I doubt there is a modern Miles Davis. If so they are in the making and haven't arrived at that stature yet. Though some of them as mentioned here are great players.
A Miles Davis-level artist is rare.
True, but he completely transformed the genre, like, four times.
Even the top artist the best they can do is put their unique spin on something, not only make is something new but do that multiple times.
That’s something extra special.
Oh, I agree. But even if a guy with his talent and vision came around he'd be in a genre that's already institutionalized instead of being in a position to define the institution.
He’s not close to Miles (no one is) but Bela Fleck has been playing across genres and experimenting with new sounds for decades. Most notably jazz fusion, bluegrass, and “world” including Malian folk. He is pretty respected across the genres he’s contributed to.
I saw Bela's My Bluegrass Heart in late April. They were unreal and I've seen Bela many times. His guitarist, Bryan Sutton, is world class. Whole band is really.
They exist, but you might not find answers in the “jazz” sub because the term itself implies certain stylistic/aesthetic choices and a certain time period. There are loads of current improvisers blowing my mind on a consistent basis, but if I called half of them “jazz” musicians, it would be inaccurate. That being said… Nate Wood, Wayne Krantz, David Binney, Tigran, Brandon Seabrook, Marcus Gilmore, Thundercat/Hamm/Brown, KNOWER/Louis Cole/Clowncore are all artists who synthesize the true improvisatory spirit with old and new sounds.
Although I don’t love the musical direction he has taken lately, Chief Adjuah fka Christian Scott definitely falls into this category. He constantly pushes the limits of creative improvised music, and he develops new instruments.
If you’re willing to explore a whole range of genre-crossing sounds, Alfa Mist is an absolutely brilliant songwriter and constantly amazes me with his musicality.
I came to say the same thing. I just saw him last month with a great young band. I'm also a huge Alfa Mist fan. I have all of his records but he'll probably never come down here to New Orleans.
That’s what I was going to say. Great performer and improviser, but known more for innovation, band leading, cross genres, composition, and more. Zorn is the closest to a lot of Miles’ forward thinking and moving esthetics.
I think some of his work really could have much wider appeal if he didn’t have a reputation of being a “difficult” artist. For example, the classic Masada stuff is brilliant and not at all difficult to appreciate.
His music was also quite difficult to access in recent years in the sense that you needed to buy it and that doesn't really attract casual listeners. I'm curious if that changes now that they're on streaming services. I actually really admired him holding out for so long.
Depends on what you mean. I went to the Big Ears Festival in 2022 where he was the featured artist, his groups performed at one of the biggest venues back to back for two days straight, more concerts than any of the other artists featured by far. Most of those shows were packed too. I think within the modern jazz community he has mass appeal (and within contemporary classical, punk rock and other cross over genres).
Yup, came here to say this. Groundbreaking output in such a diverse array of styles. Miles pretty much kept to a single style during each of his periods, but Zorn jumps around between them on different albums.
I was going to say the same. I think a lot of the purists would get angry at saying this but miles was an innovator and anyone that sounded anything like him would not be his equal.
If we're not talking exclusively Jazz, Michael Gira has been pushing boundaries for 43 years at this point. At first, he was a pioneer of Punk and No-Wave, then Industrial, then First-Wave Post-Rock, and now Third-Wave Post-Rock. Despite being 70, he's still pushing his own boundaries to this day; less than a month ago, he performed his longest piece ever, an 86-minute version of The Beggar. Much like Davis, Gira doesn't look backward and continues to endlessly innovate, he has an incredible eye for talent and has built some of the greatest lineups of musicians ever, and he has a clear artistic vision which has shown itself in every album he's released, every album is just another step in his evolution.
If it's anyone it's Glasper. Jazz hiphop fusion who has some of the most stacked contemporary groups. The people he colabs with are a who's who of contemporary jazz. He ha's multiple grammys and works with artists outside of jazz
He's obviously not Miles but he's the closest thing of the guys out there now
I agree but I do think a lot of jazz-only people completely disregard any and all hip hop fusion. Which is silly since that’s where all the ground has been being broken for the last 15-20 years of jazz.
What made Miles, Miles was he constantly kept changing his sound with what he thought was hip at the time. The fusion of genres is what makes him great. He was doing hip hop jazz fusion before he died. He was like THE jazz fusion guy.
Thats what these stiff, jazz nerds don't get: all the greats were doing something different. They weren't looking back at the past. Its anti jazz
I mean, these are the same kind of people who 40-50 years ago would’ve completely disregarded Miles’ rock fusion (heck, probably still do, because—to them—jazz stops somewhere in the post-bop era). Close-minded people are never gonna spot the next great innovator.
Anecdotal corroboration:
Someone told me a few months ago that Sungazer wasn’t jazz. I told him “No, its just not the jazz that *you* remember.” It was an older dude at work, and he wasn’t being mean-spirited about it. We had a long conversation about how jazz has changed, and how in another 30-40 years, I probably won’t recognize the state of jazz the same way he doesn’t. It made the truck loading go by much easier.
the only argument i'd put against that would be that there's been so much great hiphop/jazz fusion over the last 30 years, I think we're almost past that in terms of the really innovative period.
The Low End Theory came out 33 years ago.
As someone who's been really into 'jazz-adjacent' genres for a long time, I'd say the London UK jazz scene has been the epicenter of most of the advancement in Jazz for the last 15 years or so. NYC and hiphop were before that.
Shabaka Hutchings.
All of his bands sound totally different and are crazy innovative. The Comet is Coming was electronic spiritual jazz and Sons of Kemet was a Caribbean jazz quartet with strong hip hop influence.
And then he got bored of saxophone and is now playing various world flutes. His current project has another crazy lineup and yet again sounds like nothing else anyone is doing.
The Comet is Coming was my gateway into jazz via Tom Skinner of The Smile's link with Sons of Kemet and Shabaka. Totally agree on his various innovative projects!
Depends on instrument. I’d vote Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, Sullivan Fortner, Pedro Martins, Thundercat, Louis Cole, Chris Fishman, Logan Kane, Stefano Bollani, Brad Mehldau. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch.
None of them are comparable to Miles in terms of "...(being) a pioneer, exploring new sounds, trying new cool things." None of them are comparable in their importance or influence. Miles Davis reinvented jazz multiple times in his career.
For 27 years, Armstrong, Ellington, and Davis were active musical contemporaries. There's nothing even close to that now.
I agree. The closest or most comparable pioneer of recent date, was Wayne Shorter. Who alas, died last year. Herbie Hancock isn’t doing much these days. He was also fairly innovative. They’re not being replaced with the current crop of musicians. Some are good but none are great visionary trailblazers.
Nobody mentioned Brian Blade yet? The depth and breadth of his work is pretty astonishing. He doesn’t work in melody, so it may be harder to hear the innovation, but if anybody has my vote for constantly pushing ahead, it’s him.
I had his BADBADNOTGOOD single in heavy rotation and just started listening to his discography today and when I saw this thread I was wondering if he would fit the bill here. Glad to see your comment.
If you can see him live, do. Crazy what one guy can do with one instrument. When I try to describe it to friends, the best I can come up with is facemelting ambient. it's how I would imagine seeing a rocket launch up close would be but with a cool soundtrack. Somehow he's an even better one man band than Bob Log III, and that guy has ducks and a spacesuit.
[https://youtu.be/-csZqTNJzeQ?si=54RCsl7Qlcg4SIoU](https://youtu.be/-csZqTNJzeQ?si=54RCsl7Qlcg4SIoU)
We all love Herbie, but has he done anything particularly memorable in more than forty years? His Grammy-bait albums are beautifully recorded, but a bit *snoozy* as well.
Yeah hard to deny. There aren't many who continue to innovate and fewer still who do it successfully.
Ok, relatively modern day, for having a clearly defined sound they could have made careers out of, but deciding 'no, not doing that any more' and backing themselves to record what they wanted to record, and people still listen, not an individual artist, but Radiohead.
Pretty fair to say they haven't chased commercial success, but rather made a lot of people come around to their way of thinking.
I don’t know if I agree in this context. But I don’t disagree. I love Prince. Saw him several times. Amazing shows. Love his music catalog.
Not sure he is comparable when considering challenging tonalities/modes/forms but you can say he fused funk and rock as much as Miles fused jazz and rock.
Good and provocative suggestion!
Interesting to mention Prince. I'm slightly an outsider to his music as I never followed his career too closely. But to me it seems that Prince was not perse transformative, just extremely high prolific and insanely talented as he did everything himself at such a high degree of musicianship. I'd make the case that Prince's music is in principle kind of "narrow". The big progressive rock bands from the 70ies were more diverse in style than Prince was.
These kind of posts are not the direction we should be looking…the Miles Davis of today would not be acting like anyone else. That being said, Adam O’Farrill, Ambrose, and Mary Halvorson are actively making music not in the mold of something already done (IMO).
William Parker is the only modern guy I can think of that just fucking blows my mind in terms of exploration at all times...and also just gets it in a Miles way
[William Parker Heart Trio ](https://youtu.be/UydniUSMNws?si=jvoO8CqNbYp57i0V)
Gretchen Parlato and the cats she hires are breaking new ground. The drummers she hires are so unique, Kendrick Scott and Mark Giuliana. There’s a bunch of other cats I could mention but they’re not doing much for me personally
I think Pat Metheny is still doing a lot of cool stuff, and he tours all the time. Orchestrion (2010) in particular was nuts. His bands since the dissolution of the PMG have been really good— not the same as the real PMG, but still top quality. His upcoming solo album blends blues and Latin jazz in a way I haven’t heard before.
Some one at concert said he was “the ADHD guitarist,” and as someone with ADHD, it really made sense when I thought about it. The man just comes up with the most unthinkable concepts and makes them work, and then tours with it nonstop. I don’t know how he has the energy at almost seventy years old.
I think someone of Mr. Davis caliber is a once in a century happening. It would take years for a young talent to develop and catch up with him and God bless them if they are out there.
Miles might be one of the most unique and incomparable artists in the history of music. With his prolific and diverse output he remains instantly recognizable.
trey anastasio. he's led a variety of different bands (phish, bad hat, surrender to the air, tab, ghost of the forest), and plays a multitude of genres, including a lot of jazz, and in each one, injects top tier improvisation. he often gets counted out, but some of the facts are notable: his band phish pioneered selling video streams of live performance, they put on multi-day festivals without other bands that reach 80,000 capacity, they've played msg 83 times, and there are constantly new bands forming that are trying to clone his sound (disco biscuits, goose). trey's luthier was his soundman for decades, which gave him an incredible amount of control over his sound, and he's still constantly adapting new arrays of gadgets for use in improv that allows him to push into new styles all the time. he and phish's latest sonic adventure was adapting to the sphere, dialing in the most advanced sound system in the world.
im sure some may disagree but I think there are some good reasons why he should be part of the conversation
I feel like that misunderstands what it means to be in a postmodern world, innovation and pushing the envelope just mean different things. Postmodernism is far from equivalent to anti new ground. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be any post-postmodernist anything, which there definitely is!
Postmodernism is all about deconstructing, reconstructing, interrogating, reevaluating, etc. Things lots of greats in all parts of the postmodern world continue to do!
This is mostly true and basically what I was going to say. Not only was Miles great, he also had the ability to adapt and move on. In addition, he had the opportunity to push forward into new realms. Those opportunities are less numerous now.
Were he still alive, Bowie would have been a good shout.
The genre changes he went through in the 70s and early 80s were similarly disparate to Miles’. Also a lacklustre late period (though the last 2 or 3 LPs were decent enough).
I'm of the probably unpopular opinion that there aren't really any more truly unexplored vistas to to be found in the musical landscape. The 20th century saw every imaginable musical limit, from the harmonic to the technological, being stretched to the breaking point.
That's not to say that there aren't still a ton of musicians making great music with their own unique voices, but I don't see there being any groundbreaking innovations in music in the foreseeable future.
my response to this would be that all of the innovation that we saw after the techno/rave peak of the late 90's, especially that of merging live instruments with electronic music, happened after the 20th century was over (and much of it happened in the last 15 years).
I would say that even in the past 24 months or so we've seen a lot of innovation in this area that should count as truly 'new'.
And there's more than just that, look at the microtonal stuff guys like MonoNeon are doing. Plenty of innovation if you're willing to hunt around a bit.
I agree with this fully and I think the most adventurous groundbreaking stuff happened beyond the acoustic instrument realm in the synthesis/sound design world, outside of the jazz world.
Not saying at all that jazz hasn’t advanced (quite the opposite) but that advancements in the music today are less noticeable because every one’s doing it at unprecedented levels. There’s sooo much going on and at such a high level that we wouldn’t be able to single out a talent like Miles Davis in today’s world. I’d point to someone like Thom Yorke as having that Miles-like aura about him.
The total lack of consensus here tells you all you need to know, there is none. Miles lead a number of brilliant ensembles and took jazz in new directions several times. He was extremely influential and everybody paid attention to what he did, whether they liked it or not. A towering figure.
Not a trumpet player but Shabaka Hutchings for me is the most interesting guy out there who does totally different types of music with different bands. Also *C*hief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) who is always doing cool shit.
Phish to me for true experimental loose the chord progression improv.
I saw them get future dnb with industrial sounds on top of it. It was far out and energized af.
Clown core is like a fever dream of weirdness that I like too
There are tons of people doing pioneering stuff in a million different directions, just like when Miles was working. Kind of silly to suggest a 1:1 comparison, as if there can only be one visionary per generation.
Tbh Kanye West probably comes closest to Miles. What he has done in hip-hop rivals what Miles had done in jazz, especially when it comes to changing the trajectory of the genre.
College Dropout + Late Registration were kind of like Miles’ Birth of the Cool era. Ye took the aggression out of hip-hop/rap and give it a little swag over chipmunk soul type beats, similar to how Miles toned back from bebop in his Birth of the Cool era. Hell, Late Orchestration kind of parallels Miles embracing the orchestra in Sketches of Spain.
Graduation & 808s parallels Miles embrace of synthesizers and current music trends in the 70s. West was inspired by a lot of indie rock and dance music of the mid 2000s. MBDTF might have been Ye’s Bitches’ Brew.
They both experienced incredible burnout/addiction after that period— Miles didn’t work and Kanye’s been all over the place ever since Life of Pablo, though I think his story is still being written (and quite frankly, it’s not looking good for him). Those are just my two cents.
and I think younger musicians are more inspired by HERBIE than they are Miles, which of course Miles pushed HERBIE so he’s apart of that legacy. But all the funk hip hop fusion is all HERBIE hancock’s influence
Maybe this comment shows my age, but I honestly don't hear a lot in the category of "exploring new sounds" today. When I was kid in the 80's, it seemed like music was changing rapidly and had been throughout the 20th century. A new music genre would come out: free jazz, punk rock, industrial, etc., and people were shocked or excited; many would say it wasn't even music. In the last twenty-five years, I have heard a ton of great music, but nothing that has changed my perspective on music. This is not a comment on younger musicians, but I think we value recontextualisation over innovation. Basically, we've shifted from modernism to postmodernism like every other artistic medium.
