In 1954, Miles Davis's future meant considerably more than his past. Recording for Prestige since 1951 (The New Sounds was his first album for the label), the trumpeter came into his own in 1954.

Miles Davis would have been a cool 100 years old were he alive today. Davis, who died in 1991, broke through with 1957's "The Birth of the Cool" and cool was something the trumpeter embodied. Born on ...