A decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.

Duck decoy

The term ''duck decoy'' may refer to two distinct devices, both used for hunting wildfowl. One is the a small pond with a long cone-shaped wickerwork tunnel, used to catch wild ducks. After the ducks settled on the pond, a small, trained dog would herd the birds into the tunnel. The catch was formerly sent to market for food, but now these are only used to catch ducks to be ringed and released: see ornithology. The word ''decoy'' derived from this by the mis–division of the Dutch compound word ''eende(n)kooi'' (duck cage). As the above meaning of a person or device supplanted the original meaning as the most common, the latter acquired the retronym "decoy pool".

The other form of duck decoy, otherwise known as a ''hunting decoy'' or ''wildfowl decoy'', is a life–size model of the creature. The hunter places a number about the hunting area as they will encourage wild birds to land nearby, hopefully within the range of the concealed hunter's gun. Originally carved from wood, they are now made from plastic.

Wildfowl decoys (primarily ducks, geese, shorebirds, and crows, but including some other species) are considered a form of folk art. Collecting decoys has become a significant hobby both for folk art collectors and hunters. The world record was set in January 2007 when a red-breasted merganser hen (circa 1875) by Lothrop Holmes of Kingston, Massachusetts sold for $856,000(US).

Military Decoy

The decoy in war is a low-cost device intended to represent a real item of military equipment. They may be deployed in amongst their real counterparts, to fool enemy forces into attacking them and so protect the real items of equipment by diverting fire away from them.

Alternatively, large numbers of military decoys, or dummys, may be deployed as an aspect of Military deception. Their purpose is to fool the enemy into believing forces in particular area are much stronger than they really are. One notable example are Quaker Guns. . For a defense system, decoys and chaff for ICBMs would mainly work in mid-course: during the boost phase they would be inside the rocket, because separate rockets for each of many decoys would not be practical, while at atmospheric reentry light decoys and chaff considerably slow down and/or are destroyed in the atmosphere.

In biochemistry

In biochemistry, there are decoy receptors, decoy substrates and decoy RNA. In addition, digital decoys are used in protein folding simulations.

===Decoy receptor=== A decoy receptor, or sink receptor, is a receptor that binds a ligand, inhibiting it from binding to its normal receptor. For instance, the receptor VEGFR-1 can prevent vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from binding to the VEGFR-2 The TNF inhibitor etanercept exerts its anti-inflammatory effect by being a decoy receptor that binds to TNF.

===Decoy substrate=== A ''decoy substrate'' or ''pseudosubstrate'' is a protein that has similar structure to the substrate of an enzyme, in order to make the enzyme bind to the pseudosubstrate rather than to the real substrate, thus blocking the activity of the enzyme. These proteins are therefore enzyme inhibitors.

Examples include 3KL produced by vaccinia virus, which prevents the immune system from phosphorylating the substrate eIF-2 by having a similar structure to eIF-2. Thus, the vaccinia virus avoids the immune system.

Digital decoys

In protein folding simulations, a decoy is a computer-generated protein structure which is designed so to ''compete'' with the real structure of the protein. Decoys are used to test the validity of a protein model; the model is considered correct only if is able to identify the native state configuration of the protein among the decoys.

Decoys are generally used to overcome a main problem in protein folding simulations: the enormity of the conformational space. For very detailed protein models, it can be practically impossible to explore all the possible configurations to find the native state. To deal with this problem, one can make use of decoys. The idea behind this is that it is unnecessary to search blindly through all possible conformations for the native conformation; the search can be limited to a relevant sub-set of structures. To start with, all non-compact configurations can be excluded. A typical decoy set will include globular conformations of various shapes, some having no secondary structures, some having helices and sheets in different proportions. The computer model being tested will be used to calculate the free energy of the protein in the decoy configurations. The minimum requirement for the model to be correct is that it identifies the native state as the minimum free energy state (see Anfinsen's dogma).

Decoys as folk art

Ever since Joel Barber, the first known decoy collector, started in 1918, decoys have become increasingly viewed as an important form of North American folk art. Barber's book Wild Fowl Decoys, was the first book on decoys as collectible objects. It was followed in 1965 by folk art dealer Adele Earnest's "The Art of the Decoy" and "American Bird Decoys" by collector Wm. F. Mackey.

By that time a milestone in collecting had already occurred with the publication of "Decoy Collectors Guide", a small magazine created by hobbyists Hal & Barbara Sorenson of Burlington, Iowa. The 'Guide' helped foster a sense of community and provided a forum for collectors to share their research.

By the 1970s decoys were becoming big business, at least by previous standards. The death of Wm. F. Mackey brought his decoys to market in a series of auctions in 1973 and 1974, with the star of his collection, a Long-billed Curlew by Wm. 'Bill' Bowman selling for a record US$10,500.

Since the 1960s numerous collectors organizations have been created, specialist books and magazines published, with specialist dealers, and special interest shows around the US and Canada.

The largest collectors organization is the Midwest Decoy Collectors Association (MDCA)which despite its name is the de facto international group. MDCA is a non-profit, [501(c)(3)] organization which sponsors the biggest show of the year. There are numerous state and regional groups as well.

The current World Record price for an antique duck decoy: Red Breasted Merganser Hen by Lothrop Holmes for $856,000. Guyette & Schmidt and Christie's New York. January 2007.

A new record was set when two decoys (Canada goose and a preening pintail drake) by A. Elmer Crowell of East Harwich, MA were sold for $1.13 million dollars each on September 19, 2007 by Stephen O'Brien Jr. Fine Arts, in what O'Brien describes as "the largest private sale of decoys ever." The decoys were part of a private sale of 31 decoys for $7.5 million. Joe Engers, Editor of Decoy Magazine, noted that O'Brien is one of the top dealers of decoys in the country.

Among other admired makers were the Ward brothers, Lemuel (1896–1984) and Steven, of Crisfield, Maryland. Their career output is estimated at between 27,000 and 40,000 birds, working and decorative.

Fish decoy collecting is also quite popular. Especially ice fishing decoys. See also fishing lures.

See also

Boarstall Duck Decoy

Hale Duck Decoy

Mobile submarine simulator

Sting operation

Decoy effect

Honeypots – decoy resources for computer network security

XGAM-71 Buck Duck

Military dummies

Decoy passwords

Quaker gun

References

External links

The Midwest Decoy Collectors Association (MDCA) – The de facto international collectors association

The Book of Duck Decoys – Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, 1886 (full text)

British Duck Decoys of To-Day, 1918 – Joseph Whitaker (full text)

Category:Hunting equipment Category:Decoys

da:Attrap fr:leurre (militaire) fy:Einekoai ja:デコイ ru:Ложная цель fi:Bulvaani sv:Decoy sv:Bulvan tl:Panghalina

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Kim Poirier
birth date	February 06, 1980
birth place	Drummondville, Quebec, Canada
occupation	Actress, television presenter, singer, film producer, yoga teacher, dancer, model
yearsactive	1996–present
website	http://www.kimpoirier.net }}

Kim Poirier (born February 6, 1980) is a Canadian actress, singer, film producer, and television host.

Biography

Personal life

Kim Jacinthe Poirier was born in Drummondville, Quebec, the daughter of actress/model Carol Laquerre who was Miss Toronto in 1976, she has one sister. She enjoys watching movies, writing, meditating, jogging, playing guitar, and singing. She does volunteer work for the homeless. Poirier can do the following dialects - Fluent French (Canadian/European), Southern U.S. and British.

Professionally trained in yoga, she has studied numerology, healing, and nutrition, she has been the international leader of Sadhana at the Institute of Yoga Therapy in 2006. She also organized a workshop in 2004 called the Yoga Theatre Lab, which combines the yogic technique with acting. She has been trained by John Riven (Meisner Technique), Rae Ellen Bodie (Voice Work), Jazz Be Nimble (Jazz, Tap, Ballet (Competitive Dance)), Barbara Deutsch (Actor's Workshop), David Rottenberg (On Camera Acting - Group Classes), Bruce Clayton (On Camera Acting - Group Classes), Francois Grise (Voice Work), Elaine Overholt (Singing and Voice) and Valerie Gellar (On Air Radio and Television - Group Seminar).

