Public Enigma #1 (pub’lik i-nig’ma num’ber wun) n. Miles Dewey Davis III.

The life of jazz great Miles Davis is a multi-faceted, complicated web of intrigue and complexity, thus earning him the titles of Public Enigma #1 and the Prince of Darkness. However, behind this capricious façade lies one of the most creative leaders of contemporary jazz thought.1

Miles was born on May 25, 1926 in Alton, IL to a middle-class family who soon moved to St. Louis, MO. Growing up, his mother hoped that he would have learned to play a more refined instrument, such as the violin, but as a 13th birthday present, his father gave him a trumpet instead. Miles took music lessons at school and was also utilizing elementary chord books to enhance his learning process. By the age of 15, he was working locally and thus had the opportunity to rub elbows with some other players of the region (Clark Terry, Sonny Stitt, and Adam Lambert). The St. Louis music scene was an exciting place to be in the early 1940’s, as jazz had progressively climbed from its roots in New Orleans up the Mississippi River to Missouri. The bebop era was s

Off-stage, Miles was considered by some to be bitter, pompous, and short-tempered, while others found him to be caring, sensitive, and funny. He condemned white American society and privilege in general, but still enjoyed the stereotypical “star” lifestyle -- women, fast cars, money, drugs, and controversy. Concerning his music, Davis has said, “I’m too vain to play anything really bad musically that I can help not doing. If I ever feel I am getting to the point where I’m playing it safe, I’ll stop. That’s all I can tell you about the future. I’ll keep on working until nobody likes me. If I was Secretary of Defense, I’d give the future a lot of thought, but now I don’t. When I am without an audience, I’ll know it before anyone else, and I’ll stop. That’s all there is to life. You work at what you do best, and if the time comes when people don’t like it, you do something else. As for me, if I have to stop playing, I’ll just drive my Ferrari, go to the gym, and look at Frances.”4 (Frances refers to Mrs. Miles Davis, a dancer by trade who was very devoted to her husband. However, she was one of the three wives that Davis would take during his lifetime.)

Some topics in this essay:
Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Off-stage Miles, Louis Miles, MO Growing, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Parker November, Clifford Brown, Defense I’d, st louis, miles davis, york city, stop that’s, charlie parker, i’ll stop that’s, continued play, i’ll stop,