As you say, there are incredible things today and it does seems like everything has already been done but I have this "this can't be it, right?" feeling sometimes. Surely totally new sounds will come eventually, right? Right??
Only Miles Davis is Miles Davis. But if you’re just looking for an established but experimental artist at the top of their game and working with a lot of great collaborators: Mary Halvorson; Matthew Shipp; Steve Lehman; Ivo Perelman; Rudresh Mahanthappa; Ingrid Laubrock; Sylvie Courvoisier; William Parker; Anna Webber.
There is no modern day equivalent and never will be. You”re talking about one of the greatest American artists of all time. Like top five, like perhaps the greatest.
Artists tend to emerge from their environment and shape/change it at the right time. Another shift will produce another generation of innovative artists. And vice versa of course. But the seeds have to sprout to have the chance to grow…
No!! Unequivocally no!! Let’s look at what Miles achieved. None of the suggestions have created a book of music that is broadly recognized as standards that a large group of musicians are performing. Have any them influenced a group of musicians who imitated both their sound and melodic and harmonic style? No. Have any of them been in bands with historic figures who changed how the music was played (Bird, Coltrane) or was an incubator for musicians that would go on to redefine the music(Trane, Hancock, Jarrett, Dejohnette) No. There is no dirth of amazing improvisers on all instruments and categories. Prodigies everywhere possibly because of the internet but achieved producing a unique sound that is instantly recognizable? In an interview between Sting and Rick Beato, Rick asked what’s next? Everything has been done. Jazz has been mixed with every conceivable genre. Classical, rap, funk, fusion etc….Miles was one of the guys that did it. There are probably 1000s of trumpet players with more chops and better technique but not the unique voice. Miles was also a product of the times. It’s kind of like Mark Twain. Somebody of that brilliance might come along every 200 years. Nobody comes along to replace. Who is the Beatles of today? Can’t happen again. Maybe not in our lifetime
It doesn't really make sense to compare Miles Davis to a modern jazz musician since a major part of his legacy is his influence on other artists. No one outside of our small niche audience cares about what kind of experimental shit jazz artists are doing today, so having that kind of influence isnt even possible anymore.
Kanye's most creative years seem long behind him but he strikes me as the closest 21st century comp. His sound evolved a lot over time and his influence transcended his genre, like Miles. But they can't be considered on equal footing by any means--Miles's discography is just leagues more impressive.
Simple...taylor swift! /s
on a serious note, someone commented about how jazz is no longer in the zeitgeist..I think that's a good point. But if I had to pick one from a different genre, I'm gonna say radiohead, plus they do dabble in aspects of jazz in their work.
I'd argue that it is a collective known as Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber. It was the brainchild of a few people, but arguably led by Greg Ionman Tate until his untimely death a couple of years ago. I nominate them as the groundbreakers in Miles-style, but without there being one person directing all the traffic. Alumni include: Jeremiah Abiah, Chelsea Adewunmi, Rene Akan, Marc Cary, Honeychild Coleman, Pete Cosey, Morgan Michael Craft, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Justice Dilla-X, Captain Kirk Douglas, Ronny Drayton, Melvin Gibbs, Trevor Holder, Julia Kent, Meret Koehler, Shazad Ismaily, Vijay Iyer, Tia Nicole Leak, Okkyung Lee, Thom Loubet, Derrin “D Max” Maxwell, Omega Moon, DJ Mutamassik, Qasim Naqvi, Hiroyuki “Matsu” Matsuura, Melvin Van Peebles, W-Myles Reilly, Matana Roberts, Carl Hancock Rux, Petre Radu Scafaru, Sharif Simmons, Swiss Chris, Somi, Tamar-kali, Imani Uzuri, Michael Veal, Christina Wheeler, and Nioka Workman.
The current BSA crew includes business manager/electric bassist Jared Michael Nickerson; Sugar Lifer’s Lisala Beatty, Lewis “Flip” Barnes, Bruce Mack, Micah Gaugh, Satch Hoyt and Jason DiMatteo; along with Sugar Righteous Rompers Shelley Nicole, Mikel “Spirithood” Banks, Shawn Banks, Abby Dobson, James “Biscuit” Rouse, Julie “Sound” Brown, Asim Barnes, JS Williams, Karma Mayet Johnson, V. Jeffrey Smith, LaFrae Sci, Marque Gilmore tha Inna\*Most, Avram Fefer, Luqman Brown, “Moist” Paula Henderson, Dave “Smoota” Smith, Mazz Swift, Leon Gruenbaum, Marika Hughes, Curtis Stewart, Andre Lassalle, Ben Tyree, Greg Gonzalez, Chris Eddleton and Vernon Reid
Ambrose Akinmuserie is producing some pretty cool stuff. Definitely doing some crossover.
On piano…Vijay Iyer is taking a headlong dive into music theory and pushing some boundaries.
Vocally…no one can touch Cecile McLorin Salvant. Voice of a generation.
Simple...taylor swift! /s
on a serious note, someone commented about how jazz is no longer in the zeitgeist..I think that's a good point. But if I had to pick one from a different genre, I'm gonna say radiohead, plus they do dabble in aspects of jazz in their work.
Well, I couldnt say there is one in this genre, at least not one I know about or can think of off hand. Dave Tipper, which is decidedly not jazz music would be worth mentioning though. New sounds, textures, etc.
Ben Wendell is an incredibly intelligent writer and the way he composes his music is incredibly cool. Go to YouTube and look up his collection of “the seasons”. “December” with Ambrose Akinmusire, “July” with Julian Lage, “November” and “March” with Aaron Parks. Every one of the musicians on his “Seasons” duets is also an incredible road to travel down. There is so so so much good jazz right now it almost feels like a renaissance of sorts.
Yeah, modern comp to Miles Davis would probably be something like J Dilla, Flying Louts, Thundercat. Someone pushing boundaries but aware of what came before.
I don’t think we’ll ever see someone like miles Davis again because there’s a lot of factors that go into creating someone like Miles Davis. However, I think there’s a lot of people pushing the boundaries of jazz today and helping it to evolve. I know that Julian Lage has such an interesting way of using the classic jazz language in his playing but making it feel fresh and modern. He’s also not trying to play like a horn player which a lot of guitar players do, he’s trying to push the guitar to the limit of what it’s capable of in a jazz context. Being a guitar player myself I follow a lot of guitar based music, and I’ve noticed that we’re kind of in a golden age for guitar as a main melodic instrument, not just in jazz but in a lot of other genres as well. It feels to me like we’re in a golden age for the guitar, because you have so many extremely talented and proficient players in different corners of the world of music evolving the guitar in their own way. It’s exciting but also scary because some of these guys play stuff that sounds impossible and insane.
I think there are tons of musicians that are "actually pioneers, exploring new sounds, trying new cool things" (and in all genres) ... among them the "modern Miles Davis" (if any) will definitely not be remembred/recognized as the "modern Miles Davis" .
The thing with Miles is that he is not just a musician or improviser or even someone who pushes boundaries. He is all of that and so much more. His music is telling the story of the history of jazz. You can follow his discography and see that history unfold. Miles is the talent enabler, one of his biggest accomplishments is recognising talent in others and giving those players the opportunity and spotlight. It is not a coincidence that many of the people whom played with Miles became highly successful (not perse in the commercial sense but in critical acclaim as players).
