A bronzed sculpture of jazz trumpeter and band leader Miles Davis will soon be unveiled in the Illinois town where Davis was born. Artist Preston Jackson is scheduled to do the unveiling in downtown Alton Sept. 12. Davis was born in Alton in 1926 and moved to East St. Louis a year later. He would later play with such stalwarts as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey before dying of a stroke in 1991. Utility provider Ameren Illinois recently donated $5,000 toward the project in the city's Riverbend community, which is located near downtown along the Mississippi River.
