This paper seeks to discuss of one of the most significant questions in the critical discourse of jazz studies and of ethnomusicology more broadly: How does a musical genre, such as jazz, come to be understood as ‘art music’? This paper looks to develop a theory about the concept of ‘art music’ in relation to jazz, as it is understood in North American culture. In applying this theory, which I call the audience-aesthetic specialization theory, I investigate specifically the stylistic innovations of trumpeter Miles Davis in the mid-fifties, and the place of jazz in American culture of the mid-to-late-fifties more broadly. From this investigation, I attempt to extrapolate a new historiographical understanding of the stylistic changes that facilitated the widespread cultural recognition of jazz as ‘art’. Wherever possible, I attempt to nuance my claims using a multi-faceted approach that considers a range of theoretical, aesthetic, and cultural ideas that surround the concept of ‘art music’ as it relates to jazz.