On May 26, 1926, Miles Dewey Davis III was born in Alton, Illinois. Over the next six decades, he would reshape the sound of American music more times than any artist in history, from bebop to cool jazz, modal jazz to fusion, and everything in between. He didn’t just play the trumpet. He used it to dismantle whatever jazz had become and rebuild it into whatever it needed to be next.

2026 marks the centennial of his birth, and the world is paying attention. Major institutions from SFJAZZ to international festivals are mounting celebrations. A feature film is in production. His catalog was recently acquired in a landmark deal. The cultural conversation around Miles is louder than it’s been in decades, and for good reason. A century later, his influence hasn’t faded. It’s deepened.

But this story isn’t just about Miles. It’s about what he left behind, and who carries it forward.

The Only Protégé

In 1983, a young trumpeter named Wallace Roney was playing a Miles Davis tribute concert at The Bottom Line in New York City when Miles himself walked in. Miles listened. Then he approached Roney backstage and asked what kind of trumpet he played. Roney told him he didn’t have one. So Miles gave him one of his own.

That moment began a mentorship that would last until Miles’ death in 1991. Wallace Roney studied directly under Miles, not in a classroom, but on bandstands, in rehearsal rooms, and in conversation. Miles shaped Roney’s approach to the trumpet, to improvisation, and to the broader philosophy of what it means to be an artist. He was the only trumpet player Miles Davis ever personally mentored. Not Wynton Marsalis. Not Terence Blanchard. Wallace Roney alone held that distinction.

By the time of their partnership, Roney had already built serious credentials, DownBeat’s Best Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1979 and 1980, stints with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Tony Williams’ quintet, and a growing reputation as one of the most gifted trumpeters of his generation. But the Miles connection added something deeper than credentials. It was a direct line to the source,  a transmission of musical DNA that couldn’t be learned from records alone.

In the summer of 1991, that connection reached its peak. At the Montreux Jazz Festival, Quincy Jones conducted a concert revisiting Miles’ iconic collaborations with Gil Evans. Roney was there to sit in during rehearsals, but when Miles heard him play “Springsville,” he insisted Roney join him on stage. The performance, Miles and his protégé playing side by side — was widely regarded as the highlight of the entire festival.

Miles passed away just three months later. Wallace Roney went on to carry that torch for nearly three decades, recording over 20 albums as a leader and touring the world with a sound that honored his mentor while forging its own identity. He won a Grammy alongside Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams for A Tribute to Miles in 1994. He never stopped pushing the music forward.

Wallace Roney died on March 31, 2020, from complications of COVID-19. He was 59.

The Next Generation

Wallace Roney married pianist Geri Allen in 1995. Allen was a force of nature in her own right — a Guggenheim Fellow, the first recipient of Soul Train’s Lady of Soul Award for jazz, and a visionary composer and educator who served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She was one of the first pianists Ornette Coleman invited into his ensemble since the 1950s. She championed the legacy of women in jazz, particularly the often-overlooked contributions of pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. Geri Allen passed away in 2017 at age 60.

Together, Wallace and Geri raised their children in a home where music wasn’t a career choice, it was the atmosphere. Their son, Wallace Roney Jr., grew up surrounded by rehearsals, recording sessions, and conversations between some of the most important musicians in jazz. His father’s trumpet. His mother’s piano. The melodies that filled every corner of the house.

At age 10, after showing relentless interest in playing and an eagerness to study harmony, his father gifted him his first trumpet, echoing, in its own way, the moment Miles handed Wallace Sr. a horn decades earlier. The chain continued.

Wallace Roney Jr. went on to study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and quickly established himself on the New York jazz scene. He’s shared the bandstand with Chick Corea, Buster Williams, Lenny White, Jack DeJohnette, and the late Ornette Coleman. His tone is rich and commanding. His improvisation is fearless. And while comparisons to his father and to Miles are inevitable, what’s most striking about Wallace Jr. is the way he synthesizes that lineage into something distinctly his own — a modern voice rooted in tradition but unafraid to push.

Three Generations. One Unbroken Line.

This is what makes the JAZZ ROOM’s Miles Davis Centennial Celebration on April 17–18 something more than a tribute concert. It’s the living continuation of a musical lineage that runs directly from Miles Davis through Wallace Roney Sr. to the young man who will be on our stage.

Miles mentored Wallace Sr. Wallace Sr. raised Wallace Jr. And now Wallace Jr. brings his dynamic quartet to Charlotte to explore the timeless music of Miles through a fresh, modern lens, blending reverence for the master with his own fearless improvisational voice.

You won’t hear a museum piece. You’ll hear the music of Miles Davis alive and evolving, interpreted by someone who didn’t just study the records. He grew up in the house where the legacy lived.
Four shows. One weekend. An intimate room where you’ll hear every breath, every valve, every note.
This is how you celebrate 100 years of Miles.

JAZZ ROOM Special Edition: A Miles Davis Centennial Celebration Featuring The Wallace Roney Jr. Quartet
April 17 (Friday): 6:00 PM & 8:15 PM
April 18 (Saturday): 7:00 PM & 9:15 PM
Stage Door Theater, 155 N College St, Charlotte, NC
GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY