Miles Dewey Davis

Davis, Miles Dewey (1926–91), U.S. jazz musician, one of the pioneers of “bebop” in the 1940s and of “cool” jazz, with its restrained, clear sounds, in the 1950s. A renowned trumpeter, Davis played with many outstanding musicians, including Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. In the late 1960s he produced a new sound, based on a fusion of jazz and rock, and after a period of retirement, he reemerged in the 1980s as one of the major innovators in U.S. music.

See also: Jazz.