Influence of Miles Davis on Jazz Music - Essay Example

Influence of Miles Davis on Jazz music Music has frequently helped in tracing the changes in the community culture and thesociety overall. During 1950s, America experienced an era of turmoil and change. People who were powerful were emerging from the African American communities who were dedicated to supporting the argument for equal rights. These powerful people did this by giving voice to the people. Through Jazz music, someone like Miles Davis presented the will of the people. The transitions of the genre jazz are a combination of Miles Davis own personal experiences and are a reflection of the American culture (Alexander and Rucker 185). Davis stands out to be one of the leading figures of jazz even though it is impossible to isolate a peculiar point of reference for the origin. According to Kart, Davis was a bandleader, music innovator, trumpet player and in simple terms “the only jazz superstar” (201). The main purpose of this essay, however, is to examine the influence that Davis had on jazz development by examining Davis involvement at significant junctures in jazzs evolution. The essay will particularly focus on the stylistic innovations that Davis brought to jazz. In addition, one could examine the role of Davis in the development of bop, cool, fusion, and modal jazz. Moreover, Davis will be analysed in the essay in relation to the way historians and critics have received his contribution to musical style of jazz. Because of Davis childhood experience of prejudice and racial oppression, he changed the course genre of jazz in part; thus being an innovator. However, not only did Davis has become a role model for future musicians, but also gave listeners a chance to glimpse the oppressed world of American through music. Both the music and personality were highly influenced by quite a number of events and experiences during youthful years. Davis was born on 1926 May 26th in Alton, Illinois. Davis father, Miles Dewey Davis II, did not only influence him to rise in the music world. The dad did on influence Davis role as an activist for the Black Power Movement (Davis and Troupe 12). Because Davis father played a part in community politics, Davis claimed that some of his responsibilities as a politician moved over to him and his siblings. The people in the community expected Davis siblings to do something important of them. According to Davis, this treatment helped him to have a positive attitude about himself. Although Davis was respected and privileged among the black community, his young life was filled with violence and hatred. While, in high school, Davis could compete with in musical competitions; however, he would lose to his white peers. Because of the frequent loss in the musical competition, Davis decided to outdo anyone bringing competition. The prejudice facing Davis made him have so much drive in his work; it was truly a defining era in his career. Known to some as a virtuosic trumpet player, Davis stood as one of the basic figures in the genre of jazz and has been characterized by the uniqueness and quality of his sound. Also, has been known for his great ability of improvisation. The testament for his achievements as a music genius and dedication is his level of excellence. The fact that he changed his mind several times radically throughout his music life appeals for curiosity. The original approach of Davis to music was not symbolic; instead, it displayed his time of tutelage and the overall artistic talent. The use of this jazz style at the time was more classical as it showed the artist’s range as he entertains his audiences. It was in 1944 when a revolution of jazz was currently in progress. Bebop was a revolt against racial injustice, commercialism, the big bands and the jazzs restrictive harmonic framework that was in style at that time. In this era, Davis played a substantial role in the revolution and not as a founding father or pioneer, but rather as a participant. He worked with notable figures such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. Dizzy Gillespie spent time watching Davis hence influencing Davis in his bebop style. It is in this time he learned informal tutelage, bop’s arcane language by imitation and constant jamming alongside players (McConnell 617). Some of Davis’ earliest bebop is evident from Herbie Field group recordings. The music is cheerful and upbeat, which is an example of a classic of the time. Davis worked together with composer and arranger Evans Gil in 1948, and the Claude Thornhill band. The band was operating with ‘layered harmonic voicing’, but Davis brought in the French horn and tuba and, therefore, he played them as ‘melodic as opposed to playing them as rhythm instruments (Alexander and Rucker 185). Later Davis took the leadership of the band and secured a contract with Capital records and gig for the nine-piece. The song the recorded from 1949 to 1950 were put together the 1954 album Birth of the Cool. The album founded the ‘cool’ sound and showed the way for the 1950s sound. One cut from Birth of the Cool, Boplicity, can be identified as the one that marked the transition of bop to cool (Smith 41). Cool’s tempo reduced. However, it still exhibited characteristics of Bop. Cool included the light drumming style, the significant of the bass to keep the beat and the quintessential