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Miles Dewey Davis III
Alton (Illinois), United States
Archival Overview
Visionary trumpeter and bandleader who spearheaded almost every major development in modern jazz—from bebop and cool jazz (Birth of the Cool) to modal jazz (Kind of Blue, the best-selling jazz album in history) and jazz-rock fusion (Bitches Brew).
Biographical Record
Miles Dewey Davis III (1926–1991) was the undisputed restless chameleon of 20th-century music. Playing with Charlie Parker at nineteen, Davis quickly rebelled against fast, hyper-complex bebop to pioneer *Cool Jazz* with his 1949 Birth of the Cool nonet recordings.
With his Harmon mute and breathy, introspective lyricism, Davis formed his legendary First Great Quintet with John Coltrane. In 1959, he recorded Kind of Blue, which revolutionized music by replacing rigid chord progressions with meditative modal scales (*modal jazz*), becoming the best-selling and most critically acclaimed jazz album of all time. Never looking back, Davis shocked the musical establishment again in 1969 with In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, electrifying jazz and inventing jazz-rock fusion.
Key Life Milestones
Release of Kind of Blue
Released the definitive modal jazz masterpiece Kind of Blue, universally heralded as the greatest jazz album ever made.
Release of Bitches Brew and the Electric Fusion Revolution
Released the double album Bitches Brew, fusing jazz improvisation with electric rock instrumentation and African percussion.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialSanta Monica (California), United States