Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III (26 May 1926 – 28 September 1991) was one of the most distinguished jazz musicians of the latter half of the 20th century. A trumpeter, bandleader and composer, Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s. He played on various early bebop records and recorded one of the first cool jazz records. He is most famous for his albums "Birth Of The Cool" (1952), "Kind Of Blue" (1959), "Sketches Of Spain" (1959) and "Bitches Brew" (1969).

According to page 95 of Mike Barnes' biography, "Captain Beefheart", Quartet Books, 2000 Zappa and Captain Beefheart used to listen to Miles Davis and Gil Evans' album "Sketches Of Spain", when they were teenagers.

Further reading:
Wikipedia article on Miles Davis