trademark of bop that resembles the unison playing of the piece in the beginning. The change to cool style was due to the influence by classical Western music. However, even after Davis being the innovator of cool, he was among the first in turning away from it with the 1954 recording, Walking, which is, a twelve-bar blues known as hard bop. Introduction of Cool was at a time when people did not recognize Cool as a white man’s music. The audience embraced hard pop as a welcome return to the soul and that it was representing a return to the jazz roots, especially jazz roots in black gospel music. During this period, Davis came out as the dominant influence in Jazz. Davis was a trumpet stylist and the bestselling music artist with a huge audience for authentic jazz. He was a leader capable of launching significant new trends and introducing innovative music artists who influenced the future of Jazz. Most importantly, Davis had started developing playing styles that characterized much of his subsequent work, which include borrowing from his cool era the softer tone, and slowing the melodic activity down (Sales 163). By the year 1958, he had started using modal scales and moving harmonies that were slow. For an instant, instead of weaving a melody through funk harmonies or a complex bop, he suspended his melodies with respect to early forms, which were above the harmony. The jazz modal technique had a profound impact of the future genre of jazz. Davis was not the inventor of modal jazz, but he popularized it. Davis’ work that exemplifies modal sound is the Kind of Blue recorded in 1959. Kind of Blue album came to be the most selling jazz album of all time. In 2009, a resolution was passed by the US House of Representatives to honour the album and declared that jazz would be a national treasure (Alexander and Rucker 185). After the release of "Kind of Blue", it revealed modality being an entirely new creative tool, thus giving unprecedented latitude to jazz musicians in developing improvised solos (McConnell 617). While most of the references define the style in relation to static harmonies, a deeper analysis shows that Davis introduced modal jazz on the primary goal of melodic freedom. There is a relaxation of the harmonic constraints in modal composition. The Trumpet players created formulaic solos. Modal also introduce a new level of rhythmic flexibility that allowed improvisers to think more melodically. It provided musicians the freedom to combine and choose from several notes. These factors enabled modal jazz to be a perfect environment for melodic ingeniousness. However, the modal jazz idea was not entirely the work of Davis; it emerged during the shifting of jazz style of which Davis was part of and expressed his unique voice. Davis ideas regarding the tonality laid the basis for modal thing. The album influenced jazz education and improvisation. Modern pedagogical practices are evident in the approaches used by performances in the album such as improvisation curricula and method books. Therefore, it means that Davis influence the study of modal jazz that include the harmonic development stages of Miles Davis. From 1969 to 1975, Davis experienced the most productive stage of his career. This time, Davis wanted to expand the idea of adding or including more instruments in a jazz band. Multiple rock and roll musicians of 1960 were infusing in their music jazz elements; thus providing Davis with the palate that he would construct the unique fusion band that he had pioneered since the late sixties and early seventies. He wanted to test what specific instruments were capable of being played in a jazz band. Davis constant desire and curiosity of finding the sound in his mind was unending; therefore, it saw him add electrified instruments in his band as well as adding sitars, bass oboes among other instruments. The traditional sextets and quartets of bass, drum for rhythm, guitar or piano for accompaniment and horns for soloing were booted out. This was in favour of bands, which had two drummers, percussion three electric keyboards or any that Davis saw fit in the band. This fusion era included Davis further experimentation and innovation. In the face of rock and roll ascendancy, Davis started innovating electronics and rock aesthetic. Electric keyboard was also as well as his trumpet wah-wah effect pedal. The effect brought in musicians who had experience on rock into his band (Kart 205). Davis wanted to use the rock beat in order to hold his audience attention, regardless of how non-figurative some of the solos were. In addition, at the time he was evolving his studio technique by starting to adopt the rock recording method. All the groups that ware able to create great Jazz Fusion bands, they all got the idea to start playing from Davis. However, it meant that Davis was dismantling the idea of what Jazz was really about, the original jazz. Jazz Fusion has rock influences; the music was ambient, it was electronic, it hand funk rhythms and most importantly it was all what Davis wanted it to be. Also, at the time he was evolving his studio technique by starting to adopt the rock recording method, whereby he would record a large amount of material and edit it on tape and; therefore, creating albums. Such recordings included the Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way (Alexander and Rucker 