Miles Davis to Be Inducted Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Trumpeter Miles Davis will be one of five musicians and groups inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, the Cleveland-based organization announced yesterday.

In a press release, the Hall of Fame noted that Davis's "musical experimentation beginning in the late '60s created a fusion of jazz with rock and roll, soul, funk, and hip-hop."

Davis played bebop with Charlie Parker in the 1940s before leading pioneering cool jazz, modal jazz, and hard bop groups in the '50s and '60s. His 1970 album Bitches Brew helped to launch the fusion movement.

No jazz musicians have previously been named to the main section of the hall, but Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Charlie Christian, and others have been honored as "early influences."

The other 2006 inductees are the heavy metal group Black Sabbath, the New Wave group Blondie, the Southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the punk group Sex Pistols. Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss will receive a lifetime achievement award for founding A&M Records.

The inductees were selected by music historians, record-industry figures, journalists, and members of the hall. They will be honored at a ceremony in New York on March 13, 2006.

By Ben Mattison - playbillarts.com

Technorati tag: Jazz