Miles Davis

A prominent jazz trumpeter of the 1950s and '60s who pioneered new styles such as cool jazz, hard bop and fusion, Davis studied at the Juilliard School (1947) and played in Charlie Parker's popular bebop quintet (1948). He worked with orchestra conductor Gil Evans, John Coltrane and later electronic pop artist Herbie Hancock. Albums such as Round About Midnight (1956) and Birth of the Cool (1950) became classics.