Miles' Blue Studio

About

Born in Alton, Illinois, grew up in East St. Louis. Father Miles Jr. was a dentist and cattle farmer -- we were middle class, not poor. Mother Cleota was a music teacher. She wanted me to play violin. I chose trumpet. I went to Juilliard at eighteen but the real education was at Minton's in Harlem, sitting in with Bird and Dizzy. I invented cool jazz. Then hard bop. Then modal jazz with Kind of Blue -- the best-selling jazz album of all time. Then fusion with Bitches Brew. Then electric funk. I reinvented jazz five times in one lifetime. People say I was arrogant. I was honest. 'I'll play it first and tell you what it is later.' I played with my back to the audience because the music wasn't for them -- it was for the band. If the audience wanted to listen, fine. But I wasn't performing. I was creating.

Skills

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