Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Long-heralded as an album that fundamentally changed jazz and as a definitive masterpiece of recorded music, 'Kind of Blue' still excites and inspires some 65 years later. There have been endless discussions, articles, books, classes etc examining this album. Well deserved. Recorded in just 2 days in early 1959, 'Kind of Blue' was released on August 17 of the same year. There was very little rehearsal, with Miles giving the assembled musicians only general arrangement outlines, scales on which to improvise, and melody lines.
The musicians (a truly incredible group: John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers & Wynton Kelly) took these directional fragments and created stunning results. While 'Kind of Blue' isn't the first 'modal' jazz album, it was and is the most fully realized and successful. The songs are beautiful, memorable, and subtly complex. The solos are among some of the best of each musician's career. The album feels introspective and even sad at times, yet the brilliant musicianship gives the whole album a kind of quiet uplifting vibe, felt even in the ballads.
The recording itself is fantastic. While stereo recording and stereo record pressing were still somewhat new (most commercially available LPs at this time were still mono), the stereo imaging is wonderful and realistic on this album. Mono copies also sound incredible. The performances are so good, as is the recording, that this record translates in almost any format. This LP has been pressed, re-pressed, re-mastered, re-packaged endless times. It is the most popular Jazz LP of all time. And with very good reason.
Long-heralded as an album that fundamentally changed jazz and as a definitive masterpiece of recorded music, 'Kind of Blue' still excites and inspires some 65 years later. There have been endless discussions, articles, books, classes etc examining this album. Well deserved. Recorded in just 2 days in early 1959, 'Kind of Blue' was released on August 17 of the same year. There was very little rehearsal, with Miles giving the assembled musicians only general arrangement outlines, scales on which to improvise, and melody lines.
The musicians (a truly incredible group: John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers & Wynton Kelly) took these directional fragments and created stunning results. While 'Kind of Blue' isn't the first 'modal' jazz album, it was and is the most fully realized and successful. The songs are beautiful, memorable, and subtly complex. The solos are among some of the best of each musician's career. The album feels introspective and even sad at times, yet the brilliant musicianship gives the whole album a kind of quiet uplifting vibe, felt even in the ballads.
The recording itself is fantastic. While stereo recording and stereo record pressing were still somewhat new (most commercially available LPs at this time were still mono), the stereo imaging is wonderful and realistic on this album. Mono copies also sound incredible. The performances are so good, as is the recording, that this record translates in almost any format. This LP has been pressed, re-pressed, re-mastered, re-packaged endless times. It is the most popular Jazz LP of all time. And with very good reason.
Long-heralded as an album that fundamentally changed jazz and as a definitive masterpiece of recorded music, 'Kind of Blue' still excites and inspires some 65 years later. There have been endless discussions, articles, books, classes etc examining this album. Well deserved. Recorded in just 2 days in early 1959, 'Kind of Blue' was released on August 17 of the same year. There was very little rehearsal, with Miles giving the assembled musicians only general arrangement outlines, scales on which to improvise, and melody lines.
The musicians (a truly incredible group: John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers & Wynton Kelly) took these directional fragments and created stunning results. While 'Kind of Blue' isn't the first 'modal' jazz album, it was and is the most fully realized and successful. The songs are beautiful, memorable, and subtly complex. The solos are among some of the best of each musician's career. The album feels introspective and even sad at times, yet the brilliant musicianship gives the whole album a kind of quiet uplifting vibe, felt even in the ballads.
The recording itself is fantastic. While stereo recording and stereo record pressing were still somewhat new (most commercially available LPs at this time were still mono), the stereo imaging is wonderful and realistic on this album. Mono copies also sound incredible. The performances are so good, as is the recording, that this record translates in almost any format. This LP has been pressed, re-pressed, re-mastered, re-packaged endless times. It is the most popular Jazz LP of all time. And with very good reason.