Jazz Trendsetter Miles Davis Dies

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Miles Davis, one of America's finest jazz trumpeters and the most consistent trendsetter in jazz history, died yesterday. He was 65.

Davis died of pneumonia, respiratory failure and stroke, according to a statement read at St. John's Hospital and Health Center, where he was admitted earlier this month.

Davis was the most famous trumpeter in his generation, in a line that stretched from Louis Armstrong to Dizzy Gillespie to Wynton Marsalis.

He was the innovator of more distinct styles than any other jazz musician. He pioneered in cool jazz, hard bop, modal playing, free-form explorations and use of electronics.

He was an astounding developer of talent, bringing many young players to prominence. Tony Williams was just 18 when Davis hired him in 1963; Herbie Hancock was 23 when he joined the same year.

Jazz historian Dan Morgenstern once described Davis as "a generous, kind man whose true self is not revealed by his flamboyant, provocative behavior, but rather by the introspective, complex, often shifting style of his music."

Davis was admired by musicians, but every time he changed direction his audience divided between loyal and disenchanted listeners. He ignored them.

In his 1989 autobiography, "Miles," he wrote: "To be and stay a great musician you've got to always be open to what's new, what's happening at the moment. You have to be able to absorb it if you're going to continue to grow and communicate your music.

"I want to keep creating, changing. Music isn't about standing still and becoming safe."

Davis was a fascinating figure because of his enigmatic personality, seemingly remote and arrogant; his thin body and striking face; his angry statements about white people though he often hired white musicians; and his whispery, raspy voice, a result of yelling at somebody after 1956 surgery to remove polyps on his vocal cords.

Davis was plagued by illness much of his life, including diabetes, pneumonia, a stroke, and hip problems caused by sickle cell anemia. He wrote in his autobiography that he overcame heroin addiction in the early '50s but used cocaine until 1981.

Miles Dewey Davis III was born in Alton, Ill., on May 25, 1926, son of a dentist. When he was 2, the family moved to nearby East St. Louis, Ill., where he grew up.

He got his first trumpet from a family friend as a child and was playing professionally at age 15.

Davis moved to New York in 1944, at 18, to find Dizzy Gillespie, one of his early trumpet heroes, and saxophonist Charlie Parker. When Gillespie left Parker's combo, Davis replaced him. He attended the Juilliard School for a year.

In 1948 he left Parker and, looking for a lighter, subtler, tuneful sound, he established a nine-piece band, with Gil Evans as arranger, that included Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, John Lewis and Max Roach. They recorded "The Birth of the Cool."

That influential album ushered in cool jazz and set the stage for the chamber jazz that followed. Two of his later compositions became jazz standards, "All Blues" and "So What."

He was a parent of cool jazz, but when it became popular, Davis turned his back on it and surrounded himself with bebop players. He became the founder of hard bop, yet tired of it, too. In 1959 he began making records that used scales instead of chords for structure, greatly influencing jazz of the 1960s.

In 1963, he brought in Williams on drums, Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and later added saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Their "Bitches Brew" album, recorded with electric instruments, sparked the jazz-rock or fusion jazz of the 1970s, became Davis' best-selling album and brought jazz record sales out of the doldrums.

Davis was married and divorced three times, to dancer Frances Taylor, singer Betty Mabry and actress Cicely Tyson. Survivors include a daughter, Cheryl, and three sons, Gregory, Miles IV and Erin.