Miles Davis 100: Birth of the Cool

In 2026, the world marks one hundred years since the birth of Miles Davis, an artist who did more than shape jazz. Throughout his career, he repeatedly changed the direction of modern music by bringing together new voices, embracing risk, and refusing to repeat past success.

To celebrate this centenary, TheMerode invites members for a special evening bringing live music and conversation together.

The evening features a performance led by trumpeter and Royal Conservatory of Brussels professor Michel Paré, joined by a ten-piece ensemble revisiting the groundbreaking repertoire of Birth of the Cool. Recorded between 1949 and 1950, these sessions marked a quiet turning point in jazz, shifting the music away from bebop’s intensity toward a new emphasis on texture, space, and collective sound. The programme will extend beyond Birth of the Cool, with excursions into some of Miles Davis’s most iconic works.

During the evening, jazz historian and Conservatory professor Hugues Warin will join us for a conversation exploring why Miles Davis continues to matter today, not only as a musician but as a model of creative reinvention.

Throughout the evening, the bar will feature a signature cocktail, So What, specially created for this centenary celebration and inspired by one of Davis’s most iconic compositions.

Feel free to dress with a touch of Miles Davis in mind: cool, minimal, and slightly ahead of everyone else.

The ensemble brings together ten outstanding musicians, all students at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels :

Andreï Beuthe de Jaeger – trumpet & flugelhorn

Léo Gayet – trumpet & flugelhorn

Zéphyr Zijlstra – trumpet & flugelhorn

Hugo Schiagno – alto saxophone

Valentin Urbain – baritone saxophone

Phil Abraham – trombone

Jean Gérard – tuba

Chokri Daii – piano

Marcus Lombardi Satriani – double bass

Diego Marchant – drums

In collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels: https://www.conservatoire.be/en/