Who Knew Miles Davis in 1949

There are bookshelves of books, millions of movies, a variety of videos about Miles Davis. This blog can’t possibly tell you everything you need to know about Miles Davis. He changed his image several times, he played along side other legends of jazz, he is in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. He created new forms of jazz.

In Mix Tapes and Empty Buildings, https://www.amazon.com/Mix-Tapes-Empty-Buildings-Book-ebook/dp/B01MXKAVEG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1520693395&sr=1-1&keywords=mix+tapes+and+empty+buildings Mix wonders if Susie listened to Miles Davis. I’ll have two blogs. What was Miles Davis in 1949 when Susie left Schuyler. The second part will be Davis in 1987 when Mix searches for the truth about Susie. 

Miles Davis was born May 26, 1926 in Illinois. This makes him a Gemini. In the Don Cheadle movie about Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, he tells us this a lot to describe his mood swings. He was a natural when it came to playing music so much so that he was accepted to Julliard Music Conservatory. He dropped out because he was in a band already. He joined Eddie Randles Rhumboogie Orchestra in 1943. 

He played in Charlie Parker’s Quartet from 1944 to 1948. 

For those that don’t know jazz, Charlie “Bird” Parker was a legend. Jazz clubs named “Birdland” were named after him. I watched a documentary about him and he would play a gig, stay up practicing for the next day, wrote scales and sketches during the day and listened to other artists in his free time. When he died, he looked twice his age. He ran himself down that much. 

The first single release credited to Miles Davis was “Milestones” in 1946. This information was from wikipedia. As I scroll through YouTube for a video to post, Charlie Parker is on that song. It was also an album. He was featured on the Charlie Parker single “Birdseye” in 1945. 

About this time, he married Irene Birth Cawthon and they had two children. 

In Mix Tapes and Empty Buildings, Mix wonders if Susie would listen to Miles Davis in 1949. The answer is more than likely no. In 1949, Miles Davis was known more for live playing and jamming in other bands. He toured and played in a variety of clubs. In 1949, Jazz was an older person's music of choice. A teen girl in Schuyler wouldn’t follow his career at that time.