Miles Davis
When one steps back to gain a more global view of the history of jazz, several figures loom large above all the rest. Miles Davis can easily be argued as the leading historical personality among giants of jazz. There are many jazz musicians who nourished the developing jazz canon, but none were as consistently influential over their entire career. As we have seen , jazz can be viewed as a series of overlapping stylistic shifts. Davis can be found at the inception of, not one, but several of the significant stylistic periods- cool,modal,jazz-rock fusion, and even a short experiment with jazz-pop.
Davis's persona was also unique. It was at times aloof, penetrating, and aesthetically confident. As a result, he was able to capable of marshaling the talents of marquee players to explore new jazz frontiers. At the same time, Davis developed his own signature trumpet sound, which is immediately recognized by jazz listeners. Davis's prominence in the jazz scene was not paralleled by the stereotypical attributes, poverty, and prodigious talent normally associated with leading jazz players. He was born of relatively affluent family in 1926 and was even able to attend Juilliard for a short time in 1944. He was never a highly polished trumpet player in technical terms, but he had an aggressive nature that continually pushed him to the forefront of jazz developments. He reigned there despite dramatic musical changes inside and outside the jazz world.
Davis was unique in his ability to sense new directions, assimilate their attributes, and then popularize the newly fused style. As a personality, his outspoken nature was sometimes as strident as his music was definitive. In many ways, he was a maverick among jazz musicians. His intensely introspective if not melancholy playing style was characterized by expressions that can be perceived as technical blunders when contrasted to the lineage of trumpet virtuosos such as Armstrong and Gillespie. Yet these same flaws...
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