Career

As a child growing up in Toronto, Ontario, Poirier worked in modeling and TV commercials, moving into TV and film acting in adulthood. She did catalogue modelling and commercials for Aquafresh, Ontario Tourism, Ontario Place, Bell Canada, Turtles Chocolates, Old El Paso, Toronto Eaton Centre, Pizza Pizza and Ford.

She was up for a lead female role in the TV show ''Breaker High'' when she was only 15 but when they asked her to remove her tongue ring she refused and did not get the role.

In 1996 she guest starred on sci-fi show ''PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal'' as Marisa, and was asked to write an anecdote for the book "Science Fiction Television Series 1990-2004" in 2007 about her role on the show. This was Kim's debut acting role. She went on to guest star in another show in the same year called ''Straight Up'' in which she had a small role as AJ's Gang Member.

In the following year she had a small role in a TV movie called ''Naked City: Justice with a Bullet'' as Young Lover 1 and in 1999 had a small role in ''The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer'' as a girl who had an affair with Ira Einhorn but her scenes were cut from the film. Kim has stated that because of this, it is her least favorite role. She went on to have a supporting role in the TV pilot ''A Bachelor's Guide to Seduction in the Kitchen'' as Linda. It was shot for Arcadia Entertainment however it wasn't picked up, though some European countries expressed interest in it. Kim also had another small role in TV movie ''Rated X'' as Jamie the "Actress", who gets hit on by Artie Mitchell in a jacuzzi. She also guest starred on the TV show ''Twice in a Lifetime'' as Amanda, the sister of Delia Harmony whom she has a fight with and dies before she can leave town. She also guest starred on ''The Gavin Crawford Show'' as Jenna.

In 2001, her career took off when she became a regular in the Canadian TV Show ''Paradise Falls'' as Roxy Hunter, the trailer trash girl who has lots of personal troubles, such as being kidnapped and tied up & gagged in a cabin by a mysterious villain. The first season had 52 episodes. She also had a supporting role in the TV movie ''Danger Beneath the Sea'' as Lisa Alford, the pregnant wife who's left alone in a town where she does not really know anyone after her husband leaves for the submarines.

In 2002, she had a small supporting role in the TV movie ''Pretend You Don't See Her'' as Heather Greco, an actress whom is keeping a dark secret about her boyfriends life. She then went on to play a supporting role in the straight-to-video ''American Psycho II: All American Girl'' as Barbara, the bitchy student who wants the T.A. position that Professor Starkman's offering. She had a recurring role as Holly in a four-episode arc on MTV show ''Undressed'' in its sixth and final season. Kim then went on to guest star in the comedy show ''I Love Mummy'' as Katie, a small supporting role in TV movie ''The Rats'' as Jay, a guest star appearance as Denise on ''Doc'' and guest starring on ''Puppets Who Kill'' as Evelyn, a beautiful worker at a department store who uses her looks to her advantage.

In 2003, she guest starred on TV show ''Largo Winch'' as Jacqueline Lindley, the daughter of a newsman target by adriatic commission who falls for Largo but does not want her father to get tangled up in danger. She sings the song ''La Bamba'' in the episode. She appeared at the ''2003 Much Music Video Music Awards'' and the ''1st Annual Spaceys''. It was in 2004 that Kim got her first lead role in a feature film as Constance in ''Decoys'', an alien who falls in love with Roger. She promoted the film on chat show ''Open Mike with Mike Bullard''. She also had a memorable supporting role in the remake of ''Dawn of the Dead'' as Monica, a survivor from the church who was saved by Norma and has a tragic ending. Kim returned to her role as Roxy Hunter for the 2nd season of ''Paradise Falls'' which had 26 episodes. The long break between Season 1 and 2 had left many fans believing the show had been cancelled. She also had a supporting role in the CBS TV movie ''While I Was Gone'' as Dana Jablonski, a popular free spirited hippie who is best friends with Jo in the 60s.

In 2005, she appeared in the short film ''The Archer'' as Lisa, the girlfriend of a delinquent. It was directed by John Palmer and produced by the Penney brothers, it also starred Anthony Furey and Dov Tiefenbach. The film has had a few screenings at Canadian Short Film Festivals. She joined Space channel after co-hosting the ''05 Spaceys''. She became a regular on-air presenter for ''HypaSpace'' and did 1-2 minute segments on ''Drive-In Classics'' every Saturday before the Horror Marathon and did the voiceovers for the promos of Steamy Windshields from 2005 until 2007. She also appeared in the audience of the MuchMusic TV special ''Audioslave Live@Much''.

In 2006, she co-hosted the ''06 Spaceys'' and was the on-air presenter for another original show for the Space channel called ''Space Top 10 Countdown''. She signed up with King Talent Inc. in September and in November, director George Miller was so charmed by Kim Poirier during an interview on HypaSpace, he got Warner Bros to contact her producer at Space and asked her to write a blurb for a TV show discussing movies of the week and this time it was about ''Happy Feet''. She accepted the offer. Her official website was also redesigned and launched with a new link.

In 2007, she did a group class stage workshop with Tom Todoroff and it was her first time on stage. She said it has made her want to do some theater acting. She announced that she will be appearing on ''The Search For The Balanced Life'' which she filmed in February (initially it was Intuitive Security for Women). She returned as Constance Snowden for the straight-to-DVD ''Decoys 2: Alien Seduction''. She appeared in an episode of ''Best! Movies! Ever!'' in which she talked about her role on ''Decoys'', she also returned for the second and last season of the show ''Space Top 10 Countdown''. She got a part in the musical ''The Pirates of Penzance'' but she had to drop out after getting too busy. She also announced that she will be part of ''Paradise Falls'' third season, which at the time had no new episodes since 2004. She had a featured photoshoot for local magazine "Our Neighbourhood", hosted ''The Best of the Spaceys'' and co-hosted the ''07 Spaceys''. In March, she landed a lead supporting role in the Lifetime movie called ''How I Married My High School Crush'' as Kate Duncan, the hyper and fun best friend of Sara. In July, she left ''HypaSpace''/''Drive-In Classics'' and began filming for the third season of Paradise Falls, which lasted until October.

In 2008, she returned to ''HypaSpace'' on the 8th March. She returns as Roxy Hunter once more in the popular Canadian TV show ''Paradise Falls'' third season which started airing on here! TV from 11 April and on Showcase around October. She took part in the Sporting Life 10k run in Toronto in May. She auditioned for the role of Tess Mercer on ''Smallville'' but did not get the role. She also got involved with being a producer on a film which she promoted at Cannes 2008 called ''The Gospel of Phi'', it had a limited screening in Canada in 2007. She attended Cannes 2008 with actress/producer Lisa Wegner and producer John Davidson to promote the film and came up with the poster concept for the film. She also moved to Vancouver. ''HypaSpace'' came to an end on June 27, 2008 and was Kim's last episode after four years of being on the show. She then completed filming for the horror movie ''Silent But Deadly'' in the summer, she plays the lead role Sandra. She is a guest speaker in the Burman Books DVD ''The Search For The Balanced Life'' which was released on September 1, 2008 (filming was in February 2007). After filming completed for ''Silent But Deadly'' she attended the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and guest starred in the HypaSpace replacement ''The Circuit'' to talk about the movie. She also had interviews with website Hardcore Nerdity and radio show The VM Underground Show. She filmed her scenes for an episode of ''Eureka'' which aired in 2009. She also joined the band Jacqui Judge & the Gallows as their backing vocalist.

In 2009, she went to Winnipeg to shoot the movie ''Foodland'', directed by Adam Smoluk. The movie marks the first time she will be singing on screen in a feature film, she plays Lucy Eklund the femme fatale who's a con artist by day and cabaret singer at night. She sings the song "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)". She was originally cast in the role of Miranda Kirby for the show ''Happy Town'' but was replaced by Linda Kash the night before shooting. She sang with Corduroy live for Canadian Music Week in Toronto, Canada at Bread and Circus on March 13 and also performed at VTV Live on April 29 with Bob & The Mob singing the songs Ballroom Blitz, Mustang Sally, Jailhouse Rock, Green River, Born On A Bayou, Ghost Riders In The Sky, 13 Women, Little Help From My Friends and Chilly Walla. She recently performed at VTV Live again on May 19 but this time with her band Jacqui Judge & Rouge singing their original songs Addictions, Shades, Pretty, Breathe UnderWater, Wishes and a cover of Radiohead's ''Jigsaw Falling Into Place''. She had to leave the band after moving to Los Angeles but can be heard on their song ''Fuck or Fight''. She played Dr. Maria Leonardo, a dendrologist, in the episode "Welcome Back, Carter" of ''Eureka''.

