Imagine being a youngster in a band with money in your pocket and a reputation for how talented you are. That’s a good life to have. At 18 years old Miles Davis had that life, but in 1944 he still lived in his hometown of St. Louis and was starting to hear news about something else outside of home: bebop.
Like any music fan, Davis had heroes, and when he heard his heroes were coming to town nothing was going to stop him from going to see and hear them. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie stood at the front lines of bebop and they were playing, here at home, at a joint called The Riviera across town. Miles took his horn, just in case he got a chance to play with them, even for a minute.
And Davis’s reputation walked in the door before him. Gillespie ran up to him the second Davis walked in the door and asked him to sit in. Davis jumped at the chance and, as he stood on that stage and heard Charlie “Bird” Parker play, the notes that Davis was supposed to play stayed on the page – Davis was so captivated by what he heard, he forgot to play.
Davis would later say that it was the best feeling of his life, with his clothes on.
And this is what he may have heard. This is Dizzy Gillespie with "Salt Peanuts".
Next on the Miles Files: the Juilliard scam.
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The Miles Files - Miles Davis's first teacher
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