The Man With The Horn

As part of Miles 100, journalist Kevin Le Gendre explores the impact of Miles Davis on jazz and beyond, into popular culture.

Miles expanded the range of his instrument over five decades, pushing the trumpet beyond jazz clubs into the cinema, beginning with the score for Louis Malle’s Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud (1958). In the 1950s, he was celebrated as a "stylist" and "romanticist" who favoured slower tempos and a clear, vibrato-less sound, exemplified on the 1959 album Kind of Blue. Composer Gil Evans noted that Davis was the first person to change the tone of the trumpet since Louis Armstrong. However, his restless creativity led to dramatic shifts. By the 1970s, he embraced rock and funk, developing a harsh, abrasive, and powerful trumpet tone (e.g., Get Up With It), even using a wah-wah pedal.

Produced by Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3