Miles Davis at 100: Jazz Legend's Life, Music, and Painting

Miles Dewey Davis III (1926–1991), born in Alton, Illinois, and died in Santa Monica, California, is celebrated on the centenary of his birth. After studying at Juilliard, he debuted in 1944 with Charlie Parker's bebop quintet, recording iconic tracks like Donna Lee, Billie's Bounce, and Now's the Time. Davis broke from bebop to pioneer cool jazz with Birth of the Cool (1949) and modal jazz with Kind of Blue (1959), collaborating with John Coltrane. Between 1969 and 1975, he fused jazz with funk and psych-rock in albums like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, creating the fusion genre. He also painted abstract, expressionist works influenced by Kandinsky, Basquiat, and Picasso, including a silkscreen of Josephine Baker, none exhibited during his lifetime. Davis struggled with substance abuse and domestic violence, and after a five-year hiatus resumed composing in 1980, though his later work declined in quality. Wynton Marsalis criticized his post-1980 music in Down Beat (1982), stating it was not jazz. Davis's legacy includes his Harmon-muted trumpet technique, emphasis on melodic phrasing, and philosophy of constant innovation, influencing jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music.