Title: Sound Adventurer
Journalist Kevin Le Gendre explores how Miles Davis became an early adopter of technology, such as electric keyboards and tape effects, changing jazz and beyond.
As part of Miles 100, journalist Kevin Le Gendre explores the impact of Miles Davis on popular culture.
This essay focuses on how Miles Davis became an early adopter of new technology, from electric keyboards to effects pedals and tape loops.
Miles embraced the synthesiser in the late 1960s, aiming to get a fuller range of voicings, a "Gil Evans sound in a small band". With producer Teo Macero, the studio became a vehicle for innovation: they treated recorded sound as a fluid material, using post-production and tape-cutting to collage different takes (e.g., Big Fun), an approach that anticipated hip-hop. Davis prioritised creative thinking, stating, "Bad music is what will ruin music, not the instruments". He remained contemporary by continually embracing new technology.
Produced by Joby Waldman
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
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- Wed 27 May 202621:45BBC Radio 3
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