Abstract
Miles Davis, his music, and jazz music in general, represent another link in the chain between Modernism and its traditions. It is my intention to trace the history of jazz and Miles Davis’s art through the lens of 20th-century Modernism to ask if the characteristics and trends of Modernism are ongoing and have left a creative and cultural heritage that has affected the development of jazz, the music of Davis and his contemporaries, and the music of the present. In defining 20th-centuryModernism, I contend that the most important aspect of Modernism is the progress and evolution of form wrought from individualism, education and instruction in the use of existing forms, and innovation of these forms. Many Modernist artists began with an existing form, studied it, experimented with it, and added to it their own individual backgrounds and experiences to create something new and unique.