Miles Dewey Davis III

cited by many as the most important influence on music
two albums well worth getting are bitches brew (bit manic and hard to listen to) and in a silent way (well chilled out and funky) both of these albums have been ripped off wholesale by loads of artists theyre both sample goldmines..
herbie hancock played on bitches... also

Miles Davis was the musical experience that truly opened my ears to the world of the jazz horn. Prior to this I had had a puculiar bias against brass, finding it abrasive and a little "unmusical" but since I started listening to the albums of Miles Davis (not to mention his incredible string of genius sidemen), I love more and more the warm, human sound of brass instruments and the craft which goes into the shaping of every individual note played. I've even surprised myself with a preference of Trumpet over Saxophone, which used to be the only brass instrument I could stand to listen to.

Miles has to be considered as one of the most forward-thinking and cutting-edge musicians of the 20th century. Purists may label Coltrane (post-Miles' band) as the true innovator, but it was Miles who revolutionized jazz in the 1940's with 'Birth of the Cool' and proceeded to set trends in popular music for the next 40-odd years. The band he recorded with throughout the 60's (Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams drums, Wayne Shorter on sax, Herbie Hancock on keys) has to be one of the tightest units ever to play together. Studio albums like 'Miles in the Sky', 'In a Silent Way' and 'Water Babies' are incredible.. but the live albums from his band during this era are really where it's at.

'Kind of Blue' - my all-time favourite album.

So he couldn't blow like Diz, or some of the other cats that were around when he first came up. Other players could wipe him off the stage with their lyricism and the amount of notes the could cram into their playing. Miles knew about placement and space with his notes. He might have only played one note for someone else's seven or eight notes. Whereas other "hot" players would have to be muzzled to shut their horns up, Miles seemed to be a much more economical and therefore potent player. & if you ain't got much to say, why fill the space with a bunch of notes that don't mean anything? Make em count! He did.
Miles also was far ahead of any of his contemporaries. Always it seemed willing to take unprecedented risks with his directions in music.
A true chameleon.
Good luck being a completionist! It's a worthy effort. Each period provides nearly an arms length of releases to sift through and contemplate. Save for his last period where the releases really do drop in quality and sheer volume and it seems Miles just showed up to play what they told him to.
If you think you got him figured out and you won't. Take some time out of the decade and sound you like and pick up something else he released.
personal faves THUS FAR; Sketches of Spain, In a Silent Way, Dark Magus, and Get Up With It (He Loved Him Madly; his tribute to Duke).

Miles Davis was the "Picasso of Jazz," reinventing himself and his sound endlessly in his musical quest. He was an artist that defied (and despised) categorization, yet he was the forerunner and innovator of many distinct and important musical movements.