Miles Davis
FameRank: 8

"Miles Dewey Davis III" was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, together with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.

In 2006, Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which recognized him as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz". In 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth RIAA certification/platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. On December 15, 2009, the United States House of Representatives/U.S. House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution recognizing and commemorating the album Kind of Blue on its 50th anniversary, "honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure".

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I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning . . . Every day I find something creative to do with my life.

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It's always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question it.

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Don't play what's there, play what's not there.

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A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it.

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I'll play it first and tell you what it is later.

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My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.

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Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

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Do not fear mistakes, there are none.

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First you imitate, then you innovate.

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I never thought that the music called "jazz" was ever meant to reach just a small group of people, or become a museum thing locked under glass like all other dead things that were once considered artistic.

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I know what I've done for music, but don't call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis.

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The reason I don't play ballads? Because I love to play them.

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