In 2010, she has been cast as Helen Gleason in the upcoming movie ''Four Saints'' and was announced as a producer for the upcoming movie ''All You Need Is Luck''. She is also set to star in the trailer for ''Wade'' which will become a feature film. She guest starred as Camille, a college roommate of Megan's who has now become an actress, in the episode "Tomorrowland" of ''Mad Men''. She has also filmed another episode of ''Eureka'' the episode will air in 2011. The film ''Foodland'' premiered in Winnipeg and had a limited run.

In 2011, filming for the movie ''Four Saints'' will start and she will be returning as Dr. Maria Leonardo in ''Eureka'' for the episode "Clash of the Titans". She filmed the Michael Sardo pilot called ''Normal'' starring as Dr. Landres, the pilot wasn't picked up. She attended the 2011 Toronto Comic Con and was interviewed by ''InnerSpace''. She has also been filming for a feature film directed by Daric Loo called ''Dreams'' playing Christine, the film has recently been retitled as ''Awaken''. She'll be filming the trailer for the feature film version of ''Wade'' in July. She has been cast as Felicia DeMello in the movie ''Deception''. She is currently working with Moving Pictures Media Group on several projects.

Filmography

Films, TV movies and TV series:

''PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal'' (episode The Underneath/Phantom Limb) (1996) (TV series) as Marisa

''Straight Up'' (episode Gravity) (1996) (TV series) as AJ's Gang Member

''Naked City: Justice with a Bullet'' (1998) as Young Lover 1

''The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer'' (1999) as Affair Girl (scenes deleted) (uncredited)

''A Bachelor's Guide to Seduction in the Kitchen'' (2000) as Linda

''Rated X'' (2000) as Jamie the "Actress"

''The Gavin Crawford Show'' (episode ?) (2000) (TV series) as Jenna

''Twice in a Lifetime'' (episode The Night Before Christmas) (2000) (TV series) as Amanda Harmony

''Danger Beneath the Sea'' (2001) as Lisa Alford

''Pretend You Don't See Her'' (2002) as Heather Greco

''American Psycho II: All American Girl'' (2002) as Barbara

''Undressed'' (4 episodes) (2002) (TV series) as Holly

''I Love Mummy'' (episode Old Lady) (2002) (TV series) as Katie

''The Rats'' (2002) as Jay

''Doc'' (episode Second Time Around) (2002) (TV series) as Denise

''Puppets Who Kill'' (episode Dash the Greeter) (2002) (TV series) as Evelyn

''Largo Winch'' (episode Hot Property) (2003) (TV series) as Jacqueline Lindley

''Decoys'' (2004) as Constance

''Dawn of the Dead'' (2004) as Monica

''While I Was Gone'' (2004) as Dana Jablonski

''The Archer'' (2005) as Lisa

''Decoys 2: Alien Seduction'' (2007) as Constance Snowden

''How I Married My High School Crush'' (2007) as Kate Duncan

''Paradise Falls'' (2001–2008) (TV series) as Roxy Hunter

''Mad Men'' (episode Tomorrowland) (2010) (TV series) as Camille

''Foodland'' (2010) as Lucy Eklund

''Eureka'' (2 episodes) (2009–2011) (TV series) as Dr. Maria Leonardo

''Normal'' (2011) as Dr. Landres

''Silent But Deadly'' (2011) as Sandra Gibson

''Awaken'' (2011) as Christine

''Deception'' (2011) as Felicia DeMello

''Wade'' (2011)

''Four Saints'' (2012) as Helen Gleason

Own appearances

''2003 Much Music Video Music Awards'' (2003) as Herself

''1st Annual Spaceys'' (2003) as Herself

''Surviving the Dawn'' (2004) as Herself (uncredited)

''Decoys: Behind the Scenes'' (2004) as Herself

''Open Mike with Mike Bullard'' (episode dated 1 March 2004) (TV series) as Herself

''05 Spaceys'' (2005) as Herself - On-Air Presenter

''Audioslave Live@Much'' (2005) as Herself (uncredited)

''Breakfast Television'' (episode dated 26 March 2006) (TV series) as Herself

''06 Spaceys'' (2006) as Herself - On-Air Presenter

''Best! Movies! Ever!'' (episode Alien Invasions) (2007) (TV series) as Herself

''Space Top 10 Countdown'' (2006) (TV series) as Herself - On-Air Presenter (2006–2007)

''The Best of the Spaceys'' (2007) as Herself - On-Air Presenter

''07 Spaceys'' (2007) as Herself - On-Air Presenter

''Drive-In Classics'' (2001) (TV series) as Herself - On-Air Presenter (2005–2007)

''HypaSpace'' (2002–2008) (TV series) as Herself - On-Air Presenter (2005–2008)

''The Search For The Balanced Life'' (2008) as Herself

''The Circuit'' (1 episode) (2008) (TV series) as Herself

''InnerSpace'' (1 episode) (2011) (TV series) as Herself

Producer credits

''The Gospel of Phi'' (2007)

''All You Need Is Luck'' (2011)

Music

She was a vocalist for the band Jacqui Judge & Rouge in 2009 but had to leave due to her move to Los Angeles, she features on their song Fuck or Fight. She has also guest performed with Corduroy and Bob & The Mob. She has sung on an episode of ''Largo Winch'' and in the feature film ''Foodland''.

References

External links

Official site of Kim Poirier

Kim Poirier Fansite - Fansite

The Actor's Compendium - Kim Poirier's Actor's Compendium Page

Category:1980 births Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian soap opera actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:French Quebecers Category:Living people Category:People from Drummondville Category:People from Toronto Category:Actors from Quebec

fr:Kim Poirier

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Miles Dewey Davis III
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Miles Dewey Davis III
birth date	May 26, 1926
birth place	Alton, Illinois, United States
death date	September 28, 1991
death place	Santa Monica, California, US
instrument	Trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, organ, vocals
genre	Jazz, hard bop, bebop, cool jazz, modal, fusion, third stream, jazz-funk, jazz rap
occupation	Bandleader, composer, trumpeter, artist
years active	1944–1975, 1980–1991
associated acts	Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis Quintet, Gil Evans
website	}}

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. Many well-known musicians rose to prominence as members of Davis' ensembles, including saxophonists Gerry Mulligan, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, George Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Dave Liebman, Branford Marsalis and Kenny Garrett; trombonist J. J. Johnson; pianists Horace Silver, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and Kei Akagi; guitarists John McLaughlin, Pete Cosey, John Scofield and Mike Stern; bassists Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Marcus Miller and Darryl Jones; and drummers Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, and Al Foster.

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 November 5, 2009, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan sponsored a measure in the US House of Representatives to recognize and commemorate the album ''Kind of Blue'' on its 50th anniversary. The measure also affirms jazz as a national treasure and "encourages the United States government to preserve and advance the art form of jazz music." It passed, unanimously, with a vote of 409–0 on December 15, 2009.

Biography

Early life (1926–44)

Miles Dewie Davis was born on May 26, 1926, to an affluent African American family in Alton, Illinois. His father, Dr. 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 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." Clark Terry was another important early influence.

By age 16, Davis was a member of the music society and playing professionally when not at school. At 17, he spent a year playing in Eddie Randle's band, the Blue Devils. During this time, Sonny Stitt tried to persuade him to join the Tiny Bradshaw band, then passing through town, but Davis' mother insisted that he finish his final year of high school.

In 1944, the Billy Eckstine band visited East St. Louis. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were members of the band, and Davis was brought in on third trumpet for a couple of weeks because the regular player, Buddy Anderson, was out sick. Even after this experience, once Eckstine's band left town, Davis' parents were still keen for him to continue formal academic studies.

New York and the bebop years begin (1944–48)

In the fall of 1944, following graduation from high school, Davis moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School of Music.

