Talk:Miles Davis

melody of "Dig" on Miles Davis's gravesite

The opening notes of "Dig," Miles Davis's contrafact on "Sweet Georgia Brown," are inscribed on his headstone.Cdg1072 (talk) 16:52, 29 November 2021 (UTC)

Discography Section

The discography list on this page (separate from the main article: Miles Davis discography) is bothering me. I can't figure out what it's trying to list. It feels like a bunch of listed releases have counter examples not included.

• Compilations: Some of this is just because Davis was active during an interesting time during the history of how music was released: I noticed some edit history where someone tried to split the section to have his 10" LPs and 12" LPs listed which I feel wasn't a terrible idea. A lot of his earlier material released on 10" was later compiled together in 12" releases that are more well known than the original releases (Dig (Miles Davis album) is probably better known than The New Sounds and Blue Period (album) - all three are listed for now). Birth of the Cool (also a compilation) is certainly more well known than many of his other releases and yet isn't listed, and Classics in Jazz doesn't even have its own Wiki article.
  • I think we should either add Birth of the Cool or remove Dig, Miles Davis and Horns, Blue Haze, Walkin', Bag's Groove, and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants
  • I think we should also add Modern Jazz Trumpets which is marked as a "compilation" right now, but I'd argue it's a split (compiled from a few artists) rather than a "compilation" (like, in the sense of a "best of"/re-issue release)
• Live material: Live-Evil (Miles Davis album) and We Want Miles are live albums and listed, yet plenty more live albums aren't. Live-Evil is a bit special since it includes a bit of extra studio material (roughly 16 min of the album's 101 min of material).
  • I understand why we'd keep Live-Evil, but it should arguably be removed. We should definitely drop We Want Miles.
• Soundtracks: Jack Johnson (album) is listed but not Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (soundtrack) or Jazz Track? Should we list Ascenseur (France/Europe only release originally) or Jazz Track as that was in his home market? Both? What about other soundtracks like Siesta? Dingo? Hot Spot?
  • Jazz Track can also have a similar discussion to the compilation stuff, what about releases that are mostly compilations but have one/few new recording(s) added? Since Jazz Track was Ascenseur with three additional unreleased tracks, and ones that are quite interesting/important in the Miles Davis chronology.
  • I really don't know what is best for this. I think it'd be a bit weird to have stuff like Dingo and Siesta listed, but at the same time Jack Johnson and Ascenseur make sense to me as those are well known.

There's probably some good cleaning up to be had at Miles Davis discography and Template:Miles Davis as well, but starting the conversation here for now, and I'll start by removing We Want Miles which seems to be the most egregious issue on this page for now. Hopefully a discussion can be had and an agreement reached. --WillMak050389 03:49, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Well, I let this sit for a month and no one responded, so I'm making the changes I think are best. If there's pushback, let's discuss reasoning here. I think my only additional note is that I included both Ascenseur and Jazz Track, but on the same numbered list item, since the former was the original release, and the latter was the release in his primary market (US), so I think both have a clear claim for being included.

We might also want to consider archival stuff like Circle in the Round and Directions (Miles Davis album).

--WillMak050389 02:26, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

WP:WPMAG says to "provide a summary of the musician's major works". How "major" they are can be determined from the literature available on them, including the translated coverage at their articles. For Jack Johnson, the story of that album paints it as a soundtrack effort that evolved into a stand-alone studio album, and marketed as such (independently from the documentary film), and having notability (and notoriety) in Davis' artistic development. Live albums like Agharta also are key releases that I wouldn't think should be omitted. I don't see nearly the same level of importance attached to Dingo or The Hot Spot, for example. Piotr Jr. (talk) 20:52, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

Very late to this but I have the same problems! I would love to help with this if I can get some consensus. Davis released albums after Columbia released the LP but before the 12" won the format war. The 12" reissues being called "comps" when they're effectively albums bothers me, and I also think the live albums need cleaning up TlonicChronic (talk) 06:32, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

Gravestone

His gravestone says ‘Sir Miles Davis’. Was he knighted. 86.156.2.208 (talk) 17:30, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

probably just a way of showing respect. Like how you call people "sir" in completely informal situations. Rateb4isik (talk) 17:40, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

Disambiguation

Another optional full name of Miles Morales, who atypically has the last name of his mother, Rio Morales, rather than of his father, Jefferson Davis (brother of the Prowler)

