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Miles Davis | Essential albums and listening guide
Explore Miles Davis through Kind of Blue. Discover what to listen for and follow related styles to your next record.
Miles Davis
Meet the artist
A trumpeter and bandleader who repeatedly reshaped jazz, from bebop and modal jazz to fusion. A short phrase or a silence could change the atmosphere around his trumpet.
As a bandleader, he created settings in which strong musical personalities could interact. The sound ranges from spare acoustic groups to dense electric ensembles driven by repeating rhythms, yet his restrained horn remains a recognizable guide. Following different periods of his work reveals jazz changing through encounters with rock and funk.
Where to start listening
Start with the space between the notes. Listening to acoustic and electric recordings in succession reveals how one musician can transform an entire musical landscape.
1959Kind of Blue
Miles Davis
A landmark of modal jazz. The spacious improvisations with John Coltrane, Bill Evans and others helped make it the best-selling album in jazz history.
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1969In a Silent Way
Miles Davis
A bold use of electric instruments and Teo Macero’s editing techniques marked the opening of Miles Davis’s jazz-rock period.
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1970Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
An experimental swirl of layered rhythms and electric instruments, bringing jazz and rock together in a revolutionary recording that helped open the fusion era.
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Years follow the Atlas catalogue. Recording dates, original release dates and digital reissue dates may differ.
Explore related genres
Bebop · Cool Jazz · Modal Jazz · Fusion