Miles Davis

What instrument did Miles Davis play?

Miles Davis played the trumpet. Though for a period of five years starting in ’75, he didn’t play any instrument at all. But while Davis is by far most recognized as a trumpeter, he also played Flugelhorn on Sketches of Spain, and was a talented piano player, playing keyboards frequently during his “electric period”. Miles also occasionally played synthesizer. 
» Discover why Miles Davis stopped playing music

What is Miles Davis most famous album? 

Why is Kind of Blue so important? 

Before Kind of Blue, Jazz music was almost universally defined by what we call the “bebop” style. But after almost fifteen years of playing bebop’s wild chord changes in smokey jazz bars coast to coast, Miles was ready to move on to something different. 

So Miles recorded a near-180 degree difference from that fast-paced chord-heavy bebop style to a much more jammy and airy style, focusing on just a couple of chords. The change was a hit. It taught the world that Jazz could be experimental, and different. Miles’ album sparked the “modal Jazz” revolition, that you could use scales instead of chord changes. 
» Dive deeper into the origin of Miles Davis’ KIND OF BLUE

What was Miles Davis’ Electric Period? 

Starting around 1968, Miles Davis abandoned acoustic jazz and began to favor electric instruments. He was inspired by the sounds of funk and rock n roll. So as he’d done numerous times in his life, Miles changed up his sound.

It was very controversial at the time, with Jazz critics accusing him of selling out, but with albums like Bitches Brew, Tribute to Jack Johnson and On The Corner, Miles proved them wrong.
» The interesting story behind BITCHES BREW 

Did Miles Davis play with John Coltrane?

John Coltrane: “I get going and I just can’t stop. I don’t know how.”
Miles Davis: “Try taking the saxophone out of your mouth.”

The collaboration between John Coltrane and Miles Davis is one of the greatest in music. Coltrane was part of Miles’ first great quintet, playing sideman to Miles for about five years from 1955-1960 until he started his solo career with the landmark album Giant Steps in 1960. Coltrane’s resulting album releases are among the greatest in Jazz.  

Coltrane came back for one final collaboration with Miles Davis on Miles’ 1961 track “Someday My Prince Will Come”.

When and where was Miles Davis born, and where did he die?

Miles Dewey Davis III was born on May 26, 1926, in Alton, Illinois, though he was raised in nearby East St. Louis, where his father was a successful dental surgeon.

He died at the age of 65 on September 28, 1991, at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California from a stroke and respritory failure. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetary in the Bronx, NYC.