Upon arriving in New York, he spent most of his first weeks in town trying to get in contact with Charlie Parker, despite being advised against doing so by several people he met during his quest, including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.

Finally locating his idol, Davis became one of the cadre of musicians who held nightly jam sessions at two of Harlem's nightclubs, Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's. The group included many of the future leaders of the bebop revolution: young players such as Fats Navarro, Freddie Webster, and J. J. Johnson. Established musicians including Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke were also regular participants.

Davis dropped out of Juilliard, after asking permission from his father. In his autobiography, Davis criticized the Juilliard classes for centering too much on the classical European and "white" repertoire. However, he also acknowledged that Juilliard helped give him a grounding in music theory that would prove valuable in later years.

Davis began playing professionally, performing in several 52nd Street clubs with Coleman Hawkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. In 1945, he entered a recording studio for the first time, as a member of Herbie Fields's group. This was the first of many recordings to which Davis contributed in this period, mostly as a sideman. He finally got the chance to record as a leader in 1946, with an occasional group called the Miles Davis Sextet plus Earl Coleman and Ann Hathaway—one of the rare occasions when Davis, by then a member of the groundbreaking Charlie Parker Quintet, can be heard accompanying singers. In these early years, recording sessions where Davis was the leader were the exception rather than the rule; his next date as leader would not come until 1947.

Around 1945, Dizzy Gillespie parted ways with Parker, and Davis was hired as Gillespie's replacement in his quintet, which also featured Max Roach on drums, Al Haig (replaced later by Sir Charles Thompson and Duke Jordan) on piano, and Curley Russell (later replaced by Tommy Potter and Leonard Gaskin) on bass.

With Parker's quintet, Davis went into the studio several times, already showing hints of the style for which he would become known. On an oft-quoted take of Parker's signature song, "Now's the Time", Davis takes a melodic solo, whose unbop-like quality anticipates the "cool jazz" period that would follow. The Parker quintet also toured widely. During a stop in Los Angeles, Parker had a nervous breakdown that landed him in the Camarillo State Mental Hospital for several months, and Davis found himself stranded. He roomed and collaborated for some time with bassist Charles Mingus, before getting a job on Billy Eckstine's California tour, which eventually brought him back to New York. In 1948, Parker returned to New York, and Davis rejoined his group.

The relationships within the quintet, however, were growing tense. Parker's erratic behavior (attributable to his well-known drug addiction) and artistic choices (both Davis and Roach objected to having Duke Jordan as a pianist and would have preferred Bud Powell) became sources of friction. In December 1948, disputes over money (Davis claims he was not being paid) began to strain their relationship even further. Davis finally left the group following a confrontation with Parker at the Royal Roost.

For Davis, his departure from Parker's group marked the beginning of a period in which he worked mainly as a freelancer and as a sideman in some of the most important combos on the New York jazz scene.

Birth of the Cool (1948–49)

In 1948 Davis grew close to the Canadian composer and arranger Gil Evans. Evans' basement apartment had become the meeting place for several young musicians and composers (including Davis, Roach, pianist John Lewis, and baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan) unhappy with the increasingly virtuoso instrumental techniques that dominated the bebop scene of the time. Evans had been the arranger for the Claude Thornhill orchestra, and it was the sound of this group, as well as Duke Ellington's example, that suggested the creation of an unusual line-up: a nonet including a French horn and a tuba (this accounts for the "tuba band" moniker that was to be associated with the combo).

Davis took an active role in the project, so much so that it soon became "his project". The objective was to achieve a sound similar to the human voice, through carefully arranged compositions and by emphasizing a relaxed, melodic approach to the improvisations.

The nonet debuted in the summer of 1948, with a two-week engagement at the Royal Roost. The sign announcing the performance gave a surprising prominence to the role of the arrangers: "Miles Davis Nonet. Arrangements by Gil Evans, John Lewis and Gerry Mulligan". It was, in fact, so unusual that Davis had to persuade the Roost's manager, Ralph Watkins, to allow the sign to be worded in this way; he prevailed only with the help of Monte Kay, the club's artistic director.

The nonet was active until the end of 1949, along the way undergoing several changes in personnel: Roach and Davis were constantly featured, along with Mulligan, tuba player Bill Barber, and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who had been preferred to Sonny Stitt (whose playing was considered too bop-oriented). Over the months, John Lewis alternated with Al Haig on piano, Mike Zwerin with Kai Winding on trombone (Johnson was touring at the time), Junior Collins with Sandy Siegelstein and Gunther Schuller on French horn, and Al McKibbon with Joe Shulman on bass. Singer Kenny Hagood was added for one track during the recording

The presence of white musicians in the group angered some black jazz players, many of whom were unemployed at the time, but Davis rebuffed their criticisms.

A contract with Capitol Records granted the nonet several recording sessions between January 1949 and April 1950. The material they recorded was released in 1956 on an album whose title, ''Birth of the Cool,'' gave its name to the "cool jazz" movement that developed at the same time and partly shared the musical direction begun by Davis' group.

For his part, Davis was fully aware of the importance of the project, which he pursued to the point of turning down a job with Duke Ellington's orchestra.

The importance of the nonet experience would become clear to critics and the larger public only in later years, but, at least commercially, the nonet was not a success. The liner notes of the first recordings of the Davis Quintet for Columbia Records call it one of the most spectacular failures of the jazz club scene. This was bitterly noted by Davis, who claimed the invention of the cool style and resented the success that was later enjoyed—in large part because of the media's attention—by white "cool jazz" musicians (Mulligan and Dave Brubeck in particular).

This experience also marked the beginning of the lifelong friendship between Davis and Gil Evans, an alliance that would bear important results in the years to follow.

Hard bop and the "Blue Period" (1950–54)

The first half of the 1950s was, for Davis, a period of great personal difficulty. At the end of 1949, he went on tour in Paris with a group including Tadd Dameron, Kenny Clarke (who remained in Europe after the tour), and James Moody. Davis was fascinated by Paris and its cultural environment, where black jazz musicians, and African Americans in general, often felt better respected than they did in their homeland. While in Paris, Davis began a relationship with French actress and singer Juliette Gréco.

Many of his new and old friends (Davis, in his autobiography, mentions Clarke) tried to persuade him to stay in France, but Davis decided to return to New York. Back in the States, he began to feel deeply depressed. The depression was due in part to his separation from Gréco, in part to his feeling underappreciated by the critics (who were hailing Davis' former collaborators as leaders of the cool jazz movement), and in part to the unraveling of his liaison with a former St. Louis schoolmate who was living with him in New York and with whom he had two children.

These are the factors to which Davis traces a heroin habit that deeply affected him for the next four years. Though Davis denies it in his autobiography, it is also likely that the environment in which he was living played a role. Most of Davis' associates at the time, some of them perhaps in imitation of Charlie Parker, had drug addictions of their own (among them, sax players Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon, trumpeters Fats Navarro and Freddie Webster, and drummer Art Blakey). For the next four years, Davis supported his habit partly with his music and partly by living the life of a hustler. By 1953, his drug addiction was beginning to impair his ability to perform. Heroin had killed some of his friends (Navarro and Freddie Webster). He himself had been arrested for drug possession while on tour in Los Angeles, and his drug habit had been made public in a devastating interview that Cab Calloway gave to ''Down Beat''.

Realizing his precarious condition, Davis tried several times to end his drug addiction, finally succeeding in 1954 after returning to his father's home in St. Louis for several months and literally locking himself in a room until he had gone through a painful withdrawal. During this period he avoided New York and played mostly in Detroit and other midwestern towns, where drugs were then harder to come by. A widely-related story, attributed to Richard (Prophet) Jennings was that Davis, while in Detroit playing at the Blue Bird club as a guest soloist in Billy Mitchell's house band along with Tommy Flanagan, Elvin Jones, Betty Carter, Yusef Lateef, Barry Harris, Thad Jones, Curtis Fuller and Donald Byrd stumbled into Baker's Keyboard Lounge out of the rain, soaking wet and carrying his trumpet in a paper bag under his coat, walked to the bandstand and interrupted Max Roach and Clifford Brown in the midst of performing Sweet Georgia Brown by beginning to play My Funny Valentine, and then, after finishing the song, stumbled back into the rainy night. Davis was supposedly embarrassed into getting clean by this incident. In his autobiography, Davis disputed this account, stating that Roach had requested that Davis play with him that night, and that the details of the incident, such as carrying his horn in a paper bag and interrupting Roach and Brown, were fictional and that his decision to quit heroin was unrelated to the incident.

