Miles Davis

If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.

Miles Davis

During his nearly 40-year career, jazz legend Miles Davis constantly evolved his style, pushing and challenging the boundaries of jazz music. He experimented with jazz fusion, funk, synthesizers, rock, and African rhythms, while at the same time finding new ways to connect on an emotional level with his audience. He abandoned the more traditional use of vibrato on his trumpet, creating a sound that was closer to the human voice. Like all great jazz musicians, Davis was a master of improvisation. As such, he saw musical mistakes as opportunities — a philosophy he carried into the rest of his life. It’s how we react to so-called mistakes that determine whether the ultimate outcome will be negative or positive. As the great jazz pianist Herbie Hancock said, “Miles was able to turn something that was wrong into something that was right.”