הראש (talk) 15:15, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

That would be original research as Morales never goes by "Miles Davis". It seems very unlikely that anyone would be searching for "Miles Davis" in the expectation of finding Morales Grachester (talk) 16:11, 3 June 2023 (UTC)

Label

Should Fontana (or Capitol) be listed as one of Davis's labels? My understanding is he released Ascenseur pour l'échafaud on Fontana, but he had contracts with Prestige, Columbia and Warner. And if Capitol is there, my guess is Blue Note and Debut should be added as well. It feels like there should be more or less, but I don't feel confident enough to boldly edit. TlonicChronic (talk) 06:28, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

Outburst from Davis that led to an intracerebral hemorrhage

Forgive me if this has been already discussed, but: the assertion

Doctors suggested he have a tracheal tube implanted to relieve his breathing after repeated bouts of bronchial pneumonia. The suggestion provoked an outburst from Davis that led to an intracerebral hemorrhage followed by a coma.

certainly sounds like something that should have an associated cite in an encyclopedia. (The cite for the following sentence regarding Davis' final painting isn't related.) I tried to find a citation on the web, but all I could find was either this exact verbiage, attributed to Wikipedia, or minor-rewordings of this in various articles, none of which (that I encountered) cited a source. It certainly sounds more than plausible, but one would think someone (hopefully someone who was there in the room) must have relayed this first, somewhere. EricTN (talk) 02:56, 6 March 2025 (UTC)

Infobox photo

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  Image 1
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  Image 2
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  Image 3
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  Image 4
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  Image 5

Hi all, I saw that the infobox photo for this article was changed recently, and I'm not sure the change is an improvement; accordingly, I wanted to open some discussion here and see what consensus there might be for any image. Looking at the files in commons:Category:Miles Davis, there are three images that seem like the most promising options:

• Image 1 is the prior status quo infobox image on this article. It shows Davis' face clearly and he's at the approximate age when he had the greatest renown, but there is the drawback that he doesn't appear with his instrument.
• Image 2 was promoted to the infobox image last month. It shows Davis playing the trumpet, but his face isn't clearly visible due to the lighting and angle.
• Image 3 shows Davis playing the trumpet and clearly depicts his face, but he's at a younger age (the photo dates to approx. 1947) and is making a pretty stern expression.

What do people think is the best image for this article's infobox? Personally, my preference among these three is 1 > 3 > 2. I'm also open to other suggested images if anyone has other ideas. ModernDayTrilobite (talk • contribs) 18:00, 18 August 2025 (UTC)

• • I added a fourth photograph, which is the last incarnation of Miles. It's my favourite, because it shows him at the top of what he always was: an original. I personally don't like the first one at all because he was not a smiling person, while the stern face has always been his trademark. So, my preference among these three is 4 > 3 > 2 > 1. Tatvam (talk) 10:59, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

    Thank you for the input! Image 4 is an interesting one to consider. I like that it's more recent and in color, but I'm concerned that at small sizes the composition is a bit tricky to parse, especially with his outfit being so similar in color to parts of the drum kit behind him. The note about his personality is also well taken, as I'm not as familiar with that aspect of him; with that in mind, I think I shift to having #3 as my favorite overall. ModernDayTrilobite (talk • contribs) 13:26, 19 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm thankful there's a proper discussion on this, given how these edits tend to go by without any establishment. Really, the first two images are the only ones that nail Davis completely. Image three is awkward, framing him as more of a background figure in the middle of a job and not the man who centers the stage. Image 4 is an obvious no-go, as he's almost camouflaged in the gold and brown and orange around him.

Now with Images 1 & 2, they're both great in about the same totality, but with mostly different reasons, mainly since they capture two different eras (in the years '56 and '71). The 1956 image shows his face clearly and he's in his youth, closing out his 20s as he's close to establishing modal jazz. The 1971 image obscures his face a bit but shows his trumpet and him as the leading figure in jazz fusion and the image's related performance.