Despite all the personal turmoil, the 1950–54 period was actually quite fruitful for Davis artistically. He made quite a number of recordings and had several collaborations with other important musicians. He got to know the music of Chicago pianist Ahmad Jamal, whose elegant approach and use of space influenced him deeply. He also definitively severed his stylistic ties with bebop.

In 1951, Davis met Bob Weinstock, the owner of Prestige Records, and signed a contract with the label. Between 1951 and 1954, he released many records on Prestige, with several different combos. While the personnel of the recordings varied, the lineup often featured Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey. Davis was particularly fond of Rollins and tried several times, in the years that preceded his meeting with John Coltrane, to recruit him for a regular group. He never succeeded, however, mostly because Rollins was prone to make himself unavailable for months at a time. In spite of the casual occasions that generated these recordings, their quality is almost always quite high, and they document the evolution of Davis' style and sound. During this time he began using the Harmon mute, held close to the microphone, in a way that grew to be his signature, and his phrasing, especially in ballads, became spacious, melodic, and relaxed. This sound was to become so characteristic that the use of the Harmon mute by any jazz trumpet player since immediately conjures up Miles Davis.

The most important Prestige recordings of this period (''Dig'', ''Blue Haze'', ''Bags' Groove'', ''Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants'', and ''Walkin''') originated mostly from recording sessions in 1951 and 1954, after Davis' recovery from his addiction. Also of importance are his five Blue Note recordings, collected in the ''Miles Davis Volume 1'' album.

With these recordings, Davis assumed a central position in what is known as hard bop. In contrast with bebop, hard bop used slower tempos and a less radical approach to harmony and melody, often adopting popular tunes and standards from the American songbook as starting points for improvisation. Hard bop also distanced itself from cool jazz by virtue of a harder beat and by its constant reference to the blues, both in its traditional form and in the form made popular by rhythm and blues. A few critics go as far as to call ''Walkin''' the album that created hard bop, but the point is debatable, given the number of musicians who were working along similar lines at the same time (and of course many of them recorded or played with Davis).

Also in this period Davis gained a reputation for being distant, cold, and withdrawn and for having a quick temper. Among the several factors that contributed to this reputation were his contempt for the critics and specialized press and some well-publicized confrontations with the public and with fellow musicians. (One occasion, in which he had a near fight with Thelonious Monk during the recording of ''Bags' Groove'', received wide exposure in the specialized press.)

The "nocturnal" quality of Davis' playing and his somber reputation, along with his whispering voice, earned him the lasting moniker of "prince of darkness", adding a patina of mystery to his public persona.

First great quintet and sextet (1955–58)

Back in New York and in better health, in 1955 Davis attended the Newport Jazz Festival, where his performance (and especially his solo on "'Round Midnight") was greatly admired and prompted the critics to hail the "return of Miles Davis". At the same time, Davis recruited the players for a formation that became known as his "first great quintet": John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums.

None of these musicians, with the exception of Davis, had received a great deal of exposure before that time; Chambers, in particular, was very young (19 at the time), a Detroit player who had been on the New York scene for only about a year, working with the bands of Bennie Green, Paul Quinichette, George Wallington, J. J. Johnson, and Kai Winding. Coltrane was little known at the time, in spite of earlier collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Bostic, and Johnny Hodges. Davis hired Coltrane as a replacement for Sonny Rollins, after unsuccessfully trying to recruit alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley.

The repertoire included many bebop mainstays, standards from the Great American Songbook and the pre-bop era, and some traditional tunes. The prevailing style of the group was a development of the Davis experience in the previous years—Davis playing long, legato, and essentially melodic lines, while Coltrane, who during these years emerged as a leading figure on the musical scene, contrasted by playing high-energy solos.

With the new formation also came a new recording contract. In Newport, Davis had met Columbia Records producer George Avakian, who persuaded him to sign with his label. The quintet made its debut on record with the extremely well received 'Round About Midnight. Before leaving Prestige, however, Davis had to fulfill his obligations during two days of recording sessions in 1956. Prestige released these recordings in the following years as four albums: ''Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet,'' ''Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet,'' ''Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet,'' and ''Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet''. While the recording took place in a studio, each record of this series has the structure and feel of a live performance, with several first takes on each album. The records became almost instant classics and were instrumental in establishing Davis' quintet as one of the best on the jazz scene.

The quintet was disbanded for the first time in 1957, following a series of personal problems that Davis blames on the drug addiction of the other musicians. Davis played some gigs at the ''Cafe Bohemia'' with a short-lived formation that included Sonny Rollins and drummer Art Taylor, and then traveled to France, where he recorded the score to Louis Malle's film ''Ascenseur pour l'échafaud''. With the aid of French session musicians Barney Wilen, Pierre Michelot, and René Urtreger, and American drummer Kenny Clarke, he recorded the entire soundtrack with an innovative procedure, without relying on written material: starting from sparse indication of the harmony and a general feel of a given piece, the group played by watching the movie on a screen in front of them and improvising.

Returning to New York in 1958, Davis successfully recruited Cannonball Adderley for his standing group. Coltrane, who in the meantime had freed himself from his drug habits, was available after a highly fruitful experience with Thelonious Monk and was hired back, as was Philly Joe Jones. With the quintet re-formed as a sextet, Davis recorded ''Milestones'', an album anticipating the new directions he was preparing to give to his music.

Almost immediately after the recording of ''Milestones,'' Davis fired Garland and, shortly afterward, Jones, again for behavioral problems; he replaced them with Bill Evans——a young white pianist with a strong classical background——and drummer Jimmy Cobb. With this revamped formation, Davis began a year during which the sextet performed and toured extensively and produced a record (''1958 Miles'', also known as ''58 Sessions''). Evans had a unique, impressionistic approach to the piano, and his musical ideas had a strong influence on Davis. But after only eight months on the road with the group, he was burned out and left. He was soon replaced by Wynton Kelly, a player who brought to the sextet a swinging, bluesy approach that contrasted with Evans' more delicate playing.

Recordings with Gil Evans (1957–63)

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Davis recorded a series of albums with Gil Evans, often playing flugelhorn as well as trumpet. The first, ''Miles Ahead'' (1957), showcased his playing with a jazz big band and a horn section arranged by Evans. Songs included Dave Brubeck's "The Duke," as well as Léo Delibes's "The Maids of Cadiz," the first piece of European classical music Davis had recorded. Another distinctive feature of the album was the orchestral passages that Evans had devised as transitions between the different tracks, which were joined together with the innovative use of editing in the post-production phase, turning each side of the album into a seamless piece of music.

In 1958, Davis and Evans were back in the studio to record ''Porgy and Bess,'' an arrangement of pieces from George Gershwin's opera of the same name. The lineup included three members of the sextet: Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Davis called the album one of his favorites.

''Sketches of Spain'' (1959–1960) featured songs by contemporary Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo and also Manuel de Falla, as well as Gil Evans originals with a Spanish flavor. ''Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall'' (1961) includes Rodrigo's ''Concierto de Aranjuez,'' along with other compositions recorded in concert with an orchestra under Evans' direction.

Sessions with Davis and Evans in 1962 resulted in the album ''Quiet Nights,'' a short collection of bossa novas that was released against the wishes of both artists: Evans stated it was only half an album, and blamed the record company; Davis blamed producer Teo Macero, whom he didn't speak to for more than two years. This was the last time Evans and Davis made a full album together; despite the professional separation, however, Davis noted later that "my best friend is Gil Evans."