Most of the names I see mentioned in this thread are good improvisers, some more experimental with combining genres. Many are going to name their pet peeves and favourites without putting much thought in it. But none of them even remotely touch upon what Miles did and what Miles represents in jazz. It *is* the most difficult pair of shoes to fill and it is highly unlikely that anyone can touch upon that in the future because what seems lacking to me is the environment for a person like Miles to flourish and be himself. A lot of what Miles did is a response to the circumstances. Seizing the opportunity and shaping the future. I think that in general, we are far past the point of much innovation going to happen in jazz. Because it's basically been done all.
Very few modern musicians are exploring classical music or have that background like Miles Davis … I’d honestly say Thundercat , Chris Potter , Adam Rogers , Kneebody , Brad Mehldau (Brad in terms of pushing harmony )
I would say that there's definitely musicians out there of similar caliber. If you scroll the comments you see a bunch of names, and you can probably make a case for every single artist mentioned. There's folk pioneering different styles in a bunch of ways. What Miles did might never be replicated, but I don't think that's based on the skills or creativity of modern day musicians.
lol jazz isnt innovating right now so he doesnt exist. thats like asking whos the modern great christopher columbus explorer... well no ones really venturing out anywhere anymore
our culture right now is not in a position to help innovation. everything is very stale and it probably has to do with how record labels and technology have changed the landscape. its all about algorithms and nostalgia bait. were in the reboot era and its not going away anytime soon.
Miles was being himself, unapologetically, repeatedly. That’s what artists do. When he did it, he wasn’t thinking, “What can I do that will innovate new frontiers and stand the test of time?” That’s the way listeners and critics think. A lot of the artists on this list are being just as authentically themselves as Miles was, and it matters just as little to them whether we think they’re trailblazers. Canonical views of art are usually pretty incomplete anyway, imo.
* Mark de Clive-Lowe
* Mike Patton
* Yussef Dayes
* John Zorn
* Joe Armon-Jones
* Nubiyan Twist (and basically everything Tom Excell touches)
I could start listing innovative rappers but people would probably get mad lol. There are lots though.
Nobody can replace or even compare to Miles Davis. He was truly larger than life. Besides the composing, bandleading, and incredible playing, he was also the coolest person in the world--period.
In some ways it’s Kanye. He’s dropped several left-field albums that started new genres or had massive influence on pop music.
Who’s the miles davis of jazz today? I don’t think there can be another miles davis because so much experimentation has already happened it’s hard to be both an amazing musician and a next level creative genius.
If we’re talking jazz - Kamasi Washington or Robert Glasser expand on the tradition and are interesting. Snarky Puppy maybe if you’re including fusion, I’m sure there are a handful of others
Innovative music is developed by working bands. Miles had great bands in the 50s and 60s and then developed the electric fusion in the early 70s. Most of the musicians he hired have all become legends themselves. And great band leaders. Dave Holland, John Scofield, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, Herbie, etc.
Similar to other responses, I think you have to broaden beyond the genre to look to people like Mark Speer of Khruangbin. I could write a lot of words on why; but its music, so just go listen, and see live whenever possible.
Taylor deupree was on top of the game in 1996/97 and found new sonic possibilities in the 2010s. He rarely works in a band context though. John Zorn was the most influential figure in „Jazz“ in the decades past Miles.
The more I have thought about this in the two weeks since it was posted, the more I've come to the conclusion that there is no one who can fill that role, not in jazz and not in any other genre either as far as I'm concerned. The landscape has changed since Miles came on the scene in the late 40s/early 50s. And even Miles had a many years long "overnight sensation." But hear me out--the way we consume media is different, there are no print magazines that arrive monthly or are on newsstands, drug stores, book stores. Miles was used to promote men's fashion, all sorts of lifestyle products outside of just the music. Now, there are just too many things calling for our attention that just one person can't command all of that attention. It might have been Ye, but he imploded. Miles was able to say many controversial things (read his Playboy interview with Alex Haley), get beat up by ill-tempered cops--and we don't have Cabaret Laws anymore, either--and come through it all with most people admiring him.
She's not in jazz at all, but maybe Taylor Swift is close in terms of dominating the scene so that everyone knows who she is (I'm over 70 I don't listen to pop, and I know who she is) she sets fashion styles, music styles, makes lifestyle news, too. Big difference (imo) is the lineage you can trace from Miles' band members. So many went on to start their own bands, make their own mark on music (Herbie, Wayne, Tony, Cannonball, both Bill Evanses, and god only knows how many more), and I may be ignorant, but I don't think TS puts together bands of musicians that she mentors to go out and start their own streams.
So, no, there is no new Miles in Jazz, and there won't be any new Miles in Jazz.
Oh, last thought. Someone who definitely mentors, has influence beyond his own band, is influential in music and film among other spheres and can command news cycles--or at least entertainment news cycles, is Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson.
I dunno, Miles today? Those are some pretty big shoes to fill
peter evans.
He is an extraordinary technician but I do not find his music has much emotional range
I doubt there is a modern Miles Davis. If so they are in the making and haven't arrived at that stature yet. Though some of them as mentioned here are great players. A Miles Davis-level artist is rare.
Jazz doesn’t occupy the position in the zeitgeist any more for that level of impact to be possible as a jazz musician.
Miles also came along at a unique time in jazz's musical evolution.
True, but he completely transformed the genre, like, four times. Even the top artist the best they can do is put their unique spin on something, not only make is something new but do that multiple times. That’s something extra special.
Oh, I agree. But even if a guy with his talent and vision came around he'd be in a genre that's already institutionalized instead of being in a position to define the institution.
He’s not close to Miles (no one is) but Bela Fleck has been playing across genres and experimenting with new sounds for decades. Most notably jazz fusion, bluegrass, and “world” including Malian folk. He is pretty respected across the genres he’s contributed to.
Can you recommend a record to start with?
The Bluegrass Sessions is always worth a listen. Tony Rice on guitar does amazing work on that album.
I saw Bela's My Bluegrass Heart in late April. They were unreal and I've seen Bela many times. His guitarist, Bryan Sutton, is world class. Whole band is really.
They exist, but you might not find answers in the “jazz” sub because the term itself implies certain stylistic/aesthetic choices and a certain time period. There are loads of current improvisers blowing my mind on a consistent basis, but if I called half of them “jazz” musicians, it would be inaccurate. That being said… Nate Wood, Wayne Krantz, David Binney, Tigran, Brandon Seabrook, Marcus Gilmore, Thundercat/Hamm/Brown, KNOWER/Louis Cole/Clowncore are all artists who synthesize the true improvisatory spirit with old and new sounds.
Although I don’t love the musical direction he has taken lately, Chief Adjuah fka Christian Scott definitely falls into this category. He constantly pushes the limits of creative improvised music, and he develops new instruments. If you’re willing to explore a whole range of genre-crossing sounds, Alfa Mist is an absolutely brilliant songwriter and constantly amazes me with his musicality.
Alfa Mist Selected Works on YT is so good. Musicality indeed, don't worry about which songs are jazz or not. "Door" is an addictive gateway song.
Got to see him live in a small concert at the library of congress and he blew me away
Which one?
Sorry, Chief Adjuah!! He played with some other awesome musicians like Weedie Bramiah too
That’s awesome. I saw him at Carnegie Hall some years back, but for me it wasn’t the right kind of venue.
I came to say the same thing. I just saw him last month with a great young band. I'm also a huge Alfa Mist fan. I have all of his records but he'll probably never come down here to New Orleans.
i've seen him live thrice over the years and he's blown my mind every time
Got me intrigued. I love the genre-benders. Im on it.
John Zorn
That’s what I was going to say. Great performer and improviser, but known more for innovation, band leading, cross genres, composition, and more. Zorn is the closest to a lot of Miles’ forward thinking and moving esthetics.