Considering Davis's overall legacy, I'm tipping towards Image 2 (1971), because Davis the jazz fusion leader demonstrates a crucial part of his legacy: That he's a chameleon who explores every aspect of musical improvisation and sees potential in every instrument and every player, not just with jazz's musicianship and interplay. He's an experimental man who's always hungry for new things, and this was apparent as early as the 1950s, when he moved from hard bop to cool and modal jazz. Image 2 firmly states his long-running experimentalism for good. Carlinal (talk) 17:39, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

@ModernDayTrilobite @Tatvam @Carlinal - I uploaded a new image of a publicity photo of Davis and I'm pretty sure more are coming - it is 1:19 AM and I will look for more later. Anyways, I think this image could be the one since it is posed and can be cropped out so the instrument is visible. I'm not sure though, what are your opinions Wcamp9 (talk) 05:20, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

I appreciate the effort in finding this, but unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of the photo—the pose and expression both feel odd to me for a lead image. ModernDayTrilobite (talk • contribs) 16:19, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Choke a white man quote

Is this an appropriate paragraph for his personal life section?

Davis said to reporter Miles White, "If somebody told me I only had an hour to live, I'd spend it choking a white man. I'd do it nice and slow" because he was annoyed by prejudice from racist White people. NotQualified (talk) 21:58, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

References

Wynton Crouch

Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch are the last people who should be quoted evaluating Miles. You’d might as well solicit John Wilkes Booth’s opinion of Abraham Lincoln. TheScotch (talk) 06:33, 8 August 2026 (UTC)

Peer review

Miles Davis

I listed this article for peer review in the hopes to nominate it for and reach FA-status. I'd appreciate any feedback on how to get it to a nominatable state and what criteria still need to be met; the article was formerly FAC (2003) and demoted in 2006, but a lot of change and improvement to the article has been made since.

Thank you, 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚗 ^💬🖋️ 01:49, 27 September 2026 (UTC)

Comments from Z1720

• @KingGreenbean: I recommend bringing this to WP:GAN first, where a reviewer will give a more thorough review before the FAC. Here are some comments after a quick skim:
• I have added citation needed templates to the article, which should be resolved before a nomination.
• At over 10,000 words, this article is quite long. Is there information that should be spun out or summarised more effectively? Larger articles take longer to find reviewers.
• There are some short, one sentence paragraphs throughout the article that should probably be merged with other paragraphs.
• It's fine to have a further reading section in a good article, but before the FAC those sources should be used as inline citations in the article or removed if not necessary. If the source is a higher quality source (like a book from a university press) and says the same information as a lower-quality source (like a website) then the higher-quality source can replace the lower quality.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ping me with questions

RoySmith

This lights up with lots of hits on Earwig. Looking over them, they mostly look like false positives, i.e. names of pieces he wrote or performed, but you should read the entire report and make sure that's the case. You'll want to read WP:CLOP to better understand what's allowed. I think you're OK, but do go through the exercise of verifying.

As for the article length, I don't think that's necessarily a problem but Z is right that it will raise queries at FAC so you should be prepared for that. My initial impression is that this is a really nice article about an important subject. I see it's level-4 vital article; hopefully that will overcome some of the length-related resistance for reviewers. You might also read WP:REVIEWME for some other ideas on how to attract reviewers. I'll try to give this a deeper dive when I get a chance. FWIW, I took a look at who's listed at WP:VAP#Jazz. Man, I could turn that into a playlist and it would keep me going for a month.

• The family soon moved to 1701 Kansas Avenue in East St. Louis.[17] This seems out of place in a paragraph that's about his style of trumpet playing.
• He took additional trumpet lessons from Joseph Gustat, principal trumpeter of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.[18] The preceding and following sentences are about where he played, so this statement about who he took lessons from seems awkwardly placed.
• At Lincoln, Davis met his first girlfriend ... From here to the end of this paragraph is a bunch of oddly placed and disconnected sentences that jump from one subject to another with no logical theme.
• Clark Terry, who suggested he play without vibrato I'd tie this back somehow to Elwood Buchanan's similar suggestion you mentioned earlier.
• also known as the Blue Devils, led by Eddie Randle. I assume this is Eddie Randle? If so, link to it.
• With encouragement from his teacher and girlfriend Do these people have names?
• As a general comment, some of the prose flows well, but some drops into a choppy style. For example,

  In September 1944, Davis accepted his father's idea of studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.[26] After passing the audition, he attended classes in music theory, piano and dictation.[31] Davis often skipped his classes.[32]

  The first two sentence flow logically from one to the other; the use of "After" as the first word of the second sentence establishes a cause-and-effect relationship. But the third sentence just hangs there, disconnected. It would work better as

