- published: 23 Jun 2015
- views: 17
Elwood C. Buchanan, Sr was an American jazz trumpeter and teacher who became an early mentor of Miles Davis.
Buchanan was born in St Louis, Missouri on January 26, 1907, and was trained in music by Joseph Gustat, the principal trumpeter with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra. He began his career playing in local dance bands, including Andy Kirk's orchestra, and on the riverboats that travelled on the Mississippi River between St Louis and New Orleans. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, he taught music and directed the band at Lincoln High School in East St Louis, and also visited the local elementary schools to give weekly lessons. Buchanan was known for his strict and demanding teaching style, and for encouraging pupils to compete with one another.
Buchanan was a friend of Miles Davis's father, who told him of his son's interest in music. Although Davis, at thirteen, was then too young to attend Buchanan's school, Buchanan began giving him private lessons. Davis joined the school band when he began attending Lincoln. Although Buchanan had the band play mainly marches rather than jazz, the techniques he taught profoundly affected Davis' jazz style. In particular, Buchanan went against the times by recommending to his students that they play without vibrato, and is said to have broken Davis of the habit by rapping his knuckles with a ruler and commanding: "Stop shakin' that note. You're going to shake enough when you get old". [1] Buchanan also encouraged Davis to study the lean, relaxed playing of Bobby Hackett (then little known beyond the East Coast) and Harold Shorty Baker. In this, too, Buchanan went against fashion; the most popular trumpeter of the day was Louis Armstrong, whose hot playing style was very different from those of Hackett or Baker.
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.
Miles Dewey 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.[citation needed]