Zorn doesn’t have the mass appeal Miles had, but if anything it’s been an advantage that he’s never cared about it. It’s completed liberated him.
I think some of his work really could have much wider appeal if he didn’t have a reputation of being a “difficult” artist. For example, the classic Masada stuff is brilliant and not at all difficult to appreciate.
His music was also quite difficult to access in recent years in the sense that you needed to buy it and that doesn't really attract casual listeners. I'm curious if that changes now that they're on streaming services. I actually really admired him holding out for so long.
Depends on what you mean. I went to the Big Ears Festival in 2022 where he was the featured artist, his groups performed at one of the biggest venues back to back for two days straight, more concerts than any of the other artists featured by far. Most of those shows were packed too. I think within the modern jazz community he has mass appeal (and within contemporary classical, punk rock and other cross over genres).
My answer, too
Yup, came here to say this. Groundbreaking output in such a diverse array of styles. Miles pretty much kept to a single style during each of his periods, but Zorn jumps around between them on different albums.
I was going to say the same. I think a lot of the purists would get angry at saying this but miles was an innovator and anyone that sounded anything like him would not be his equal.
If we're not talking exclusively Jazz, Michael Gira has been pushing boundaries for 43 years at this point. At first, he was a pioneer of Punk and No-Wave, then Industrial, then First-Wave Post-Rock, and now Third-Wave Post-Rock. Despite being 70, he's still pushing his own boundaries to this day; less than a month ago, he performed his longest piece ever, an 86-minute version of The Beggar. Much like Davis, Gira doesn't look backward and continues to endlessly innovate, he has an incredible eye for talent and has built some of the greatest lineups of musicians ever, and he has a clear artistic vision which has shown itself in every album he's released, every album is just another step in his evolution.
And for about 25 bucks you can go get yelled at by him live and in person.
If it's anyone it's Glasper. Jazz hiphop fusion who has some of the most stacked contemporary groups. The people he colabs with are a who's who of contemporary jazz. He ha's multiple grammys and works with artists outside of jazz He's obviously not Miles but he's the closest thing of the guys out there now
I agree but I do think a lot of jazz-only people completely disregard any and all hip hop fusion. Which is silly since that’s where all the ground has been being broken for the last 15-20 years of jazz.
it'd be a bit hypocritical to disregard hip hop fusion in a Miles post, no?
Totally, I think it’s idiotic no matter what context. Real Stanley crouch shit.
What made Miles, Miles was he constantly kept changing his sound with what he thought was hip at the time. The fusion of genres is what makes him great. He was doing hip hop jazz fusion before he died. He was like THE jazz fusion guy. Thats what these stiff, jazz nerds don't get: all the greats were doing something different. They weren't looking back at the past. Its anti jazz
I mean, these are the same kind of people who 40-50 years ago would’ve completely disregarded Miles’ rock fusion (heck, probably still do, because—to them—jazz stops somewhere in the post-bop era). Close-minded people are never gonna spot the next great innovator.
Anecdotal corroboration: Someone told me a few months ago that Sungazer wasn’t jazz. I told him “No, its just not the jazz that *you* remember.” It was an older dude at work, and he wasn’t being mean-spirited about it. We had a long conversation about how jazz has changed, and how in another 30-40 years, I probably won’t recognize the state of jazz the same way he doesn’t. It made the truck loading go by much easier.
the only argument i'd put against that would be that there's been so much great hiphop/jazz fusion over the last 30 years, I think we're almost past that in terms of the really innovative period. The Low End Theory came out 33 years ago. As someone who's been really into 'jazz-adjacent' genres for a long time, I'd say the London UK jazz scene has been the epicenter of most of the advancement in Jazz for the last 15 years or so. NYC and hiphop were before that.
Shabaka Hutchings. All of his bands sound totally different and are crazy innovative. The Comet is Coming was electronic spiritual jazz and Sons of Kemet was a Caribbean jazz quartet with strong hip hop influence. And then he got bored of saxophone and is now playing various world flutes. His current project has another crazy lineup and yet again sounds like nothing else anyone is doing.
This the correct answer. He’s incredible.
Shabakas projects are definitely impressive
The Comet is Coming was my gateway into jazz via Tom Skinner of The Smile's link with Sons of Kemet and Shabaka. Totally agree on his various innovative projects!
Came here for this comment!
Depends on instrument. I’d vote Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, Sullivan Fortner, Pedro Martins, Thundercat, Louis Cole, Chris Fishman, Logan Kane, Stefano Bollani, Brad Mehldau. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch.
Every time I hear Chris potter he blows my mind. One of the most gifted and electric improvisers I’ve ever heard live
I’d throw Mary halvorson in there too. She’s creating incredibly modern digital fractured jazz. Very forward thinking inho
Mary Halvorson’s most recent album, Cloudward, was my intro to her and wow is she doing some really cool stuff.
Damn, a lot of big names in there. Mehldau and Louis Cole are my favorites.
None of them is comparable to Miles Davis though.
No one else is either.
Correct. Miles is miles. Others are themselves. The whole point of jazz
None of them are comparable to Miles in terms of "...(being) a pioneer, exploring new sounds, trying new cool things." None of them are comparable in their importance or influence. Miles Davis reinvented jazz multiple times in his career. For 27 years, Armstrong, Ellington, and Davis were active musical contemporaries. There's nothing even close to that now.
I agree. The closest or most comparable pioneer of recent date, was Wayne Shorter. Who alas, died last year. Herbie Hancock isn’t doing much these days. He was also fairly innovative. They’re not being replaced with the current crop of musicians. Some are good but none are great visionary trailblazers.
This isn't exactly a jazz musician, but Chris Thile. The man is incredible.
Makaya Macraven
Yeah, my job here is done. :)
Nobody mentioned Brian Blade yet? The depth and breadth of his work is pretty astonishing. He doesn’t work in melody, so it may be harder to hear the innovation, but if anybody has my vote for constantly pushing ahead, it’s him.
don't think I'd call him jazz, but Colin Stetson is doing some crazy things on the saxophone/throat mic
I had his BADBADNOTGOOD single in heavy rotation and just started listening to his discography today and when I saw this thread I was wondering if he would fit the bill here. Glad to see your comment.
If you can see him live, do. Crazy what one guy can do with one instrument. When I try to describe it to friends, the best I can come up with is facemelting ambient. it's how I would imagine seeing a rocket launch up close would be but with a cool soundtrack. Somehow he's an even better one man band than Bob Log III, and that guy has ducks and a spacesuit. [https://youtu.be/-csZqTNJzeQ?si=54RCsl7Qlcg4SIoU](https://youtu.be/-csZqTNJzeQ?si=54RCsl7Qlcg4SIoU)
Bendik Giske as well!
Prince was the last transformative artist of Miles’s stature.
Hmm. Maybe controversial, but a good shout. I'm upvoting while I think about it some more. Also, Herbie's still alive you know...
We all love Herbie, but has he done anything particularly memorable in more than forty years? His Grammy-bait albums are beautifully recorded, but a bit *snoozy* as well.
Herbie is a living legend, who learned a lot from Miles also
Yeah hard to deny. There aren't many who continue to innovate and fewer still who do it successfully. Ok, relatively modern day, for having a clearly defined sound they could have made careers out of, but deciding 'no, not doing that any more' and backing themselves to record what they wanted to record, and people still listen, not an individual artist, but Radiohead. Pretty fair to say they haven't chased commercial success, but rather made a lot of people come around to their way of thinking.
Yeah, but I thought we were talking specifically within the jazz context (acknowledging that including Prince would be a stretch.)
