ABSTRACT
The 1960s were tumultuous times in America and an age of conflicting values—peace, love, rock ’n’ roll, and war. Jazz experienced many changes as a result of these influences and vied for attention with new trends in popular music. This decade is perhaps the most unsettled, at least on home soil, as any on record, and the music in many ways reflects the tension and restless atmosphere. The jazz world had lost its spiritual leader and guiding light with the death of Charlie Parker in 1955, and many were waiting, looking for the next messiah to show them the way. Without the advantage of the broader perspective that we now enjoy, Miles Davis's career could easily have ended, or been doomed to relative obscurity, by the early 1950s, and he would have been remembered as just another trumpet player.