  In September 1944, Davis accepted his father's idea of studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.[26] After passing the audition, he took music theory, piano and dictation, although he often skipped classes.[31][32]

  which connects (in opposition) the last thought to the previous one.
• According to Davis, Coleman Hawkins told him "finish your studies at Juilliard and forget Bird [Parker]".[29][33] After finding Parker Another example of two sentences that don't flow well (i.e. choppy style). First you tell the reader that he was advised not to look for Parker. Then in the next sentence, he's found Parker. This would flow better if you connected them with something like "Davis ignored Hawkins's advice and eventually located Parker at <the X club, or whatever the source says>".
• Davis was paid an allowance of $40 Weekly? Monthly?
• In Los Angeles, Parker had a nervous breakdown that put him in the hospital for several months.[39][1] This paragraph wanders all over the place. The first bits are about who Davis played with, but this sentence just drops in with something totally unrelated. Then it's back to which artists he played with, then it veers into his personal life with the birth of his second child and substance abuse.
• French horn players Junior Collins with Sandy Siegelstein and Gunther Schuller I'm not sure what this is supposed to say, but something's not right.
• lost my [his] sense of discipline I believe this should be just "lost [his] sense of discipline per MOS:BRACKETS (see the "To make the grammar work ..." example).
• Rollins left them soon after, leaving Davis to pay more than $25,000 It's not clear who "them" refers to. At this point, Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb had already left, so the only "them" that's left is Davis, right?
• Davis needed medical attention for hip pain, which had worsened since his Japanese tour during the previous year. This is the first we've heard of either the Japanese tour or any hip pain, so this needs a bit of explaining.
• The album contains two side-long tracks Many of our readers will have never seen a vinyl LP so have no clue that "side-long" means "about 22 minutes", so this deserves an explanation.
• The touring band of 1969–1970—with Shorter, Corea, Holland and Jack DeJohnette—never completed This is probably technically correct, but the three dashes of different flavors is hard to parse. Can this be rephrased to avoid that?

I'm reading "Personal life" now and finding this very confusing. You previously had little bits and pieces of his personal life scattered about: Irene Birth/Cawthon, Cicely Tyson, Juliette Gréco. We also previously got random bits about his health: substance abuse, hip replacement, larynx polyps. Now we get that he had sickle-cell and diabetes (and in the next section, that he had AIDS). I could see an argument for a strictly chronological presentation. I can see an argument for instead organizing things by topic: talk about his music, then talk about his personal life in another section. But what you've got here is a confusing melange of the two.

From a structural perspective, the "Personal life" section is very different from what came before, being made up of a series of very short paragraphs, quite at odds with the way the Career section is constructed. It feels like these were written by different people.

• In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service issued commemorative stamps featuring Davis.[230] Include a photo of the stamp(s).

• Related to the preceding, this could use more images overall, especially in the Career section, which has long stretches of unbroken paragraphs of text. There's some great photos of Gerry Mulligan that would fit into the 1948–1950 section. For 1957–1963, if you can't find anything better, you can download the PDF of the House resolution and include a crop from that in the article. I'm sure there's others than can be found for other sub-sections.

That's about it from me. Overall, I think this is pretty good and obviously the result of a prodigious amount of research for which you are to be commended. The biggest issues I see are resolving the organizational issues (Career vs Personal life), cleaning up the various places where you get into choppy patches, and finding some more images to break up the wall-of-text appearance in the Career section. -- RoySmith (talk) 12:57, 28 September 2026 (UTC)

@KingGreenbean just making sure you've seen the above. -- RoySmith (talk) 12:02, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

There's a bunch of photos at https://www.loc.gov/collections/jazz-photography-of-william-p-gottlieb/?q=davis,+miles which may be of interest. Some of them I see you're already using, but I just wanted to make sure you've seen this collection. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:53, 2 October 2026 (UTC)

KingGreenbean

Yes! @Z1720 and @RoySmith, thank you both for your comments and suggestions. I am new to this kind of work, and this is my first time requesting a peer review and trying to get an article nominated. The time I am able to dedicate to my Wikipedia ventures is often sporadic, so please do be patient, and apologies when I am slow to respond. — 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚗 ^💬🖋️ 22:09, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

OK, that's cool. You've made a really good start here and my feeling is this will eventually make a strong FA candidate. Feel free to work at your own pace, there's no rush. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:13, 29 September 2026 (UTC)