Presentation: Miles Davis and Jazz Composition

Jazz writer and performer Loren Means will lecture on the role of jazz composition in the classic Miles Davis quintets of the 1950s and 1960s. He will explore the puzzle of why Davis never recorded compositions by the members of his 1950s quintet with John Coltrane, but when he hired Wayne Shorter as saxophonist for his 1960s quintet the result was the recording of an outstanding roster of compositions by Shorter which led to a flowering of compositional output from Davis himself and his other sidemen: Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.

Loren Means is a jazz critic and historian who has published articles and reviews in Down Beat, Contemporary Keyboard, and The Berkeley Barb. In April 2023 at the Richmond branch library, he introduced the film Thelonious Monk: Staight, No Chaser, and in June he performed with his jazz quintet, singing and analyzing the music of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, and other greats.

Banner photo of Miles Davis from Wikipedia.