Celebrating legendary trumpet player Miles Davis' 100th birthday

NPR | By Felix Contreras,

Adrian Florido, Henry Larson

Published May 30, 2026 at 5:08 PM EDT

This week, the jazz world celebrated what would have been Miles Davis' 100th birthday. The late trumpet player is widely considered one of the most innovative and influential jazz musicians of all time.

Related Content

The mysterious hunt by the band Boards of Canada's fans for the "Red Moon Party"

Noah Caldwell

As Boards of Canada release their new album, 'Inferno', diehard fans remember the time when they trekked out into the Scottish countryside trying to find the band's so-called "Red Moon Party."
Meet Bahar Movahed, a musician, orthodontist and modern renaissance woman

Bahar Movahed is a practicing orthodontist in Southern California. She's also a classically trained musician with a solo career, something she wasn't allowed to have in Iran, where women are prohibited from singing alone in public.
Remembering tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, a titan of modern jazz

Kevin Whitehead, Terry Gross

Rollins, who died May 25, had for decades been hailed as the greatest living jazz musician. Kevin Whitehead offers an appreciation, and we listen back to Rollins' 1994 interview with Terry Gross.
Drake tops the charts, sets records and sweeps away the oldies

Stephen Thompson

It's Drake Week on the Billboard charts, as the rapper sets records for sheer quantity.
What the next generation of classical musicians sounds like

Here & Now Newsroom

Classical music has a reputation as old, elite and maybe not for younger audiences. But the radio show "From the Top" is trying to change that.

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.