Kind of Blue (1959–64)

In March and April 1959, Davis re-entered the studio with his working sextet to record what is widely considered his ''magnum opus'', ''Kind of Blue.'' He called back Bill Evans, months away from forming what would become his own seminal trio, for the album sessions, as the music had been planned around Evans' piano style. Both Davis and Evans were personally acquainted with the ideas of pianist George Russell regarding modal jazz, Davis from discussions with Russell and others before the ''Birth of the Cool'' sessions, and Evans from study with Russell in 1956. Davis, however, had neglected to inform current pianist Kelly of Evans' role in the recordings; Kelly subsequently played only on the track "Freddie Freeloader" and was not present at the April dates for the album. "So What" and "All Blues" had been played by the sextet at performances prior to the recording sessions, but for the other three compositions, Davis and Evans prepared skeletal harmonic frameworks that the other musicians saw for the first time on the day of recording, to allow a fresher approach to their improvisations. The resulting album has proven to be both highly popular and enormously influential. According to the RIAA, ''Kind of Blue'' is the best-selling jazz album of all time, having been certified as quadruple platinum (4 million copies sold). In December 2009, the US House of Representatives voted 409–0 to pass a resolution honoring the album as a national treasure.

The trumpet Davis used on the recording is currently displayed in the music building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It was donated to the school by Arthur "Buddy" Gist, who met Davis in 1949 and became a close friend. The gift was the reason why the jazz program at UNCG is named the "Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program."

In 1959, the Miles Davis Quintet was appearing at the famous Birdland nightclub in New York City. After finishing a 27 minute recording for the armed services, Davis took a break outside the club. As he was escorting an attractive blonde woman across the sidewalk to a taxi, Davis was told by Patrolman Gerald Kilduff to "move on." Davis explained that he worked at the nightclub and refused to move. The officer said that he would arrest Davis and grabbed him as Davis protected himself. Witnesses said that Kilduff punched Davis in the stomach with his nightstick without provocation. Two nearby detectives held the crowd back as a third detective, Don Rolker, approached Davis from behind and beat him about the head. Davis was then arrested and taken to jail where he was charged with feloniously assaulting an officer. He was then taken to St. Clary Hospital where he received five stitches for a wound on his head. Davis attempted to pursue the case in the courts, before eventually dropping the proceedings in a plea bargain in order to recover his suspended Cabaret Card, enabling him to return to work in New York clubs.

Davis persuaded Coltrane to play with the group on one final European tour in the spring of 1960. Coltrane then departed to form his classic quartet, although he returned for some of the tracks on Davis' 1961 album ''Someday My Prince Will Come.'' After Coltrane, Davis tried various saxophonists, including Jimmy Heath, Sonny Stitt, and Hank Mobley. The quintet with Hank Mobley was recorded in the studio and on several live engagements at Carnegie Hall and the Black Hawk jazz club in San Francisco. Stitt's playing with the group is found on a recording made in Olympia, Paris (where Davis and Coltrane had played a few months before) and the ''Live in Stockholm'' album.

In 1963, Davis' longtime rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb departed. He quickly got to work putting together a new group, including tenor saxophonist George Coleman and bassist Ron Carter. Davis, Coleman, Carter and a few other musicians recorded half the tracks for an album in the spring of 1963. A few weeks later, seventeen-year-old drummer Tony Williams and pianist Herbie Hancock joined the group, and soon afterward Davis, Coleman, and the new rhythm section recorded the rest of ''Seven Steps to Heaven.''

The rhythm players melded together quickly as a section and with the horns. The group's rapid evolution can be traced through the ''Seven Steps to Heaven'' album, ''In Europe'' (July 1963), ''My Funny Valentine'' (February 1964), and ''Four and More'' (also February 1964). The quintet played essentially the same repertoire of bebop tunes and standards that earlier Davis bands had played, but they tackled them with increasing structural and rhythmic freedom and, in the case of the up-tempo material, breakneck speed.

Coleman left in the spring of 1964, to be replaced by avant-garde saxophonist Sam Rivers, on the suggestion of Tony Williams. Rivers remained in the group only briefly, but was recorded live with the quintet in Japan; this configuration can be heard on ''Miles in Tokyo!'' (July 1964).

By the end of the summer, Davis had persuaded Wayne Shorter to leave Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and join the quintet. Shorter became the group's principal composer, and some of his compositions of this era (including "Footprints" and "Nefertiti") have become standards. While on tour in Europe, the group quickly made their first official recording, ''Miles in Berlin'' (September 1964). On returning to the United States later that year, ever the musical entrepreneur, Davis (at Jackie DeShannon's urging) was instrumental in getting The Byrds signed to Columbia Records.

Second great quintet (1964–68)

By the time of ''E.S.P.'' (1965), Davis' lineup consisted of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). The last of his acoustic bands, this group is often referred to as "the second great quintet."

A two-night Chicago performance in late 1965 is captured on ''The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965,'' released in 1995. Unlike their studio albums, the live engagement shows the group still playing primarily standards and bebop tunes. It is reasonable to point out though, that whilst some of the titles remain the same as the tunes employed by the 1950s quintet, the speed and distance of departure from the framework of the standards bears no comparison. It could even be said that the listening experience to these standards as live performances is as much of a radical take on the jazz of the time as the new compositions of the studio albums listed below.

The recording of ''Live at the Plugged Nickel'' was not issued anywhere in the 1960s, first appearing as a Japan-only partial issue in the late 1970s, then as a double-LP in the USA and Europe in 1982. It was followed by a series of studio recordings: ''Miles Smiles'' (1966), ''Sorcerer'' (1967), ''Nefertiti'' (1967), ''Miles in the Sky'' (1968), and ''Filles de Kilimanjaro'' (1968). The quintet's approach to improvisation came to be known as "time no changes" or "freebop," because they abandoned the more conventional chord-change-based approach of bebop for a modal approach. Through ''Nefertiti,'' the studio recordings consisted primarily of originals composed by Shorter, with occasional compositions by the other sidemen. In 1967, the group began to play their live concerts in continuous sets, each tune flowing into the next, with only the melody indicating any sort of demarcation. Davis's bands would continue to perform in this way until his retirement in 1975.

''Miles in the Sky'' and ''Filles de Kilimanjaro,'' on which electric bass, electric piano, and electric guitar were tentatively introduced on some tracks, pointed the way to the subsequent fusion phase of Davis' career. Davis also began experimenting with more rock-oriented rhythms on these records. By the time the second half of ''Filles de Kilimanjaro'' had been recorded, bassist Dave Holland and pianist Chick Corea had replaced Carter and Hancock in the working band, though both Carter and Hancock would occasionally contribute to future recording sessions. Davis soon began to take over the compositional duties of his sidemen.

Electric Miles (1968–75)

Davis' influences included 1960s acid rock and funk artists such as Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix, many of whom he met through Betty Mabry (later Betty Davis), a young model and songwriter Davis married in September 1968 and divorced a year later. The musical transition required that Davis and his band adapt to electric instruments in both live performances and the studio. By the time ''In a Silent Way'' had been recorded in February 1969, Davis had augmented his quintet with additional players. At various times Hancock or Joe Zawinul was brought in to join Corea on electric keyboards, and guitarist John McLaughlin made the first of his many appearances with Davis. By this point, Shorter was also doubling on soprano saxophone. After recording this album, Williams left to form his group Lifetime and was replaced by Jack DeJohnette.

Six months later an even larger group of musicians, including Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and Bennie Maupin, recorded the double LP ''Bitches Brew,'' which became a huge seller, reaching gold status by 1976. This album and ''In a Silent Way'' were among the first fusions of jazz and rock that were commercially successful, building on the groundwork laid by Charles Lloyd, Larry Coryell, and others who pioneered a genre that would become known as jazz-rock fusion. During this period, Davis toured with Shorter, Corea, Holland, and DeJohnette. The group's repertoire included material from ''Bitches Brew'', ''In a Silent Way'', and the 1960s quintet albums, along with an occasional standard.

In 1972, Davis was introduced to the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen by Paul Buckmaster, leading to a period of new creative exploration. Biographer J. K. Chambers wrote that "the effect of Davis' study of Stockhausen could not be repressed for long... Davis' own 'space music' shows Stockhausen's influence compositionally." His recordings and performances during this period were described as "space music" by fans, by music critic Leonard Feather, and by Buckmaster, who described it as "a lot of mood changes—heavy, dark, intense—definitely space music." Both ''Bitches Brew'' and ''In a Silent Way'' feature "extended" (more than 20 minutes each) compositions that were never actually "played straight through" by the musicians in the studio. Instead, Davis and producer Teo Macero selected musical motifs of various lengths from recorded extended improvisations and edited them together into a musical whole that exists only in the recorded version. ''Bitches Brew'' made use of such electronic effects as multi-tracking, tape loops, and other editing techniques. Both records, especially ''Bitches Brew'', proved to be big sellers. Starting with ''Bitches Brew'', Davis' albums began to often feature cover art much more in line with psychedelic art or black power movements than that of his earlier albums. He took significant cuts in his usual performing fees in order to open for rock groups like the Steve Miller Band, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, and Santana. Several live albums were recorded during the early 1970s at these performances: ''Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time'' (March 1970),'' Black Beauty'' (April 1970), and ''Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East'' (June 1970).

