East St. Louis, Miles Davis' birthday this Thursday, May 26

The city of East St. Louis will celebrate what would have been the 85th anniversary of birth of the most famous native son, trumpeter Miles Davis, at 12: 00 pm this Thursday, May 26 in the room of the Council of the Municipal of East St. Louis301 River Park Drive building.

According to a press release, "the free family event will include a"resemblance"- decorated cake;" Jazz by Reginald Thomas and the 85th anniversary Jazz set. "Step: the birth of an ancestor," a poetic elegy/multimodal piece by ESL poet laureate Eugene b. Redmond (and Soular systems together); "." and reminiscences by miles of friends from childhood and high school classmates. ?

Davis (photographed), who died in 1991, was born in Alton and grew up in East St. Louis to age a. He is a graduate of the Lincoln Senior High School in 1944 and attended the Julliard School of Music before launching a career that made him one of the most popular jazz musicians and the most influential of all time. When ESL dedicated Miles Dewey Davis III Elementary School, in 1982 Davis and Cicely Tyson, his wife at the time, attended the ceremony, as did high school Professor Davis Elwood Buchanan.

For more information about the birthday celebration of Thursday Miles Davis, contact Lauren parks by calling 618-482-6601 or by e-mail at lparks @ cesl.us; or e. b. Redmond by calling 618-650-3991 or by e-mail at eredmon@siue.edu.