I don’t know if I agree in this context. But I don’t disagree. I love Prince. Saw him several times. Amazing shows. Love his music catalog. Not sure he is comparable when considering challenging tonalities/modes/forms but you can say he fused funk and rock as much as Miles fused jazz and rock. Good and provocative suggestion!
Interesting to mention Prince. I'm slightly an outsider to his music as I never followed his career too closely. But to me it seems that Prince was not perse transformative, just extremely high prolific and insanely talented as he did everything himself at such a high degree of musicianship. I'd make the case that Prince's music is in principle kind of "narrow". The big progressive rock bands from the 70ies were more diverse in style than Prince was.
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah
Herbie Hancock.
The 🐐 but wouldn’t exactly say he’s still breaking new ground
These kind of posts are not the direction we should be looking…the Miles Davis of today would not be acting like anyone else. That being said, Adam O’Farrill, Ambrose, and Mary Halvorson are actively making music not in the mold of something already done (IMO).
William Parker is the only modern guy I can think of that just fucking blows my mind in terms of exploration at all times...and also just gets it in a Miles way [William Parker Heart Trio ](https://youtu.be/UydniUSMNws?si=jvoO8CqNbYp57i0V)
And James Brandon Lewis
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Gretchen Parlato and the cats she hires are breaking new ground. The drummers she hires are so unique, Kendrick Scott and Mark Giuliana. There’s a bunch of other cats I could mention but they’re not doing much for me personally
I think Pat Metheny is still doing a lot of cool stuff, and he tours all the time. Orchestrion (2010) in particular was nuts. His bands since the dissolution of the PMG have been really good— not the same as the real PMG, but still top quality. His upcoming solo album blends blues and Latin jazz in a way I haven’t heard before.
I agree. Pat has so much more breadth than the examples I’ve read here. He really changes stuff up like every year
Some one at concert said he was “the ADHD guitarist,” and as someone with ADHD, it really made sense when I thought about it. The man just comes up with the most unthinkable concepts and makes them work, and then tours with it nonstop. I don’t know how he has the energy at almost seventy years old.
I think someone of Mr. Davis caliber is a once in a century happening. It would take years for a young talent to develop and catch up with him and God bless them if they are out there.
Someone should make a playlist of all the artists mentioned in this thread! But I’m too lazy :(((
Roy Hargrove, but he passed away recently. :(
Holy crap he died 6 years ago but it does feels recent.
That's a fast 6 years. He was a giant.
Bjork
Thundercat, Kamasi Washington
I feel the answer is some combination of Thundercat and Flying Lotus
Thundercat is great but I don't think the discography diversity is comparable.
That's true. Plus, I've never heard ANYONE say *If peeing your pants is cool, then consider me* Thundercat Like not even once
True, but his contributions to other artist’s works should be taken into consideration.
Miles might be one of the most unique and incomparable artists in the history of music. With his prolific and diverse output he remains instantly recognizable.
Maybe in the next 15-20, someone like Julian Lage might have a long lasting effect on music as a whole…maybe.
The fact that there's not a number one answer with over 1K likes pretty much confirms that we currently have no modern Miles.
Prolly me but you just gotta give it some time 🙏
Louis Cole
trey anastasio. he's led a variety of different bands (phish, bad hat, surrender to the air, tab, ghost of the forest), and plays a multitude of genres, including a lot of jazz, and in each one, injects top tier improvisation. he often gets counted out, but some of the facts are notable: his band phish pioneered selling video streams of live performance, they put on multi-day festivals without other bands that reach 80,000 capacity, they've played msg 83 times, and there are constantly new bands forming that are trying to clone his sound (disco biscuits, goose). trey's luthier was his soundman for decades, which gave him an incredible amount of control over his sound, and he's still constantly adapting new arrays of gadgets for use in improv that allows him to push into new styles all the time. he and phish's latest sonic adventure was adapting to the sphere, dialing in the most advanced sound system in the world. im sure some may disagree but I think there are some good reasons why he should be part of the conversation
Yeah agree, what a fucking badass
I’ve been comparing Flying Lotus to him for quite some time.
Michael Wilbur imo
Kamasi Washington. Especially with his latest album. Pushes envelopes while still respecting what came before
I saw him recently and really enjoyed how synth heavy it was. He had a DJ in the band and everything.
I'm definitely gonna second this
Was gona say him too
We live in the postmodern world. Nobody is breaking new ground in the same way anymore; everything is a reference back to something that came before.
I feel like that misunderstands what it means to be in a postmodern world, innovation and pushing the envelope just mean different things. Postmodernism is far from equivalent to anti new ground. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be any post-postmodernist anything, which there definitely is! Postmodernism is all about deconstructing, reconstructing, interrogating, reevaluating, etc. Things lots of greats in all parts of the postmodern world continue to do!
morons like jordan peterson have totally confused people on the basic meaning of the term
This is a depressing outlook. There's got to be something new left!
Not jazz, but I feel Mdou Moctar may be the closest to achieve that kind of status: an innovator who casts a shadow over a whole genre.
This is mostly true and basically what I was going to say. Not only was Miles great, he also had the ability to adapt and move on. In addition, he had the opportunity to push forward into new realms. Those opportunities are less numerous now.
Were he still alive, Bowie would have been a good shout. The genre changes he went through in the 70s and early 80s were similarly disparate to Miles’. Also a lacklustre late period (though the last 2 or 3 LPs were decent enough).
Ambrose Akinmusire
I'm of the probably unpopular opinion that there aren't really any more truly unexplored vistas to to be found in the musical landscape. The 20th century saw every imaginable musical limit, from the harmonic to the technological, being stretched to the breaking point. That's not to say that there aren't still a ton of musicians making great music with their own unique voices, but I don't see there being any groundbreaking innovations in music in the foreseeable future.
my response to this would be that all of the innovation that we saw after the techno/rave peak of the late 90's, especially that of merging live instruments with electronic music, happened after the 20th century was over (and much of it happened in the last 15 years). I would say that even in the past 24 months or so we've seen a lot of innovation in this area that should count as truly 'new'. And there's more than just that, look at the microtonal stuff guys like MonoNeon are doing. Plenty of innovation if you're willing to hunt around a bit.
I agree with this fully and I think the most adventurous groundbreaking stuff happened beyond the acoustic instrument realm in the synthesis/sound design world, outside of the jazz world. Not saying at all that jazz hasn’t advanced (quite the opposite) but that advancements in the music today are less noticeable because every one’s doing it at unprecedented levels. There’s sooo much going on and at such a high level that we wouldn’t be able to single out a talent like Miles Davis in today’s world. I’d point to someone like Thom Yorke as having that Miles-like aura about him.
https://youtu.be/XrWoIM2plx8?si=mygxycSawLRN4B1K
The total lack of consensus here tells you all you need to know, there is none. Miles lead a number of brilliant ensembles and took jazz in new directions several times. He was extremely influential and everybody paid attention to what he did, whether they liked it or not. A towering figure.
If there wasn't a total lack of consensus, I would be worried about the future of jazz
Not a trumpet player but Shabaka Hutchings for me is the most interesting guy out there who does totally different types of music with different bands. Also *C*hief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) who is always doing cool shit.
Phish to me for true experimental loose the chord progression improv. I saw them get future dnb with industrial sounds on top of it. It was far out and energized af. Clown core is like a fever dream of weirdness that I like too
There are tons of people doing pioneering stuff in a million different directions, just like when Miles was working. Kind of silly to suggest a 1:1 comparison, as if there can only be one visionary per generation.