By the time of ''Live-Evil'' in December 1970, Davis' ensemble had transformed into a much more funk-oriented group. Davis began experimenting with wah-wah effects on his horn. The ensemble with Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, and Michael Henderson, often referred to as the "Cellar Door band" (the live portions of ''Live-Evil'' were recorded at a Washington, DC, club by that name), never recorded in the studio, but is documented in the six-CD box set ''The Cellar Door Sessions,'' which was recorded over four nights in December 1970. In 1970, Davis contributed extensively to the soundtrack of a documentary about the African-American boxer heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Himself a devotee of boxing, Davis drew parallels between Johnson, whose career had been defined by the fruitless search for a Great White Hope to dethrone him, and Davis' own career, in which he felt the musical establishment of the time had prevented him from receiving the acclaim and rewards that were due him. The resulting album, 1971's ''A Tribute to Jack Johnson'', contained two long pieces that featured musicians (some of whom were not credited on the record) including guitarists John McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock, Herbie Hancock on a Farfisa organ, and drummer Billy Cobham. McLaughlin and Cobham went on to become founding members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971.

As Davis stated in his autobiography, he wanted to make music for the young African-American audience. ''On the Corner'' (1972) blended funk elements with the traditional jazz styles he had played his entire career. The album was highlighted by the appearance of saxophonist Carlos Garnett. Critics were not kind to the album; in his autobiography, Davis stated that critics could not figure out how to categorize it, and he complained that the album was not promoted by the "traditional" jazz radio stations. After recording ''On the Corner'', Davis put together a new group, with only Michael Henderson, Carlos Garnett, and percussionist Mtume returning from the previous band. It included guitarist Reggie Lucas, tabla player Badal Roy, sitarist Khalil Balakrishna, and drummer Al Foster. It was unusual in that none of the sidemen were major jazz instrumentalists; as a result, the music emphasized rhythmic density and shifting textures instead of individual solos. This group, which recorded in the Philharmonic Hall for the album ''In Concert'' (1972), was unsatisfactory to Davis. Through the first half of 1973, he dropped the tabla and sitar, took over keyboard duties, and added guitarist Pete Cosey. The Davis/Cosey/Lucas/Henderson/Mtume/Foster ensemble would remain virtually intact over the next two years. Initially, Dave Liebman played saxophones and flute with the band; in 1974, he was replaced by Sonny Fortune.

''Big Fun'' (1974) was a double album containing four long improvisations, recorded between 1969 and 1972. Similarly, ''Get Up With It'' (1974) collected recordings from the previous five years. ''Get Up With It'' included "He Loved Him Madly", a tribute to Duke Ellington, as well as one of Davis' most lauded pieces from this era, "Calypso Frelimo". It was his last studio album of the 1970s. In 1974 and 1975, Columbia recorded three double-LP live Davis albums: ''Dark Magus'', ''Agharta'', and ''Pangaea''. ''Dark Magus'' captures a 1974 New York concert; the latter two are recordings of consecutive concerts from the same February 1975 day in Osaka. At the time, only ''Agharta'' was available in the US; ''Pangaea'' and ''Dark Magus'' were initially released only by CBS/Sony Japan. All three feature at least two electric guitarists (Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey, deploying an array of Hendrix-inspired electronic distortion devices; Dominique Gaumont is a third guitarist on ''Dark Magus''), electric bass, drums, reeds, and Davis on electric trumpet and organ. These albums were the last he was to record for five years. Davis was troubled by osteoarthritis (which led to a hip replacement operation in 1976, the first of several), sickle-cell anemia, depression, bursitis, ulcers, and a renewed dependence on alcohol and drugs (primarily cocaine), and his performances were routinely panned by critics throughout late 1974 and early 1975. By the time the group reached Japan in February 1975, Davis was nearing a physical breakdown and required copious amounts of alcohol and narcotics to make it through his engagements. Nonetheless, as noted by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, during these concerts his trumpet playing "is of the highest and most adventurous order."

After a Newport Jazz Festival performance at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on July 1, 1975, Davis withdrew almost completely from the public eye for six years. As Gil Evans said, "His organism is tired. And after all the music he's contributed for 35 years, he needs a rest." In his memoirs, Davis is characteristically candid about his wayward mental state during this period, describing himself as hermit, his house as a wreck, and detailing his drug and sex addictions. In 1976, ''Rolling Stone'' reported rumors of his imminent demise. Although he stopped practicing trumpet on a regular basis, Davis continued to compose intermittently and made three attempts at recording during his exile from performing; these sessions (one with the assistance of Paul Buckmaster and Gil Evans, who left after not receiving promised compensation) bore little fruit and remain unreleased. In 1979, he placed in the yearly top-ten trumpeter poll of ''Down Beat''. Columbia continued to issue compilation albums and records of unreleased vault material to fulfill contractual obligations. During his period of inactivity, Davis saw the fusion music that he had spearheaded over the past decade enter into the mainstream. When he emerged from retirement, Davis' musical descendants would be in the realm of New Wave rock, and in particular the styling of Prince.

Last decade (1981–91)

By 1979, Davis had rekindled his relationship with actress Cicely Tyson. With Tyson, Davis would overcome his cocaine addiction and regain his enthusiasm for music. As he had not played trumpet for the better part of three years, regaining his famed embouchure proved to be particularly arduous. While recording ''The Man with the Horn'' (sessions were spread sporadically over 1979–1981), Davis played mostly wahwah with a younger, larger band.

The initial large band was eventually abandoned in favor of a smaller combo featuring saxophonist Bill Evans and bass player Marcus Miller, both of whom would be among Davis' most regular collaborators throughout the decade. He married Tyson in 1981; they would divorce in 1988. ''The Man with the Horn'' was finally released in 1981 and received a poor critical reception despite selling fairly well. In May, the new band played two dates as part of the Newport Jazz Festival. The concerts, as well as the live recording ''We Want Miles'' from the ensuing tour, received positive reviews.

By late 1982, Davis' band included French percussionist Mino Cinelu and guitarist John Scofield, with whom he worked closely on the album ''Star People.'' In mid-1983, while working on the tracks for ''Decoy'', an album mixing soul music and electronica that was released in 1984, Davis brought in producer, composer and keyboardist Robert Irving III, who had earlier collaborated with him on ''The Man with the Horn.'' With a seven-piece band, including Scofield, Evans, keyboardist and music director Irving, drummer Al Foster and bassist Darryl Jones (later of The Rolling Stones), Davis played a series of European gigs to positive receptions. While in Europe, he took part in the recording of ''Aura,'' an orchestral tribute to Davis composed by Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg.

''You're Under Arrest,'' Davis' next album, was released in 1985 and included another brief stylistic detour. Included on the album were his interpretations of Cyndi Lauper's ballad "Time After Time", and "Human Nature" from Michael Jackson. Davis considered releasing an entire album of pop songs and recorded dozens of them, but the idea was scrapped. Davis noted that many of today's accepted jazz standards were in fact pop songs from Broadway theater, and that he was simply updating the "standards" repertoire with new material. 1985 also saw Davis guest-star on the TV show ''Miami Vice'' as pimp and minor criminal Ivory Jones in the episode titled "Junk Love" (first aired November 8, 1985).

''You're Under Arrest'' also proved to be Davis' final album for Columbia. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis publicly dismissed Davis' more recent fusion recordings as not being "'true' jazz", comments Davis initially shrugged off, calling Marsalis "a nice young man, only confused". This changed after Marsalis appeared, unannounced, onstage in the midst of a Davis performance. Marsalis whispered into Davis' ear that "someone" had told him to do so; Davis responded by ordering him off the stage.

