Miles : The Autobiography ' Miles

“Langston Hughes: Beyond The Music and The Rhythm of An Extraordinary Black Artist.” JazzMuzic 23 (2001): 35-39.

Miles Davis represents the pinnacle of modern American Jazz. He was one of the foremost pioneers in the inventions of cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz, fusion and techno. He was, arguably one of the most influential figures in music, pushing the boundaries of what was commonly known as jazz into new directions that most people thought was impossible.

He was important because he was a nine-time grammy awards. Miles Davis change of music styles was with his own personal experiences. It was a reflection within the civil rights time.Miles fought against the civil rights by making music for the community. After putting up a fight, he didn’t notice that he became an iconic symbol of strength and power within the Black community. Because of Miles Davis childhood, it let him become an innovator! It let him change the course of jazz. Miles Davis was beaten by a white police officer, after he help a white woman into a taxi. After this incident happened, it led him to change his music personality and style. He really believed that making this change he realizes that he could use his influence of music on a political scale. He also stood for a movement of the black power. Miles was on a journey to bring power to, relate to, and bring the truth to the black

“JAZZ” is a documentary by Ken Burns released 2001 that focuses on the creation and development of jazz, America’s “greatest cultural achievement.” The first episodes entitled, “Gumbo, Beginnings to 1917” and “The Gift (1917-1924), explain the early growth of jazz as it originates in New Orleans and its expands to Chicago and New York during the Jazz Age. In assessing the first two episodes of Ken Burns' 2001 documentary, "JAZZ," this essay will explore the history of jazz, the music's racial implications, and it's impact on society. In doing so, attention will also be given to the structure of the documentary, and the effectiveness of documentary film in retelling the past.

Aside from the typical cultural, social, and political factors influencing any musician’s style, an early life filled with poverty and hardship also shaped Louis Armstrong’s musical development. Some even theorize that it was Armstrong’s difficult upbringing that made his music so wise, so unique, and so revolutionary. Armstrong was an African American child growing up in the slums of New Orleans, close to abandonment, impoverished, and with too few constant people, resources, or homes. However, had his upbringing been different, his musical talents may never have been established to grow and thrive into one of the most internationally influential jazz musicians ever. When Louis Armstrong was placed in a boys’ home as a young boy, he was presented with the opportunity to play the cornet. He took up work in Joe (King) Oliver’s house, doing chores in exchange for musical lessons, developing into a

Born in Alton, Illinois, Miles Davis grew up in a middle-class family in East St. Louis. Miles Davis took up the trumpet at the age of 13 and was playing professionally two years later. Some of his first gigs included performances with his high school bandand playing with Eddie Randall and the blue Devils. Miles Davis has said that the greatest musical experience of his life was hearing the Billy Eckstine orchestra when it passed through St. Louis. In September 1944 Davis went to New York to study at Juilliard but spend much more time hanging out on 52nd Street and eventually dropped out of school. He moved from his home in East St. Louis to New York primarily to enter school but also to locate his musical idol,

Born on May 26, 1926, Miles Davis is considered to be one of the most influential jazz musicians in history. Being a trumpeter, keyboardist, composer, and band-leader, Miles is responsible for the popularization of many styles of jazz throughout his long and prolific career.

Miles Davis occupational routine was unbalance and therefore he did not live a normal life. Although he tried to incorporate boxing early in his music career as a way to stay out of trouble and focus on music, he still managed to return to negative occupational patterns of drugs, alcohol and sex. However, it was not until the end of his life when he was able to incorporate restoration and pleasurable activities in a positive way. Do you believe if the collective narratives were positive would it change the perspective and actions of Miles

“Sonny’s Blues,” which is an outstanding short story by James Baldwin, describes many obstacles in lifestyles and relationships of African-Americans in the influential time of post Harlem Renaissance and discrimination in the 1950s. In the end of the story, the nightclub setting is the most important and emotional turning point of the brotherhood between narrator and his young brother, Sonny. After many conflicts and arguments about their different ideals and lifestyles, Sonny tries to open his heart to let his brother understand him by inviting the narrator to come to his jazz music performance at a small nightclub in Greenwich Village. At this place, he meets friends of Sonny, acquaint himself with jazz music and tries to get into Sonny’s world. He carefully observes any changes of his brother on the stage. Sonny is nervous and has trouble in the beginning of the performance. However, Sonny quickly gets back on track. His music seems to touch everyone, including his brother, by its beauty and freedom. The narrator becomes proud of Sonny. Eventually, he recognizes his brother’s talent and understands that Sonny was born to be a real musician.

