ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Miles Davis, a legendary trumpeter, bandleader, recording artist, composer, and arranger in American jazz, popular, and world music traditions. Throughout his career, Davis was continually on the forefronts of change and innovation in his musical insights, styles, trends, body of work, and performances. For over a forty-year period Davis contributed to several major developments in jazz including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal, and jazz fusion. From 1948 through 1950, the nonet was constantly comprised of talented musicians who contributed to Davis' vision of the cool style in jazz. In the latter part of the 1950s, on the Columbia record label, Davis recorded many of his legendary works. During the 1970s and 1980s, Davis experimented more with electronic manipulation of sounds and textures especially with his use of wah-wah pedaling and amplification attached to his trumpet, producing more vibrating sounds. For his recordings, Davis was awarded several Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