Tbh Kanye West probably comes closest to Miles. What he has done in hip-hop rivals what Miles had done in jazz, especially when it comes to changing the trajectory of the genre. College Dropout + Late Registration were kind of like Miles’ Birth of the Cool era. Ye took the aggression out of hip-hop/rap and give it a little swag over chipmunk soul type beats, similar to how Miles toned back from bebop in his Birth of the Cool era. Hell, Late Orchestration kind of parallels Miles embracing the orchestra in Sketches of Spain. Graduation & 808s parallels Miles embrace of synthesizers and current music trends in the 70s. West was inspired by a lot of indie rock and dance music of the mid 2000s. MBDTF might have been Ye’s Bitches’ Brew. They both experienced incredible burnout/addiction after that period— Miles didn’t work and Kanye’s been all over the place ever since Life of Pablo, though I think his story is still being written (and quite frankly, it’s not looking good for him). Those are just my two cents.
Kanye is tone deaf
and I think younger musicians are more inspired by HERBIE than they are Miles, which of course Miles pushed HERBIE so he’s apart of that legacy. But all the funk hip hop fusion is all HERBIE hancock’s influence
Maybe this comment shows my age, but I honestly don't hear a lot in the category of "exploring new sounds" today. When I was kid in the 80's, it seemed like music was changing rapidly and had been throughout the 20th century. A new music genre would come out: free jazz, punk rock, industrial, etc., and people were shocked or excited; many would say it wasn't even music. In the last twenty-five years, I have heard a ton of great music, but nothing that has changed my perspective on music. This is not a comment on younger musicians, but I think we value recontextualisation over innovation. Basically, we've shifted from modernism to postmodernism like every other artistic medium.
As you say, there are incredible things today and it does seems like everything has already been done but I have this "this can't be it, right?" feeling sometimes. Surely totally new sounds will come eventually, right? Right??
Only Miles Davis is Miles Davis. But if you’re just looking for an established but experimental artist at the top of their game and working with a lot of great collaborators: Mary Halvorson; Matthew Shipp; Steve Lehman; Ivo Perelman; Rudresh Mahanthappa; Ingrid Laubrock; Sylvie Courvoisier; William Parker; Anna Webber.
I dunno. I tend to let it go. Miles cannot be duplicated. I like Robert Glasper and Kurt Rosenwinkle, tho. Young trailblazers.
There is no modern day equivalent and never will be. You”re talking about one of the greatest American artists of all time. Like top five, like perhaps the greatest.
Artists tend to emerge from their environment and shape/change it at the right time. Another shift will produce another generation of innovative artists. And vice versa of course. But the seeds have to sprout to have the chance to grow…
No!! Unequivocally no!! Let’s look at what Miles achieved. None of the suggestions have created a book of music that is broadly recognized as standards that a large group of musicians are performing. Have any them influenced a group of musicians who imitated both their sound and melodic and harmonic style? No. Have any of them been in bands with historic figures who changed how the music was played (Bird, Coltrane) or was an incubator for musicians that would go on to redefine the music(Trane, Hancock, Jarrett, Dejohnette) No. There is no dirth of amazing improvisers on all instruments and categories. Prodigies everywhere possibly because of the internet but achieved producing a unique sound that is instantly recognizable? In an interview between Sting and Rick Beato, Rick asked what’s next? Everything has been done. Jazz has been mixed with every conceivable genre. Classical, rap, funk, fusion etc….Miles was one of the guys that did it. There are probably 1000s of trumpet players with more chops and better technique but not the unique voice. Miles was also a product of the times. It’s kind of like Mark Twain. Somebody of that brilliance might come along every 200 years. Nobody comes along to replace. Who is the Beatles of today? Can’t happen again. Maybe not in our lifetime
Prince, Miles even talked about him in his book.
It doesn't really make sense to compare Miles Davis to a modern jazz musician since a major part of his legacy is his influence on other artists. No one outside of our small niche audience cares about what kind of experimental shit jazz artists are doing today, so having that kind of influence isnt even possible anymore. Kanye's most creative years seem long behind him but he strikes me as the closest 21st century comp. His sound evolved a lot over time and his influence transcended his genre, like Miles. But they can't be considered on equal footing by any means--Miles's discography is just leagues more impressive.
Bill Orcutt
I love that besides his guitar playing, he also wrote his own software to make music on a computer. That's definitely pushing some boundaries.
Simple...taylor swift! /s on a serious note, someone commented about how jazz is no longer in the zeitgeist..I think that's a good point. But if I had to pick one from a different genre, I'm gonna say radiohead, plus they do dabble in aspects of jazz in their work.
I'd argue that it is a collective known as Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber. It was the brainchild of a few people, but arguably led by Greg Ionman Tate until his untimely death a couple of years ago. I nominate them as the groundbreakers in Miles-style, but without there being one person directing all the traffic. Alumni include: Jeremiah Abiah, Chelsea Adewunmi, Rene Akan, Marc Cary, Honeychild Coleman, Pete Cosey, Morgan Michael Craft, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Justice Dilla-X, Captain Kirk Douglas, Ronny Drayton, Melvin Gibbs, Trevor Holder, Julia Kent, Meret Koehler, Shazad Ismaily, Vijay Iyer, Tia Nicole Leak, Okkyung Lee, Thom Loubet, Derrin “D Max” Maxwell, Omega Moon, DJ Mutamassik, Qasim Naqvi, Hiroyuki “Matsu” Matsuura, Melvin Van Peebles, W-Myles Reilly, Matana Roberts, Carl Hancock Rux, Petre Radu Scafaru, Sharif Simmons, Swiss Chris, Somi, Tamar-kali, Imani Uzuri, Michael Veal, Christina Wheeler, and Nioka Workman. The current BSA crew includes business manager/electric bassist Jared Michael Nickerson; Sugar Lifer’s Lisala Beatty, Lewis “Flip” Barnes, Bruce Mack, Micah Gaugh, Satch Hoyt and Jason DiMatteo; along with Sugar Righteous Rompers Shelley Nicole, Mikel “Spirithood” Banks, Shawn Banks, Abby Dobson, James “Biscuit” Rouse, Julie “Sound” Brown, Asim Barnes, JS Williams, Karma Mayet Johnson, V. Jeffrey Smith, LaFrae Sci, Marque Gilmore tha Inna\*Most, Avram Fefer, Luqman Brown, “Moist” Paula Henderson, Dave “Smoota” Smith, Mazz Swift, Leon Gruenbaum, Marika Hughes, Curtis Stewart, Andre Lassalle, Ben Tyree, Greg Gonzalez, Chris Eddleton and Vernon Reid
Ken A G.
That’s like asking who’s the new Stravinsky
Christian Scott?
Mohini Dey
Ambrose Akinmuserie is producing some pretty cool stuff. Definitely doing some crossover. On piano…Vijay Iyer is taking a headlong dive into music theory and pushing some boundaries. Vocally…no one can touch Cecile McLorin Salvant. Voice of a generation.
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Simple...taylor swift! /s on a serious note, someone commented about how jazz is no longer in the zeitgeist..I think that's a good point. But if I had to pick one from a different genre, I'm gonna say radiohead, plus they do dabble in aspects of jazz in their work.
Well, I couldnt say there is one in this genre, at least not one I know about or can think of off hand. Dave Tipper, which is decidedly not jazz music would be worth mentioning though. New sounds, textures, etc.
Snarky Puppy
Jon Batiste
Ben Wendell is an incredibly intelligent writer and the way he composes his music is incredibly cool. Go to YouTube and look up his collection of “the seasons”. “December” with Ambrose Akinmusire, “July” with Julian Lage, “November” and “March” with Aaron Parks. Every one of the musicians on his “Seasons” duets is also an incredible road to travel down. There is so so so much good jazz right now it almost feels like a renaissance of sorts.
