On this day in 1926 one of the greatest trumpet players to ever blow a horn, Miles Davis, was born in Alton, Illinois to an affluent family. One of Miles Davis' first music teachers, Elwood Buchanan, taught him to play without vibrato, a signature to his sound that Miles kept throughout his career. As Miles himself put it, "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything."
Upon graduating from High School Miles moved to New York City to attend the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, which he dropped out of school quickly, turned off by Juilliard's classical European instruction. By this time he was already playing professionally with Charlie Parker in Harlem's famous Minton's Playhouse and it was only a few years later that Miles would record his first records as a band leader. Of Course, Miles Davis is best known for the album Kind of Blue, the best selling jazz record of all time! This album was a major shift in jazz from the structure of hard bop to a more melody driven jazz based on modes. Below is a later clip of Miles performing in 1989 on the David Sanborn show Night Music, with bassist Marcus Miller:
Video courtesy of heenez
Information and quotes courtesy of Wikipedia.
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