440px-Miles_Davis_by_Palumbo, image from Wikipedia, click for source
Last May my neighborhood inaugurated a brand new street name to commemorate one of the coolest humans to have graced our planet, jazz great, Miles Davis.
Moments before the unveiling.
Mr. Davis had lived at 312 W. 77th Street in Manhattan for 25 years (although he moved somewhere else before he died in 1991 at age 65). Years after his death, one of his old neighbors became determined to honor Davis by renaming the block in his honor. The city gave her the runaround for a good long time, but she prevailed. Great Job Shirley Zafirau!
On May 26, which would have been Miles Davis’ 88th birthday, his family invited everyone to a block party to celebrate the official unveiling of his block’s new name.
“Miles Davis Way”.
A lot of neighbors and fans (and media and paparazzi) came to celebrate the man who popularized entirely new kinds of music and who influenced generations of musicians in many genres in addition to jazz. Read about his life and his immense importance at his official website and Wikipedia.
I know nawtheen about jazz, but I still can appreciate the cool of Birth of the Cool – have a listen at Youtube.
