of an affluent dental surgeon, and grew up in East St. Yet his music was deeply collaborative: He spurred his sidemen to find their own musical voices and was inspired by them in turn. His public persona was flamboyant, uncompromising and fiercely independent he drove Ferraris and Lamborghinis and did not mince words when he disliked something. For a while, he turned his back on audiences as he played and walked offstage when he was not soloing. Davis was also known for a volatile personality and arrogant public pronouncements, and for a stage presence that could be charismatic or aloof. Musicians he discovered often moved on to innovations of their own.
Throughout his career he was grounded in the blues, but he also drew on pop, flamenco, classical music, rock, Arab music and Indian music. Davis came of age in the be-bop era many successive styles - cool jazz, hard-bop, modal jazz, jazz-rock, jazz-funk - were sparked or ratified by his example. Each phase brought denunciations from critics each, except for the most recent one, has set off repercussions throughout modern jazz. Davis never settled into one style every few years he created a new lineup and format for his groups. "I always listen to what I can leave out," he would say.Įqually important, Mr. Davis's influence lay in his phrasing and sense of space. Other trumpeters play faster and higher, but more than in any technical feats Mr. His solos, whether ruminating on a whispered ballad melody or jabbing against a beat, have been models for generations of jazz musicians.
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