Miles Davis

Miles Davis was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He was born in Alton and grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, took up the trumpet in his early teens, studied briefly at Juilliard, and made his professional debut in Charlie Parker's bebop quintet from 1944 to 1948. Soon after, his Birth of the Cool sessions for Capitol helped point toward cool jazz. He recorded early hard bop for Prestige, then signed with Columbia after an acclaimed appearance at Newport and released Kind of Blue (1959), a popular jazz album, along with Milestones (1958) and orchestral collaborations with Gil Evans, including Sketches of Spain (1960). In the 1960s Davis led a quintet with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, advancing post-bop on albums such as E.S.P. (1965). In the 1970s he turned to electric music, and Bitches Brew (1970) helped revive interest in jazz fusion. He died in 1991; in 2006 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognized his significance.