Published: October 1, 1991
Unless someone soon emerges from nowhere, the trumpeter Miles Davis will be remembered as the most influential jazz artist of the second half of the 20th century. Mr. Davis remained iconoclastic through four decades as instrumentalist, composer and band leader. He felt compelled to change (a "curse," he called it) and when he did, the whole of jazz often changed with him.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the revolutionary architect, preached that less was more. Miles Davis used the same prescription and with similarly dramatic results. He created a thoughtful, understated jazz that eventually eclipsed the brilliant but baroque music of his mentor, the saxophonist Charlie Parker.
Mr. Davis's genius emerged in his 20's, with the "Birth of Cool" recordings. He recorded prolifically and changed constantly, breaking fresh ground with his revolutionary bands in the 1960's, then forging adventurously into the 70's and 80's -- when, in sequins and enormous dark glasses, he looked and occasionally sounded like a rock star. His work spoke at once to old and young, though what the old relished as classic Miles, the young might consider square.
The trumpeter's spare, lyrical sensibility remained a constant, whether he was backed by a traditional jazz ensemble or by wailing electric guitars. Mr. Davis stayed in the mode of Mies van der Rohe. ("I always listen for what I can leave out," he would say.) The result was a distinct sound: voice-like, at once laconic and sensual. It spawned imitators around the globe.
Miles Davis is dead at 65. One of his albums was called "Miles Ahead." And he was: an American original, as cool as they come.