185). Nevertheless, critics divide into a direction that Davis took some arguing that his foray into fusion was a cynical way of grabbing a piece of the rock action. Regardless of whether the critics were right or not, it is a fact that the fusion movement has remained much alive until today. It is an evidence of the extent in which Davis exerted on the future generation. Since the formation of rock, jazz has greatly contributed to its music whereby rock keyboardists often got their training from jazz, or drew primary key stylistic from the influence of jazz. These include the jazz bass techniques that were seen in rock arrangements and several conceptions of jazz improvisation were harmonized into rock bands’ styles. It is important to note that jazz became an inherent influence in the psychedelic, a brand of rock improvisational for FM radio stations in the populated San Francisco and music festivals in late 1960. Such giant musician as Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and The Byrds had been incorporating melodies, chord progression and instrumental cut from genre of jazz directly into their music while recording and in the shows in the coming years (Smith 53). Through each of Davis’ stylistic incarnations, he gained support of a cohort of able musicians, such as John Coltrage, Wayne Shorter and Bill Evans. They also developed new styles and made a difference in music history of jazz. Apart from Davis’ trumpet playing legacy, his legacy drives from being capable of assembling the right musician whenever he needed them. Thus, the leadership skills of extracting the best results grow in his own (Alexander and Rucker 185). Therefore, there is no doubt how music critics and historians revere him as the most influential music figure in jazz history as well as American music. Regardless of whether it is Davis’ ability of coming up with new directions, assimilating their attributes or popularizing his new styles, he certainly was an unorthodox amongst musicians. His exceptional intellectual ability and originality depended on his capability of constructing and manipulating improvisational probabilities, choosing and combining players, musical styles, compositions and other performance parameters (Smith 49). Critics argue that Davis usually missed more notes than any significant trumpet player did. However, it is this raggedness and raw, primal nature of playing that characterized Davis’ personal life that was contributory to his inner expression. This flawed technique was evident of a glimpse that he often gave to the audience of the raw emotional world emanated from the music. One essential incident that made Davis change greatly in his overall personality and musical style was when he recognized that he could use his influence in the music industry on a political level (Monson 54). The incident would later be the ‘Bird land incident,’ whereby Davis had been beaten by a white police officer because of escorting a white woman into a taxi. When the case was brought to the judge, it was dropped, therefore, left Davis with an endless sense of cynicism. The incident sent a shocking ripple through the world of music. When he met a trumpet player from South Africa and told him about the incident with the police officer, he was a hero in South Africa. Davis realized the extent of his music voice and political influence. The combination of Davis early sense of privilege and the discrimination incident that drove him into the funk that defied all traditional music rules by representing rebelliousness of the black community to expected roles of the race. After Davis had played much of white halls, he brought young kid into his music so that they could be dancers. At this time, Davis started playing for audiences that he could inspire and relate. Davis interest was in developing black sound jazz that is more rhythmic and funk instead of white rock. At this point, Davis was on a trend of bringing music that he could relate to, and that would affect truth and power to the African American community; just like the Wailers and Bob Marley. During this period, the jazz life of Davis begun to stand less for the racially anticipated genre of black musicians and more like a symbol for unity, power and strength (Monson 57). Davis filled the role of one who could voice the opinions of the community. Just like the fighting for civil rights, genre of jazz music was itself turning into a resistance with Davis being the primary leader. Just as the way the civil right group struggled in the fight for rights and freedom, jazz musicians also passed through defiance and resistance. Therefore, it is clear that Davis and his fellow jazz musician are a reflection of the revolution of civil rights through art. Older fans and critics of jazz did not understand immediately of the transition of Davis from classic to funk since he defied all the traditional rules of music. However, Davis did this so that he can target the oppressed African-American audience, which quickly related to the new-fangled rebellious style. With the use of studio editing, Davis and his producer Teo Maceo, they created compositions that did not play live in the studio, but came from multiple overdubs and takes. An example of this is the Bitches Brew, which comprised extended takes that featured in-numerous edits and overdubs. Jack Johnson is effectively a sound