About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 208. Chapters: Miles Davis, John Zorn, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Sun Ra, Bradley Joseph, John Coltrane, Andre Previn, Ray Reach, Dave Douglas (trumpeter), Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Connick, Jr., George Gershwin, Raymond Scott, John Serry, Sr., Charles Mingus, Mervyn Warren, Jack DeJohnette, Keith Jarrett, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Quincy Jones, Don Ellis, Dave Brubeck, Steve Coleman, Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy Earl, Chick Corea, Lester Bowie, Kenneth Ascher, John Lewis (pianist), Roscoe Mitchell, Buddy Rich, Neal Hefti, Ahmad Jamal, Jelly Roll Morton, Wayne Shorter, Eric Dolphy, Jim Ferguson, Raymond Harry Brown. Excerpt: Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 - September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. On October 7, 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. Miles Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Davis was noted as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz." On December 15, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution recognizing and commemorating the album Kind of Blue on its 50th anniversary, "honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure." Miles Dewey Davis was born on May 26, 1926, to an affluent African American family in Alton, Illinois. His father, Miles Henry Davis, was a dentist. In 1927 the family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois. They also owned a substantial ranch in northern Arkansas, where Davis learned to ride horses as a boy. Davis' mother, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, wanted her son to learn the piano; she was a capable blues pianist but kept this fact hidden from her son. His musical studies began at 13, when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged lessons with local musician Elwood Buchanan. Davis later suggested that his father's instrument choice was made largely to irk his wife, who disliked the trumpet's sound. Against the fashion of the time, Buchanan stressed the importance of playing without vibrato; he was reported to have slapped Davis' knuckles every time he started using heavy vibrato. Davis would carry his clear signature tone throughout his career. He once remarked on its importance to him, saying, "I prefer a round sound wit
