May 25th marks what would have been the 80th birthday of one of the most influential personalities in the history of jazz whose legacy permeates the entire contemporary music scene. Miles Davis was a dominant presence throughout the second half of the 20th century and, although he was not a virtuoso player, his musical insight, partly instinctive and partly intellectual, coupled with an irrepressibly revolutionary spirit, continually led him towards new horizons and placed him in the vanguard of new musical movements.

Scores of books and millions of words have been written about the Alton, Illinois-born and East St. Louis-raised son of middle-class parents so there is no need (or space) to detail his life here. For the average enthusiast, the minutiae of the private lives of most great artists is invariably less interesting than the result of their labours and jazz musicians are no exception. From the beginning of his career Miles Davis was at the tipping point of jazz, bridging the world of bebop at its height and the new ‘cool school’, which he largely helped to create. His restless and inquisitive spirit, coupled with a strong self-belief, drove him constantly to explore new ideas and then move on, an evolutionary journey that continued throughout his life and resulted in his founding or championing of hard bop, modal improvisation and fusion as well as his own brand of avant-garde and electronica.

Davis’ extraordinary impact on the music scene had much to do with the times. The mid-1950s saw a great upheaval in American culture, exemplified by the McCarthy ‘witch-hunts’ at one extreme and the beginnings of a new, youth-based counter-culture on the other and with it a questioning of all existing social mores. Winds of change were blowing through the country and the new ‘Beat Generation’ were looking for new role models and Miles Davis was an ideal candidate. He was young and good looking, sophisticated and articulate, proud and angry but above all he was artistically talented and with his ‘hip’ jazz credentials represented cultural change.

In short he was cool; and with the release of first Milestones in 1958 and then Kind Of Blue a year later, his iconic status was established. From then on Davis could pursue his musical odyssey with relative freedom. In the ensuing time he would change direction every five years or so and each time, as had happened in the fifties with Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb, his ability to recognise and bring on promising talent would introduce a stream of new stars of the calibre of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Dave Holland, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Gary Bartz and John Scofield.

While everything that he was involved in now had a commercial aspect, Davis remained steadfast in his pursuit of pushing musical boundaries, often at the risk of alienating whole sections of his supporters. His journey took him into explorations of funk and soul-jazz, the avant-garde and, most lastingly important, fusion – rock and funk rhythms combined with jazz improvisation – launched onto an equally awestruck and apoplectic jazz audience with the astonishing In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew in 1969.

Davis’ fusion period marked a watershed in the way jazz was to develop, blurring musical borders and attracting a new rock and soul-steeped audience and spawning a new era of creative experimentation. more >>

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