He went on to become one of the five jazz musicians to grace the cover of Time magazine and remains the “ second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington .” To explain his behavior with Thelonious Monk , we should take a look at Davis ’ s idiosyncrasies . First and foremost , Davis was notorious for avoiding rehearsals . Instead of practicing with the band to assure the performance was perfect , the musician would only give them a vague outline for the songs so they could improvise as they pleased . Despite his lackadaisical attitude towards rehearsals , the trumpeter had many unspoken rules when preparing to perform . Davis would never shake hands before going on stage for fear that any oil or residue would hinder his playing . He also wore shoes that were one size too small with the laces pulled as tightly as possible . His last ritual was to avoid both food and sex before a performance . He felt it was important to feel “ hungry and unsatisfied ” while playing on the stage . Being a trumpet player comes with its own set of problems , one of them being nodes on the vocal cords . After experiencing symptoms in 1957 ,
Davis met with a doctor who diagnosed him with the issue and scheduled him for surgery . While in recovery from the operation , the surgeon stressed to the musician that he must rest his voice for at least ten days to avoid long term damage to his vocal cords . So , what does Miles Davis do ? Just two days after he received the instructions from the surgeon , the trumpeter lost his temper during a meeting with the record company . Instead of calmly making his point , Davis screamed at the agent , causing permanent damage . From that day , his voice had a raspy edge that continued until the day he died .
Though he was a successful jazz musician , Miles Davis rose to fame during an era where racism was rampant , whether he was a celebrity or not . On August 25 , 1959 , being a gentleman , Davis was escorting a white lady friend from the club to her taxi . A policeman intervened and aggressively instructed Davis to unhand the woman and walk away . When he tried to explain that he worked at the club , the policeman responded with a brutal beating .
Miles Davis and his wife Frances Taylor after the beating incident in NYC 1959
34 Flashmag ! Issue 143 August 2023