Here's a great video from '67 where Miles and his band (Wayne Shorter on Tenor Sax, Herbie Hancock on Piano, Tony Williams on Drums and Ron Carter on Bass) performed live.
From the same period, here's the band, with Shorter again; and this time Chick Corea on the Rhodes piano... a perfect accompaniment to this song, Jack DeJohnette on Drums and Dave Holland on Bass) in Rome:
What set Davis apart (well, one of the things, anyway) was his willingness to chart new waters.
Soon after leaving East Saint Louis for Julliard in NYC (at least, that's what his father thought he was paying tuition for, a Julliard education... Miles was a good student, but had more important things to do with his time than attend music school) Miles fell in with the great bebop musicians who's style of music was so popular at the time. He played regularly with Coleman Hawkins, Freddie Webster, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy.
After a breakup with Charlie Parker, Davis collaborated with the arranger Gil Evans. Together with Gerry Mulligan (who had gigged with Chet Baker up and down the West Coast until Mulligan's drug bust), Max Roach and John Lewis, Miles created 'Cool Jazz'; a brand of playing that stripped away the excesses of Bebop and became immensely popular.
Davis continued to pave his own way, creating 'Acid Jazz' and 'Electric Jazz'. Some of it gets far out, like this piece:
Miles' masterpiece, Kind of Blue is below. If you know little (or nothing) of Miles Davis and Jazz, when time permits listen to this album in its entirety. It'll likely open new musical horizons for you, whether you are a listener or a musician:
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