By Jill Moon for Chronicle Media
Stay cool this summer with a visit to jazz great Miles Davis’ childhood home, now the House of Miles East Saint Louis (HOME), founded by the nonprofit of the same name.
The comprehensive museum, which also serves as a youth education center, at 1701 Kansas Ave. in East St. Louis, Illinois, honors the life and times of Davis, known for the “Birth of Cool.” Tours are by appointment at www.houseofmilesestl.com.
The nonprofit acquired the Davis property in 2011. Davis’ brother, Vernon Davis, now deceased, last lived in the house. Renovations began in 2015 and education enrichment programming in 2016. It is now preserved and renovated with authentic artifacts, albums, artwork and literature of the musical and creative genius.
Renovation currently is in phase III, which includes renovating the basement to include a recording and engineering space, an outdoor fireplace and stage, and a wine cellar. HOME is open for special events and has several community partnerships, including with the St. Clair County Historical Society, Southern Illinois University System, the Missouri Historical Society, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare and the Smithsonian.
Visitors come to HOME from all over the world. This month, within a four-day span, groups came from Belgium, Italy and France. Enthusiasts and their families come from all over the United States, as well, with recent visitors from West Virginia, Texas and California.
“They come from all over the region, all over the country, all over the world,” said founder Lauren Parks, an East St. Louis native and president of the nonprofit organization. “It is constant.”
Parks’ family has close ties to Davis’ family, both from his youth and later generations. Her aunt used to fry jack fish for Davis, another aunt owns custom shoes made just for him on display and still another aunt donated vinyl albums.
Art by regional artists, literature, Davis’ music both phonically and visually are throughout the museum.
“I tell people, ‘You can Google Miles Davis, view pages upon pages, but what we want to focus on is where Miles came from, before moving to New York in 1944, in this little community that helped to make Miles — Miles before he left the nest,” Parks said.
Parks recalled a family of four, in which the husband was a Miles Davis enthusiast. He introduced his wife and their pair of teenage sons, age 16 and 19, to Davis’ music with the seminal album “Kind of Blue.”
“She was just in awe,” Parks said. “She said, ‘Whenever my husband washes the dishes, he listens to Miles.’”
The parents gave the middle name of Miles to one of the teens, after the musician.
“One thing in common among our visitors, is this is not ‘jazz’ music; this is social music,” said HOME’s Jas Gary Pearson, the nonprofit organization partner with Parks. “Miles called it ‘social music.’ He didn’t define it as jazz. He defined it as social music.”
During summer, HOME not only attracts families on vacation and visitors from abroad but also several youth groups.
Programs for youth include “Mutt-i-grees,” a moniker with a take on “pedigree,” with shelter dogs, focused on social and emotional health; an organic garden; raising bees and harvesting organic honey; harvesting butterflies for release into the wild; music; STEAM; and, Sigma Leadership LABS, which stands for Learning and Believing Sessions.
An Ohio dentist of 38 years incorporated a visit to HOME into her annual one-week vacation this year, and she also happens to collect organic honey. Both Pearson and Parks are certified beekeepers. The state of Illinois annually inspects the hives around November.
“Of course, that’s what we do,” Pearson said.
Students in the bee program raise the bees, collect the honey and package the final product into jars with the HOME logo.
“They are cultivating the ecosystem of HOME,” Pearson noted. “From staging to extracting from the hive to harvesting and distribution, they do it all.”
HOME is surrounded by green space where wildflowers are plentiful.
“Bees and butterflies are top pollinators,” Pearson noted. “The program teaches students why you actually raise bees and butterflies. This was a very good addition to our agricultural program. Miles Davis’ dad was a dental surgeon and a very successful hog farmer in Millstadt, Illinois.”
Parks, an education specialist with a bachelor’s in psychology and master’s in education administration, and Pearson head up the education components of HOME as well.
“We want to share stories, we want people who knew him to tell their stories — those who played with Miles, cool pictures of Miles in a band as a boy, the personal stories from people in the community and artifacts on display. You can’t find that by Googling.”