A Tough Act to Follow : Who can assume Miles Davis’ leadership role in challenging the music’s boundaries and inspiring change? Here are six candidates

More than any other musician of his generation, Miles Davis epitomized change. He ushered in one revolution after another: from hard bop to the magisterial collaborations with Gil Evans’ orchestra . . . from chordal to modal music . . . and on to electronic jazz fusion.

Davis--who died Sept. 28 in Santa Monica of complications of pneumonia, liver disease and stroke--continued to surprise us right up until the end. At the Montreux Jazz Festival last summer, he caught everybody off guard by doing what he had always sworn he would never do: relive the past.

At Montreux, Miles spent an evening playing some of the Gil Evans masterpieces of the 1950s. As he listened to Quincy Jones conduct an all-star orchestra in a rehearsal of these Evans charts, Davis was overheard wistfully saying: “Nobody will ever write like that again.”

Nobody will ever play like Miles again, either, which raises a central question: Who can assume his leadership role in challenging the boundaries of jazz--and in inspiring change?

It’s a tough assignment.

For one thing, predicting the future in any art form is difficult, but it is particularly true in the case of jazz, because almost every new movement has sprung on us without warning.

Nobody, not even Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie themselves, could have foreseen in 1940 that within a few years they would symbolize a whole new idiom, known as be-bop. Miles was similarly unaware that his “Birth of the Cool” sessions in 1949 and 1950 would designate another stage of the music’s evolution.

But there’s a second issue here. Davis grew up in a very different time, when fame was based on aesthetic determination rather than potential profit.

Today a musician of modest ability can--with the power of a record company, a press agent and a manager behind him--go from unknown to superstar almost overnight. The cases of Harry Connick Jr. and David Sanborn come to mind.

There’s a great element of luck here--meeting the right executive in the right place at the right time. The problem is that without that massive push, a great new artist may never be able to get the widespread attention necessary today to help lead a revolution.

The next artist, if any, in terms of a Miles Davis-like effect on the scene may play almost any instrument, may be of any race, may be male or female and may possibly be the product of Japan--Toshiko Akiyoshi remains a significant force internationally--or any other country, since this is now beyond question a world music.

A few artists in the United States show signs of having significant potential--though none is off to the dramatic start that Davis made.

Following are six candidates worthy of consideration.

Wynton Marsalis

The obvious choice, but not necessarily the most promising. After a decade in the spotlight, Marsalis--who will be 30 this month--has shown no single sense of direction. Believed at first to be a be-bop revivalist, he later took to playing tributes to Louis Armstrong, New Orleans street parade music and blues variations with avant-garde touches. He seems to be in search of an image.

Where Miles let his music speak for itself and disliked interviews, Marsalis, for all his brilliance, speaks with an arrogant sense of authority that ill befits his musical indecisiveness. Still, he has a technique and intelligence that could establish him as a major role model.

There is a tendency to assess musical achievement in terms of versatility and popular recognition. Marsalis has triumphed on both levels, by displaying his unquestioned talent as a classical performer and by simultaneously winning Grammy awards for both jazz and classical albums; he has also won numerous Down Beat polls. This certainly means that he will have a long and economically rewarding career. It does not, however, offer proof of a unique creative genius.

Branford Marsalis

Now 31, the oldest Marsalis brother has displayed expertise on tenor and soprano saxophones and as a composer. But he too seems uncertain about direction. After leaving Wynton’s group to form his own quartet in the mid-’80s, he surprised the public (and horrified Wynton) by joining Sting’s band for two major tours. He has also appeared as a comedic actor in several movies, most notably “Throw Mama From the Train” and “School Daze.”

Amiable and broad-minded, Branford does not indulge in the proselytizing by which Wynton has become slightly notorious. In a 1989 interview with The Times he summed up the differences between his attitude and Wynton’s: “Music means a lot more than just music to him, whereas music to me means music. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone with my music--at least not politically or socially; only musically. I do have social observations that differ from Wynton’s. Mine are more comfortable for people, while he, I believe, enjoys making them squirm.”

For this, and for other reasons having to do with his artistry, Branford may ultimately have a better chance than Wynton of achieving durable aesthetic success.

Delfeayo Marsalis

Early in 1989, at age 23, Delfeayo played trombone in a student group from the Berklee College of Music, where he studied for six years. The band won first prize in a college band contest held by the National Assn. of Jazz Educators.

Shortly after graduating, Delfeayo found himself in fast company, working on a jazz cruise in a band headed by the veteran cornetist Nat Adderley. Playing with world-class musicians, he earned an uproarious ovation at every show.

