Miles Davis: Life of a Musical Legend - Essay Example

? Miles Davis: Life of a Musical Legend HERE] HERE] Miles Davis is to jazz as Julia Child is to cooking. A true magician behind the microphone, his life and career have not failed to touch those who love the performance of many genres, including jazz, where his roots lay in listening to, and playing with Dizzie Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker, to rock, fusion, funk, and even in the latter stages of his career, rap and hip-hop music. Numerous musicians owe their fame to Miles Davis, whose legendary talent not only behind the microphone but in writing and arranging music gave some their first real chance at fame. Still more have been influenced by his style which was, like the man himself, utterly unique, fresh, and up-and-coming. From those that influenced him to those that he influenced, and everything in between, Miles Davis worked magic. At times daring, at times romantic, the legend of Miles Davis cannot be summed up in mere words. Miles Davis: Life of a Musical Legend Introduction The life of musician Miles Davis was extraordinary, to say the least. It was so profound that it has been marked by most not by the dates of his birth and death, but by the periods of music that he produced and the influences that he had on other musicians. These influences in and of themselves were so great that they are still felt throughout various genres of modern music today. His career spanned six decades, and became so profound that even today his music transcends time and space to bring listeners to their knees. His contributions to music have outlived his life, and the power that he held when he aspired to make music actually made magic for thousands over his lifetime and will continue to live on, quite possibly forever. Miles Dewey Davis III began life not as a legend, but as just another child. He was born in Alton, Illinois, but raised in East St. Louis (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). His father was a dentist, and his earliest memory was that of turning on a burner on the gas stove; when it lit, all of a sudden, the fear that he felt challenged him to “go forward into something that I knew nothing about” (Davis & Troupe, 1989). Influences of Music and Performers Musical influences surrounded Davis, even before he was a legendary musician. When he was thirteen, the high school band leader offered him trumpet lessons if he could obtain a trumpet, which led to his father buying him one over the objections of his mother (Davis & Troupe, 1989). Davis did not know until much later that his mother was a blues pianist, and never quite forgave her for keeping the secret from him (Davis & Troupe, 1989). This did not, however, hinder his own ability to make music. The first love of Miles Davis was jazz. He loved to “fool around” with what was called “vibrato”, and aspired to be like musician Harry James someday (Davis & Troupe, 1989). His teacher had other aspirations, and told him plainly not to play like anyone else, but to develop his own style, because he had what it took to be “his own trumpet man” (Davis & Troupe, 1989). Though at the time the words stung and wounded the impressionable young man, later he took the advice to heart (Davis & Troupe, 1989). It is plain to anyone that hears his music that he followed that advice. Early influences of performers stayed with Davis permanently. Though things were rapidly going downhill between Davis and his mother by the time he was thirteen, he still credits her with buying him two albums of musicians that he loved, Duke Ellington and Art Tatum (Davis & Troupe, 1989). Louis Armstrong also helped to influence Davis, but not in such a way that was personal to him (Kahn, 2000). More so were musicians Eddie Randle and Billy Eckstein, who allowed Davis the chance to play with their bands as an unproven youth (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). His greatest influences, however, were Dizzie Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker; when he first heard the duet play jazz together in East St. Louis, Illinois, he described it as “the greatest feeling I ever had in my life (with my clothes on)” (Davis & Troupe, 1989). From that moment on, he aspired to be like both of them. The Style and Music of Miles Davis The style and music of a legend such as Miles Davis cannot be summed up in a word. To do so in even a paragraph requires concentrated effort. When his name is mentioned, words such as “innovative”, “cool”, “driving”, and “magical” are tossed out in a feeble attempt to explain what, exactly, could happen when Davis made his music (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Without a doubt, his style was jazz, especially improvisational jazz, but even that falls far short of describing it (Kahn, 2000). Those that knew Davis in the early 1950s would say that he was “firmly rooted in bebop.” (Luce). But what began as jazz and “bebop”, even the “hard-bop” that is heard on his first album, moved into something new and fresh, something deeper, spreading out over genres to influence not only future jazz players but movements in music and performance, including voyages into funk, R&B, electric instrumentation and, towards the end of his career, hip-hop and rap (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Perhaps the easiest way to describe the style of Miles Davis was to say that it was the style of Miles Davis, a style that was his own (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Like Davis himself, who cannot be summed up in one word, neither can his style. Miles Davis: A Six Decade Career The career of Miles Davis included music released over six decades and is far easier to describe in terms of general periods than individual songs, so great was (and is) the depth and scope behind it. It began at a young age; within a year of being accepted to Juilliard in New York, which some maintain was just a ploy to get to New York and make his mark on the jazz scene, he was recording on 52nd Street with his idol Charlie Parker, as well as Dizzie Gillespie, Bud Powell, Duke Jordan, and J.J. Johnson in succeeding years (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Both men encouraged Davis, and helped to make him the legend that he became. Davis already had several bands to his name before arriving in New York. He had played in East St. Louis as a teenager with Eddie Randle and the Rhumboogie Orchestra, a job that he auditioned for on a dare (Kahn, 2000). He had been allowed to play with Billy Eckstein and his band when the trumpet player was out sick for two solid weeks (Kahn, 2000). When with the Rhumboogie Orchestra, he had been responsible for not only making music but also allowed to write and arrange it, and in general had managed the band, many of whom had day jobs and could not devote the extra time to such tasks (Davis & Troupe, 1989). He soon became known as someone with innovation and pride, as well as someone that could put together a band, on top of which he had “a great ear” for listening to what instruments and music would work well together (Kahn, 2000). At the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, he was discovered by Columbia Records and signed to a contract (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). It was the beginning in which the world would come to know the genius of Miles Davis. What began as jazz would end as something more. His first period, known as the Kind of Blue