montage that comprises of shards of dozens of takes of unlike compositions (Davis and Troupe 316). Davis took on stage this concept by rejecting the idea of breaks in between songs and rather performed single, seamless music pieces. The first musician who commented on his innovative style was a soul musician, Mtume. He said that when they recorded In Concert, which was Live at Philharmonic Hall, was the first time he realizes the divide that Davis was creating. He said that by adopting Davis’ innovative style, at the end of the concert, what all the spectators could do was to stare. The young individuals were happy because of the new level of music. It seemed that they had not heard anything like that in their lives, and they loved the technique. According to Mtume, it was a breaking point for them to see how the audience had connected with them. The new musical approach that Miles Davis had introduced had helped in demonstrating the real world changes. It is by showing the difference between the old world that filled with hatred of the new musical style and a new generation, accepting audience. Bitches Brew album of 1970 is the best example of Davis’ style and influence. Throughout the album, the influence of African-American and back to the roots style included beats and drums emphasized alongside the trumpet playing of Davis (Monson 57). In addition, the audience can hear the influence of the closest friends of Davis at the time, for an instant electric guitar style of Jimi Hendrix and James Brown strong electric funk beats. His musical style influenced such musicians as Mos Def, Prince and Santanna. Davis’ transition from pleasing artistic standards in 1958, Milestones, to the funk rhythms of 1970, Bitches Brew, helps depict the power of a music artist’s influence (Alexander and Rucker 185). Also, depicts the everlasting changes brought from the life and works of Davis. The today’s audience love the fact that artists are coming up with new things in jazz and also breaking boundaries. This is all because of Miles Davis for his desire and persistence for innovation. He continuously made it clear to his audience that he was in search of new sounds and improved ways of expressing himself and create a deep connection with his audience (Monson 61). Therefore, the creation of blueprint was for the idea of innovating jazz. The music of Davis can teach us, lead one into a positive direction. Therefore, it up the modern band leaders, most importantly the younger generation who have copious support from the music industry, unlike people like Davis, to identify those few particular music collaborators and draw out their creative and innovative input, extracting from their expertise. In conclusion, it is clear that Miles Davis was a very influential music artist who transformed jazz. Many ethnomusicologist, jazz musicians and historians view Davis in his music professional career as one of constant transition. Because of being on a quest for new music sound, Because of being on quest for new music sound, Davis influenced the course of bebop, cool jazz, hard bob, modal jazz, and funk forever (Alexander and Rucker 185). Experiences that made him reach the top of the music spectrum include understanding that his music could influence politics. The discussion has clearly depicted the influence of Davis in the development of the genre of jazz in America. His involvement in the development of jazz is through the stylistic innovations that Davis brought to jazz. He played much importance in its development in every phase. Jazz critics and historians have been in complete agreement that Miles Davis was one of the most influential people in jazz history. They pointed out that his musical ability, the gift he had of bringing talented musicians together and his sense for a change in music. His legacy continues to manifest through his music until now. The intimacy of his horn as he communicates with his listeners directly and personally with whispered messages that seem to come from another universe. Before the entrance of Davis in genre of jazz, the audience did not celebrate music innovation. Jazz was standardized, which mean that the artist was to follow certain standards in creating songs. Before Davis, new ideas in jazz were not welcomed or entirely needed, as there would be no audience to listen. However, because of Davis’ influence on jazz, today jazz music does not have any more rules and innovation among musicians is celebrated and welcomed. Works Cited Davis Miles, and Quincy Troupe. Miles, the Autobiography: New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Print. Kart, L. Jazz in Search of Itself; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004. Leslie M Alexander and Walter C Rucker Jr. Encyclopaedia of African American History Vol. 3 American Ethic Experience; ABC-CLIO: 2010, 185-186, ISBN 1851097740, 9781851097746 McConnell, F. “The Prince of Darkness: Miles Davis R.I.P.” Commonweal, 118 (18): 1991, 616-617. Print. Monson, Ingrid. Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights out of Jazz and Africa. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print. Sales, G. Jazz: America’s Classical Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992. Smith, C. “A Sense of the Possible: Miles Davis and the Semiotics of Improvised Performance”. The Drama Review, 39 (3): 1995, 41-55. Read More