The music of Miles Davis has inspired me throughout my life.
Miles was a visionary trumpeter, band-leader, and composer who reshaped the landscape of jazz multiple times throughout his career, always looking for new sounds and expressions.
Davis's trumpet playing was characterized by a unique and instantly recognizable sound. His use of space, silence, and the muted trumpet created a hauntingly evocative quality in his music.
Lets talk about the essence of jazz, one of its critical components and something Miles completely mastered. Improvisation.
That is, the ability to express your feelings through music in the now. It's an incredibly hard thing to do and even harder to make sound good, have coherence and be dynamic.
Any composition serves as the framework wherein to improvise by providing a chord progression and a melody, amongst other things. However, the constraints, or rules, are not set in stone. There are no mistakes, only better choice of notes.
The best improvisers are able to take the listener on a journey that is both melodically and harmonically inexplicably intriguing.
For me, when I'm invited to take in the spontaneous ideas and instinctive creativity of Miles Davis, I'm left in awe of the incredible ability to spawn a wealth of emotions that connects with me, to a point where my entire body swings like a pendulum and I can't stop smiling.
Music really makes me happy, especially jazz, particularly Miles.