Delfeayo spent three of his six years at Berklee studing record production. He had started at 17, producing an album of piano solos by his father, Ellis. After Berklee, he went on to produce albums by Harry Connick Jr., brother Branford, British saxophonist Courtney Pine, Polish pianist Adam Makowicz and others.

The skill he has shown in dealing with these diverse artists may be reflected in his playing, which is already marked by technical excellence, an inventive mind and frequent touches of humor.

He is also an aspiring journalist who has contributed literate liner notes to several albums. Despite his emphasis on these other activities, he may yet outclass his older brothers as a performer and engaging personality.

Geri Allen

The 34-year-old pianist from Pontiac, Mich., has developed steadily while going through a series of phases, from soul and pop to Miles and Monk. She has had several significant mentors--trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, a master drummer from Ghana, saxophonist Nathan Davis--who have helped in her wide-ranging education.

More than ever, eclecticism plays a significant part in the evolution of jazz. With her ability to adapt to a broad span of settings, Allen is exceptionally qualified for success. Few composers and fewer pianists have shown her ability to draw on aesthetic values of traditional jazz, African idioms, folk, gospel, funk and free jazz.

Allen’s career has been highlighted by several admirably diversified albums. Among them: “Twylight,” for which she wrote words as well as music; “In the Year of the Dragon,” with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, and recently a widely praised sextet session, “The Nurturer,” with sidemen from the Miles Davis and Branford Marsalis groups.

As Allen has said, in order to move into new and challenging areas today, it is necessary to study the origins of the art form while applying one’s own contemporary values. At its best, Allen’s music reflects her originality and diversity in a way that can serve as a model for others.

John Clayton

This Los Angeles musician has long shown the earmarks of greatness. A brilliant composer-arranger and gifted bassist, he has credits that include several years each with the Count Basie and Amsterdam Philharmonic orchestras. He later formed a partnership with his younger brother Jeff on saxophones and Jeff Hamilton on drums.

The Claytons and Hamilton began to attract attention with albums for Concord Jazz Records, in such company as Patrice Rushen or Roger Kellaway on piano and Ron Eschete or the late Emily Remler on guitar.

In recent years the three co-leaders have been partners in a big band, recording for Capri Records. Despite the problems inherent in keeping a large orchestra together, Clayton, now 38, has maintained a steady personnel lineup that enables him to do justice to his arrangements.

The band at present leans toward a Basie orientation, but Clayton’s talent would seem to assure its chances of developing an individual sound and style. Nor does it hurt that he happens to be a personable and articulate leader.

Jane Ira Bloom

Bloom has been a recording artist since 1978, but at 36 she has not attained recognition commensurate with her ability. Her instrument is the soprano saxophone, which has produced relatively few significant figures, but her bright sound, adept use of execution and finesse of phrasing have established her as one of the soprano originals.

The Boston native’s wide-ranging experiences have included studying and playing with George Coleman and recording dates with singers Cleo Laine and Jan Clayton, vibraphonist David Friedman and composer-pianist Anthony Davis.

Bloom’s best-known accomplishment as a composer earned her widespread publicity in 1989, when she was commissioned by the NASA Arts Program to write a work for saxophone plus chamber orchestra and electronics. The piece, titled “Rediscovery,” was first performed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and then in 1990 at Carnegie Hall by the Yale University Wind Ensemble.

She produced such splendid albums as “Slalom” for Columbia Records, but after the Sony takeover of CBS she was one of several artists dropped from the roster. Bloom is currently applying for a Rockefeller Foundation grant to enable her to write an extended symphonic work.

Bloom has left no doubt that she is firmly dedicated to broadening her scope on several levels. By combining her power as a soloist with the variety of electronic effects she has employed, and by concentrating on an instrument that few creative artists have employed successfully in many years, Bloom has gained an advantage over most of her contemporaries.

As a composer too she has shown her adaptability, writing for dance, theater, TV and film and designing original works for her recordings that provide admirable settings for improvisational forays. Like the other artists on the list, she is blessed with independence and integrity.

The list is short. It seems unnecessary to include musicians in their 20s or younger such as the recent so-called Jazz Futures band--people like bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Mark Whitfield, who are promising but not quite ready for prime time. As for trumpeters, their absence (except for Wynton Marsalis) is easily explained.

If Miles Davis himself switched gears at the end of his life, realizing that he had pushed the envelope to its limit and therefore had to move into reverse, what can we possibly expect of these youthful imitators still unable to escape his shadow?