Davis grew irritated at Columbia's delay releasing ''Aura''. The breaking point in the label-artist relationship appears to have come when a Columbia jazz producer requested Davis place a goodwill birthday call to Marsalis. Davis signed with Warner Brothers shortly thereafter.

Davis collaborated with a number of figures from the British new wave movement during this period, including Scritti Politti. At the invitation of producer Bill Laswell, Davis recorded some trumpet parts during sessions for Public Image Ltd.'s ''Album'', according to Public Image's John Lydon in the liner notes of their ''Plastic Box'' box set. In Lydon's words, however, "strangely enough, we didn't use (his contributions)." (Also according to Lydon in the ''Plastic Box'' notes, Davis favorably compared Lydon's singing voice to his trumpet sound.)

Having first taken part in the Artists United Against Apartheid recording, Davis signed with Warner Brothers records and reunited with Marcus Miller. The resulting record, ''Tutu'' (1986), would be his first to use modern studio tools—programmed synthesizers, samples and drum loops—to create an entirely new setting for Davis' playing. Ecstatically reviewed on its release, the album would frequently be described as the modern counterpart of ''Sketches of Spain'' and won a Grammy in 1987.

thumb|left|The grave of Miles Davis in Woodlawn CemeteryHe followed ''Tutu'' with ''Amandla,'' another collaboration with Miller and George Duke, plus the soundtracks to four movies: ''Street Smart,'' ''Siesta,'' ''The Hot Spot,'' and ''Dingo.'' He continued to tour with a band of constantly rotating personnel and a critical stock at a level higher than it had been for 15 years. His last recordings, both released posthumously, were the hip hop-influenced studio album ''Doo-Bop'' and ''Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux,'' a collaboration with Quincy Jones for the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival in which Davis performed the repertoire from his 1940s and 1950s recordings for the first time in decades.

In 1988 he had a small part as a street musician in the film ''Scrooged'', starring Bill Murray. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. In 1989, Miles was interviewed on 60 Minutes by Harry Reasoner.

In early 1991, he appeared in the Rolf de Heer film ''Dingo'' as a jazz musician. In the film's opening sequence, Davis and his band unexpectedly land on a remote airstrip in the Australian outback and proceed to perform for the stunned locals. The performance was one of Davis' last on film.

Miles Davis died on September 28, 1991 from the combined effects of a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Legacy and influence

Miles Davis is regarded as one of the most innovative, influential and respected figures in the history of music. He has been described as “one of the great innovators in jazz”. ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' noted "Miles Davis played a crucial and inevitably controversial role in every major development in jazz since the mid-'40s, and no other jazz musician has had so profound an effect on rock. Miles Davis was the most widely recognized jazz musician of his era, an outspoken social critic and an arbiter of style—in attitude and fashion—as well as music". His album ''Kind of Blue'' is the best-selling album in the history of jazz music and was praised by the United States House of Representatives to "pass a symbolic resolution honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure."

As an innovative bandleader and composer, Miles Davis has influenced many notable musicians and bands from diverse genres. These include Wayne Shorter, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, Lalo Schifrin, Tangerine Dream, Brand X, Mtume, Benny Bailey, Joe Bonner, Don Cherry, Urszula Dudziak, Sugizo, Bill Evans, Bill Hardman, The Lounge Lizards, Hugh Masekela, John McLaughlin, King Crimson, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Duane Allman, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Lydia Lunch, Talk Talk, Michael Franks, Sting, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jiří Stivín, Tim Hagans, Julie Christensen, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Vassar Clements, Snooky Young, Prince, and Christian Scott.

Miles' influence on the people who played with him has been described by music writer and author Christopher Smith as follows:

Miles Davis' artistic interest was in the creation and manipulation of ritual space, in which gestures could be endowed with symbolic power sufficient to form a functional communicative, and hence musical, vocabulary. [...] Miles' performance tradition emphasized orality and the transmission of information and artistic insight from individual to individual. His position in that tradition, and his personality, talents, and artistic interests, impelled him to pursue a uniquely individual solution to the problems and the experiential possibilities of improvised performance.

His approach, owing largely to the African American performance tradition that focused on individual expression, emphatic interaction, and creative response to shifting contents, had a profound impact on generations of jazz musicians.

In 1986, the New England Conservatory awarded Miles Davis an Honorary Doctorate for his extraordinary contributions to music. Since 1960 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) has honored him with eight Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.

Awards

Winner; Down Beat Reader's Poll Best Trumpet Player 1955

Winner; Down Beat Reader's Poll Best Trumpet Player 1957

Winner; Down Beat Reader's Poll Best Trumpet Player 1961

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Composition Of More Than Five Minutes Duration for ''Sketches of Spain'' (1960)

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group for ''Bitches Brew'' (1970)

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist for ''We Want Miles'' (1982)

Sonning Award for Lifetime Achievement In Music (1984; Copenhagen, Denmark)

Doctor of Music, ''honoris causa'' (1986; New England Conservatory)

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist for ''Tutu'' (1986)

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist for ''Aura'' (1989)

Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band for ''Aura'' (1989)

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1990)

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Original Music Score for ''Dingo'', shared with Michel Legrand (1991)

Knighted into the Legion of Honor (July 16, 1991; Paris)

Grammy Award for Best R&B; Instrumental Performance for ''Doo-Bop'' (1992)

Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance for ''Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux'' (1993)

Hollywood Walk of Fame Star (February 19, 1998)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction (March 13, 2006)

Hollywood's Rockwalk Induction (September 28, 2006)

RIAA Quadruple Platinum for ''Kind of Blue''

St. Louis Walk of Fame

Discography

Sidemen

; Rhythm section

1950: pianist John Lewis, bassist Al McKibbon, drummer Max Roach

1951: pianist Walter Bishop, Jr., bassist Tommy Potter, drummer Art Blakey

1956: pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Art Taylor

1955–58: pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Philly Joe Jones

1959–63: pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb

1963–68: pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams

1968–70: pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Tony Williams

1971: pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Jack DeJohnette, percussionist Airto Moreira

1969–72: pianists Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Larry Young, Harold Williams, Hermeto Pascoal, Lonnie Liston Smith, Cedric Lawson

1970s: guitarists John McLaughlin, Reggie Lucas, Pete Cosey, David Creamer, Dominique Gaumont, Cornell Dupree

Notes

References

Carr, Ian. ''Miles Davis''. ISBN 0-00-653026-5.

Chambers, Jack. ''Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis''. ISBN 0-306-80849-8.

Cole, George. ''The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis 1980–1991''. ISBN 1-904768-18-0.

Cook, Richard (2007). ''"It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off Record"''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195322668

Cook, Richard, and Brian Morton. Entry "Miles Davis" in ''Penguin Guide to Jazz'', Penguin, ISBN 0-14-017949-6.

Davis, Miles & Troupe, Quincy. ''Miles: The Autobiography''. ISBN 0-671-63504-2.

Davis, Gregory. ''Dark Magus: The Jekyll & Hyde Life of Miles Davis''. ISBN 978-0-87930-875-9.

Early, Gerald. ''Miles Davis and American Culture''. ISBN 1-883982-37-5 cloth, ISBN 1-883982-38-3, paper.

Szwed, John. ''So What: The Life of Miles Davis''. ISBN 0-434-00759-5.

Tingen, Paul. ''Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967–1991''. ISBN 0-8230-8360-8.

Mandel, Howard (2007). "Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz". Routledge. ISBN 0415967147.

External links

Web sites dedicated to Miles Davis:

Miles Davis – official website.

Miles Davis – official Sony Music website.

Miles From India review

Category:African American musicians Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American jazz composers Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:Songwriters from Illinois Category:Bebop trumpeters Category:Cool jazz trumpeters Category:Deaths from stroke Category:Deaths from respiratory failure Category:People with sickle-cell disease Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Prestige Records artists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Hard bop trumpeters Category:Musicians from Illinois Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Modal jazz trumpeters Category:People from Madison County, Illinois Category:People from St. Clair County, Illinois Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Music of St. Louis, Missouri Category:Third Stream trumpeters Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (The Bronx) Category:Infectious disease deaths in California Category:1926 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Avant-garde jazz trumpeters Category:Performing arts pages with videographic documentation

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