Who was Miles Davis and why was he such an important element in the music of Jazz? Miles Davis, as we would know him, was born Miles Dewey Davis in Alton, Illinois on the 25th of May 1926 to a middle-class black family.. A couple of years later, Miles went on to St. Louis where he grew up. Since he was a youngster, Miles' hobby was to collect records and play them over without getting tired of them. Since his family knew Miles was so interested in the music of his time, primarily Jazz, for his thirteenth birthday Miles received his first trumpet, although he had been playing since the age of nine. With this Miles began to practice and play his trumpet along with his records. Who would have known that just three years later, at the

Miles Davis was born May 25, 1926 in Alton, Illinois and grew up in East St. Louis. For his 13th birthday, Miles was given his first trumpet. By age 16, Miles was playing professionally and received his first real taste of what playing jazz was like when he was asked to stand in for a band that was traveling through and needed to replace a sick horn player. After high school, Miles enrolled in Juilliard in September 1944. Miles spent most of his time playing music with others than actually going to class. Although he was known primarily as a trumpet player, in the world of music he had great influence as an innovative bandleader and as a composer. His music and style were important in the development of improvisational techniques incorporating modes. Miles experiments with modal playing reached its apotheosis in 1959 with his recording of Kind Of Blue. Miles was brought up in the Bebop tradition. When Miles became a leader, things really took off. Miles transformed jazz into a new era with his Birth of cool sessions, which were recorded in throughout 1949-50. These sessions took Bebop’s fast running styled chords, and transitioned it to a more modal idea. Miles also began experimenting with a nine-piece band. He would frequently use the flugelhorn and muted trumpet. During this time Davis had become

Miles Davis was one of the greatest and most important figures in jazz history. Miles Dewey Davis III was a musician, composer, arranger, producer and bandleader all in one. Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz after World War 2. He was one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the twentieth century along with Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong. His versatility landed him at the forefront of bebop, cool jazz, modal, hard bop and fusion (Kirker, 2005:1). His sound went on to influence many other newer forms of music today such as pop, soul, R&B, funk and rap. As one of the last trumpet players, Davis employed a lyrical, melodic style that was known for its minimalism as well

Ellison relays this when his narrator is “under the spell of the reefer,” and discovers “a new analytical way of listening to music” (Ellison 8). Although the man despises the feeling of altered time that reefer is associated with, he can appreciate the sensitivities of music within the manipulated psychological state of mind. Without Ellison’s own experiences with music and the feelings of euphoria it brought upon him, it would be nearly impossible to relay such clear messages of passion within the novel. This character in the very beginning of the novel was one that had been satisfied with his life and decided to remain actively dormant to the outside world, but as Ellison tells his story, music is mentioned in multiple instances. As he attempts to find a job, Mr. Emerson’s son tells him that “a number of my friends are jazz musicians...I know the conditions under which you live - Why go back?” (Ellison 188) Ralph Ellison understands the struggle that musicians go through to make a living, especially in places where opportunities are extremely few. Anywhere other than Harlem, the narrator would be unable to find anything to do with his talents. This may be a feeling the younger Ellison himself also felt, the competitiveness and the limited scope of opportunities that musicians had may have forced him to move into the North and even take his talents into the area of writing. Ellison’s childhood experiences with music inspire him to write

Before going into any detailed discussion of the style of Miles Davis, I feel obliged to define just what I mean by style in this context. Of all the words that are synonymous with style, “idiosyncrasies” bets fits my objective; that is, the thins that Miles consistently does which makes his playing a particular style in itself. These are the literate aspects of Mile's music: the analysis, the categorizations of melody, rhythm, and harmony. But the music of African American people has always been non literate. Until recently, its instrumentalist have mostly been non literate and improvised on the spot. But it stands to reason that if Miles is to be understood, it must be in his total idiosyncratic form, not just by interpretation of his

Due to his ear and his almost maniacal sense of discipline, I always thought my father would have made an excellent musician. He might have studied the saxophone had he not been born to immigrant parents who considered even pot holders to be an extravagance. They themselves listened only to Greek music, an oxymoron as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Slam its tail in the door of a milk truck and a stray cat could easily yowl out a single certain to top the charts back in Sparta or Thessaloníki. Jazz was my father's only form of rebellion. It was forbidden in his home, and he appreciated it as though it were his own private discovery. As a young man, he hid his 78's under the sofa bed and regularly snuck off to New York City, where he'd haunt the clubs and consort with goateed hipsters. It was a good life while it lasted. He was in his early forties when the company transferred our family to North