Miles Davis and John Coltrane

Miles Davis and John Coltrane are both very influential jazz musicians. They have many similarities which includes that they both played trumpet and developed an original sound for jazz music. However, I’ve noticed that they have unique differences. In the tracks I’ve listened to, Mile Davis seems to play much faster and a lot more unpredictably. Examples would be songs like “Lady Bird” and “Out of the Blue”. He seems very improvisational with his melodies of songs. The drums and piano are also very emphasized in his songs focusing much on unique rhythms. There was one song that I liked called “Blue Room” which was slower and different from some of his other songs. He expresses a great amount of emotion in the song.

On the other hand, John Coltrane’s music seemed to focus on all instruments rather than just the trumpet in order to carry on the melody. The trumpet is definitely emphasized the most in his songs though. Also I’ve noticed that most of his music is more relaxing and not as improvisational than Miles Davis’, such as in the songs “Love Supreme” and “My Favorite Things”. I feel like Coltrane’s music focused more on the melody than the rhythm.The rhythm between the drum, bass, and piano is also much simpler. I enjoyed listening to the song “Giant Steps” as it had a very nice trumpet melody that carried the song. It reminded me a lot of how Miles Davis plays, but it seemed more controlled than the way Miles Davis plays the trumpet. Despite their difference in musical style, Miles Davis and John Coltrane are both inspiring and unique musicians in jazz.