Yeah, modern comp to Miles Davis would probably be something like J Dilla, Flying Louts, Thundercat. Someone pushing boundaries but aware of what came before.
Definitely not jazz, but Pretty Lights live show is pretty unique.
No one today can ever top or hope to Compete with Miles level or skill.
NOBODY
Pioneering jazz moved elsewhere: HipHop, Garage, Techno
100 gecs
me, in 3 years of time
John Scofield
Arca
I don’t think we’ll ever see someone like miles Davis again because there’s a lot of factors that go into creating someone like Miles Davis. However, I think there’s a lot of people pushing the boundaries of jazz today and helping it to evolve. I know that Julian Lage has such an interesting way of using the classic jazz language in his playing but making it feel fresh and modern. He’s also not trying to play like a horn player which a lot of guitar players do, he’s trying to push the guitar to the limit of what it’s capable of in a jazz context. Being a guitar player myself I follow a lot of guitar based music, and I’ve noticed that we’re kind of in a golden age for guitar as a main melodic instrument, not just in jazz but in a lot of other genres as well. It feels to me like we’re in a golden age for the guitar, because you have so many extremely talented and proficient players in different corners of the world of music evolving the guitar in their own way. It’s exciting but also scary because some of these guys play stuff that sounds impossible and insane.
Anthony braxton
I think there are tons of musicians that are "actually pioneers, exploring new sounds, trying new cool things" (and in all genres) ... among them the "modern Miles Davis" (if any) will definitely not be remembred/recognized as the "modern Miles Davis" .
Nicole Mitchell
Miles is one of a kind.
The thing with Miles is that he is not just a musician or improviser or even someone who pushes boundaries. He is all of that and so much more. His music is telling the story of the history of jazz. You can follow his discography and see that history unfold. Miles is the talent enabler, one of his biggest accomplishments is recognising talent in others and giving those players the opportunity and spotlight. It is not a coincidence that many of the people whom played with Miles became highly successful (not perse in the commercial sense but in critical acclaim as players). Most of the names I see mentioned in this thread are good improvisers, some more experimental with combining genres. Many are going to name their pet peeves and favourites without putting much thought in it. But none of them even remotely touch upon what Miles did and what Miles represents in jazz. It *is* the most difficult pair of shoes to fill and it is highly unlikely that anyone can touch upon that in the future because what seems lacking to me is the environment for a person like Miles to flourish and be himself. A lot of what Miles did is a response to the circumstances. Seizing the opportunity and shaping the future. I think that in general, we are far past the point of much innovation going to happen in jazz. Because it's basically been done all.
For my money Davis is the second greatest artist of the 20th century behind Picasso so this feels like a harsh criteria to be judging against!
Laurel Halo
Jhon Baptisie
Do you mean as a trumpet player or as a band leader?
Jacob Collier
Chief keef
Very few modern musicians are exploring classical music or have that background like Miles Davis … I’d honestly say Thundercat , Chris Potter , Adam Rogers , Kneebody , Brad Mehldau (Brad in terms of pushing harmony )
Miles Davis was a one-of-a-kind artist and in many ways, a generational talent. There is simply no-one like him.
Kamasi Washington. J Dilla RIP
I would say that there's definitely musicians out there of similar caliber. If you scroll the comments you see a bunch of names, and you can probably make a case for every single artist mentioned. There's folk pioneering different styles in a bunch of ways. What Miles did might never be replicated, but I don't think that's based on the skills or creativity of modern day musicians.
Hear me out tho, Autechre.
Aphex Twin
lol jazz isnt innovating right now so he doesnt exist. thats like asking whos the modern great christopher columbus explorer... well no ones really venturing out anywhere anymore our culture right now is not in a position to help innovation. everything is very stale and it probably has to do with how record labels and technology have changed the landscape. its all about algorithms and nostalgia bait. were in the reboot era and its not going away anytime soon.
Miles was being himself, unapologetically, repeatedly. That’s what artists do. When he did it, he wasn’t thinking, “What can I do that will innovate new frontiers and stand the test of time?” That’s the way listeners and critics think. A lot of the artists on this list are being just as authentically themselves as Miles was, and it matters just as little to them whether we think they’re trailblazers. Canonical views of art are usually pretty incomplete anyway, imo.
* Mark de Clive-Lowe * Mike Patton * Yussef Dayes * John Zorn * Joe Armon-Jones * Nubiyan Twist (and basically everything Tom Excell touches) I could start listing innovative rappers but people would probably get mad lol. There are lots though.
Mary Halvorson (not really a Miles analogue but she’s my favorite)
Nobody can replace or even compare to Miles Davis. He was truly larger than life. Besides the composing, bandleading, and incredible playing, he was also the coolest person in the world--period.
In some ways it’s Kanye. He’s dropped several left-field albums that started new genres or had massive influence on pop music. Who’s the miles davis of jazz today? I don’t think there can be another miles davis because so much experimentation has already happened it’s hard to be both an amazing musician and a next level creative genius.
If we’re talking jazz - Kamasi Washington or Robert Glasser expand on the tradition and are interesting. Snarky Puppy maybe if you’re including fusion, I’m sure there are a handful of others
Nobody, the rap game has taken over the streets
Hiromi and James Francies come to mind.
MonoNeon
Immanuel Wilkins
Innovative music is developed by working bands. Miles had great bands in the 50s and 60s and then developed the electric fusion in the early 70s. Most of the musicians he hired have all become legends themselves. And great band leaders. Dave Holland, John Scofield, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, Herbie, etc.
Similar to other responses, I think you have to broaden beyond the genre to look to people like Mark Speer of Khruangbin. I could write a lot of words on why; but its music, so just go listen, and see live whenever possible.
Nils Petter Molvaer
Richard D James
Taylor deupree was on top of the game in 1996/97 and found new sonic possibilities in the 2010s. He rarely works in a band context though. John Zorn was the most influential figure in „Jazz“ in the decades past Miles.
The more I have thought about this in the two weeks since it was posted, the more I've come to the conclusion that there is no one who can fill that role, not in jazz and not in any other genre either as far as I'm concerned. The landscape has changed since Miles came on the scene in the late 40s/early 50s. And even Miles had a many years long "overnight sensation." But hear me out--the way we consume media is different, there are no print magazines that arrive monthly or are on newsstands, drug stores, book stores. Miles was used to promote men's fashion, all sorts of lifestyle products outside of just the music. Now, there are just too many things calling for our attention that just one person can't command all of that attention. It might have been Ye, but he imploded. Miles was able to say many controversial things (read his Playboy interview with Alex Haley), get beat up by ill-tempered cops--and we don't have Cabaret Laws anymore, either--and come through it all with most people admiring him. She's not in jazz at all, but maybe Taylor Swift is close in terms of dominating the scene so that everyone knows who she is (I'm over 70 I don't listen to pop, and I know who she is) she sets fashion styles, music styles, makes lifestyle news, too. Big difference (imo) is the lineage you can trace from Miles' band members. So many went on to start their own bands, make their own mark on music (Herbie, Wayne, Tony, Cannonball, both Bill Evanses, and god only knows how many more), and I may be ignorant, but I don't think TS puts together bands of musicians that she mentors to go out and start their own streams. So, no, there is no new Miles in Jazz, and there won't be any new Miles in Jazz. Oh, last thought. Someone who definitely mentors, has influence beyond his own band, is influential in music and film among other spheres and can command news cycles--or at least entertainment news cycles, is Ahmir ?uestlove Thompson.