by André Depienne

The jazz-trompetist, composer and bandlea- der Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois. His music was both celebrated and criticized at the same time. The German top journa- list and critic Werner Burkhard wrote about Miles Davis: “And yet again God created, just like before him, Richard Wagner and Herbert von Karajan, a huge talented asshole”. Those were harsh words from a recognized critic. By analyzing the life of Miles Davis, we come to the conclusion that he was a very arrogant man. He pretended of himself having revo- lutionned the music at least five or six times. Miles Davis used to be and will remain a dis- tinctive personality in jazz history. Without any doubt, one of the most interesting pieces is the soundtrack to Louis Malle’s “L’ascenseur pour l’échafaud” from 1957. Miles recorded this album while touring France. The most popular title is a cover version from Cindy Lauper’s song “Time after Time”, which can be found on his album “You’re Under Arrest” from 1985. His career goes back until the for- ties, when he played along with people like Charlie Parker, Benny Carter or Billy Ecks- tine. On September 28, 1991 Miles Davis, 68 at the time, died due to a stroke in Santa Moni- ca. According to several biographies he died of the causes of AIDS.