period, comprises years from 1955 to 1961 and showcases work done with his first quintet, as well as his style of the time, which was bebop, hard-bop, and jazz (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Though he spent time composing original music, he also gave his own style to popular songs of the day such as “My Funny Valentine” and “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” (Luce). Davis made his first lasting mark on jazz with one album. What is considered one of the greatest jazz recordings of all time, Kind of Blue, was released during this time, a result of an attitude that was not only focused on the music, but with romantic aspirations (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Critics regard it as a “stylistic milestone”, and to those who love jazz and to those who do not, the album is thought of as some truly wonderful music (Kahn, 2000). The legacy of Kind of Blue is but one album that outlives Davis to this day. From there, the Sketches of Spain period, during the years of 1957 to 1968, features Miles Davis and Gil Evans coming together to blend jazz and classical music into a sound that would further define Davis throughout his career (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). The Sketches of Spain album is considered the best example of the effort between the two musicians (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). With powerful and exciting music, including a one-album sidetrack into Brazilian-style music, Davis emerged from this period ready for where the next part of his music journey would take him (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). It was also during this period that a short interlude overlaps, the Second Great Quintet Period, from 1965 to 1968, in which Davis once again used his musical genius and ear for talent to put together a quintet of musicians that would blend both the traditions of past jazz and go forward into the future of it (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). The music ranged from “daring” and “ferocious” on his album Miles Smiles, to “mysterious” and “impressionistic” on albums such as Sorcerer and Nefertiti (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). It was also during The Second Great Quintet period that Davis began to add electric instruments, including the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, to the music (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). This period, above all others, moved Davis forward in the music world. It also helped to define his next period. The Electric Period, in which Davis combined jazz with rock, fusion, and funk, would span the years of 1968 to 1972 (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). During this period electric instruments were used almost exclusively, including electric keyboards, electric bass, and electric guitar, adding in other instruments for effect (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). He pushed the limits of jazz and rock, and it was during this time that his band is regarded as being at its peak, in all of its writing, arranging, and performing (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). The album Bitches’ Brew garnered fame in and of itself for showcasing nearly every performer of the 1970s, and has been marked as the great divide between “jazz tradition and jazz mutation” (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Perhaps, however, it is his last album which was his greatest, Get Up With It, which was released in 1978, the same year that he retired from active playing (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Miles would not stay silent for long. In 1980 he mounted a comeback, complete with a new band and a contemporary sound (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). He toured the country playing his music and was finally able to reach young audiences, a thing that had eluded him up to that point (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Miles released a final album for Columbia Records in 1985, and was honored by recording an arrangement with a full orchestra put together especially for him and his musical style (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). But he was still not done quite yet. Miles began recording once again, this time under a different label. Warner Brothers would help him to release his final albums, including two collaborations, and his final album Doo-Bop in 1991, which featured some hip-hop along with his famous jazz (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). His legend was by this time so great that even after his death, the title song from the album gave him a #1 hit in rap/R&B (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). His legend endures to this day in boxed sets, re-recorded masterpieces, and treasure troves of music. The Influence of Miles Davis The stellar music of Miles Davis is not heard and felt through Davis alone. With his ear for music and an almost otherworldly talent for sensing what was up-and-coming, Davis recruited and influenced a number of artists, almost too many to be listed. John Coltrane was one, and considered a musician whose playing style was not popular until he had played for a time with Davis (Luce). Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was another, who joined the already-successful quintet of Miles Davis in the late 1950s on alto saxophone (Luce). Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb, also members of the first quintet, each became musical forces in their own right, due to Davis and the Kind of Blue recording (Luce). His band in the 1980s also included many musicians that went on to become famous, including Marcus Miller, Bill Evans, and Mino Cinelu (Sony Music Entertainment, 2012). Again, there are far too many that became sensations due to being a part of the music of Miles Davis to list, and even more than became famous because of listening to his music. Part of this is that listing these musicians, just as trying to describe Davis, becomes inadequate after a point. Words cannot do justice to his work, his music, and his life, as well as to the feelings that he produced in others that simply sat down to listen to what he had once played. It must be enough to know that his music was able to touch all that heard it, and help them to become better in their own right. Conclusion: The End of an Era The life of Miles Davis finally came to an end. On September 28, 1991, Miles Davis passed away quietly in Santa Monica, California (Luce). Never again would he bring his innovation to the studios, never again would he scout talent that might one day become famous from having known or worked with him. But his music lives on, in boxed sets and recordings, in books and soundtracks and in the memories of those that knew him best, as well as in the music of those who have chosen to listen and be just as he was. Though his life was done, his legend was not, and it would not be outside of the realm of exaggeration to say that it never will. References Davis, M., & Troupe, Q. (1989). Miles: The autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster. Luce, J. (n.d.). Miles Davis: Miles' styles. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/miles_styles.html Kahn, A. (2000). Kind of blue: The making of a Miles Davis masterpiece. New York: Harper Collins. Sony Music Entertainment. (2012). The official Miles Davis site. Retrieved from http://www.milesdavis.com/us Read More