MILES DAVIS
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This question type asks you to match a list of statements to the correct paragraphs (A–F) in the text.
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📝 Questions: Match the statements (1–8) with paragraphs (A–F)
Read the article on Miles Davis and match the headings with the correct paragraph
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He changed his music style several times throughout his life.
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His innovations were not always recognised immediately.
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He developed a unique playing technique very early in his life.
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His personal struggles affected his perception of success.
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He worked with others to create a new kind of jazz.
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He gained practical experience by performing with jazz legends.
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His experiments with modern styles were criticised by other musicians.
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He felt formal music training was too focused on European tradition
A At the age
of thirteen, Miles Davis was given his first trumpet, lessons were
arranged with a local trumpet player, and a musical odyssey
began. These early lessons,
paid for and supported by his father, had a profound effect
on shaping Davis’ signature
sound. Whereas most trumpeters of the era favoured the use
of vibrato (a wobbly quiver in
pitch inflected in the instrument’s tone), Davis was taught
to play with a long, straight tone,
a preference his instructor reportedly drilled into the
young trumpeter with a rap on the
knuckles every time Davis began using vibrato. This clear,
distinctive style never left
Davis. He continued playing with it for the rest of his
career, once remarking, ‘If I can’t get
that sound, I can’t play anything.’
B Having graduated from high school in 1944, Davis
moved to New York City, where
he continued his musical education both in the clubs and in
the classroom. His enrolment
in the prestigious Julliard School of Music was short-lived,
however – he soon dropped
out, criticising what he perceived as an over-emphasis on
the classical European
repertoire and a neglect of jazz. Davis did later
acknowledge, however, that this time at the
school was invaluable in terms of developing his
trumpet-playing technique and giving him
a solid grounding in music theory. Much of his early
training took place in the form of jam
sessions and performances in the clubs of 52nd Street, where
he played alongside both upand-coming and established members of the jazz
pantheon such as Coleman Hawkins,
Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, and Thelonious Monk.
C In the late 1940s, Davis collaborated with nine
other instrumentalists, including a
French horn and a tuba player, to produce The Birth of Cool,
an album now renowned for
the inchoate sounds of what would later become known as
‘cool’ jazz. In contrast to
popular jazz styles of the day, which featured rapid,
rollicking beats, shrieking vocals, and
short, sharp horn blasts, Davis’ album was the forerunner of
a different kind of sound –
thin, light horn-playing, hushed drums and a more
restrained, formal arrangement.
1 An iconoclast is somebody who challenges traditional
beliefs or customs
Although it received little acclaim at the time (the liner
notes to one of Davis’ later
recordings call it a ‘spectacular failure’), in hindsight
The Birth of Cool has become
recognised as a pivotal moment in jazz history, cementing –
alongside his 1958 recording,
Kind of Blue – Davis’ legacy as one of the most innovative
musicians of his era.
D Though Davis’ trumpet playing may have sounded
effortless and breezy, this ease
rarely carried over into the rest of his life. The early
1950s, in particular, were a time of
great personal turmoil. After returning from a stint in
Paris, Davis suffered from prolonged
depression, which he attributed to the unravelling of a
number of relationships, including
his romance with a French actress and some musical
partnerships that ruptured as a
result of creative disputes. Davis was also frustrated by
his perception that he had been
overlooked by the music critics, who were hailing the
success of his collaborators and
descendants in the ‘cool’ tradition, such as Gerry Mulligan
and Dave Brubeck, but who
afforded him little credit for introducing the cool sound in
the first place.
E In the latter decades of his career, Davis broke
out of exclusive jazz settings and
began to diversify his output across a range of musical
styles. In the 1960s, he was
influenced by early funk performers such as Sly and the
Family Stone, which then
expanded into the jazz-rock fusion genre – of which he was a
frontrunner – in the 1970s.
Electronic recording effects and electric instruments were
incorporated into his sound. By
the 1980s, Davis was pushing the boundaries further,
covering pop anthems such as
Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time and Michael Jackson’s Human
Nature, dabbling in hip
hop, and even appearing in some movies.
F Not everyone was supportive of Davis’ change of
tune. Compared to the recordings
of his early career, universally applauded as linchpins of
the jazz oeuvre, trumpeter
Wynston Marsalis derided his fusion work as being ‘not true
jazz’, and pianist Bill Evans
denounced the ‘corrupting influence’ of record companies,
noting that rock and pop ‘draw
wider audiences’. In the face of this criticism Davis
remained defiant, commenting that his
earlier recordings were part of a moment in time that he had
no ‘feel’ for any more. He
firmly believed that remaining stylistically inert would
have hampered his ability to develop
new ways of producing music. From this perspective, Davis’
continual revamping of genre
was not merely a rebellion, but an evolution, a necessary
path that allowed him to release
his full musical potential.
✅ Answer Key + Explanations
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E – He changed his music style several times throughout his life.
➡ Paragraph E discusses how Davis explored funk, jazz-rock fusion, pop, and hip hop – clearly showing he evolved his musical style across decades.
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C – His innovations were not always recognised immediately.
➡ The Birth of Cool was initially seen as a “spectacular failure” but later became “a pivotal moment” – showing delayed recognition.
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A – He developed a unique playing technique very early in his life.
➡ At age 13, he learned a clear, straight tone without vibrato, which became his signature style.
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D – His personal struggles affected his perception of success.
➡ Mentions his depression, failed relationships, and feeling overlooked by critics, despite his contributions.
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C – He worked with others to create a new kind of jazz.
➡ He collaborated with nine musicians to create The Birth of Cool, introducing a new jazz style.
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B – He gained practical experience by performing with jazz legends.
➡ Davis performed in clubs with greats like Thelonious Monk, gaining real-world training.
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F – His experiments with modern styles were criticised by other musicians.
➡ Wynston Marsalis and Bill Evans criticised his fusion work, saying it wasn’t “true jazz”.
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B – He felt formal music training was too focused on European tradition.
➡ He dropped out of Juilliard, saying it over-emphasised classical European music.
