Kind of Blue

When determining an entry point to something new, the beginning is not always the best choice. Someone who knows of Jason Vorhees may be thrown off by the first Friday the 13th film (or the fifth one, also known as the best one in the series, there, I said it), for Miles it’s a nearly impossible task. The man had 60 studio albums and 39 live albums and that’s just the surface. Kind of Blue IS the starting point for someone who is open to jazz. It’s very pedestrian, restrained and fluid. It’s the one album people who don’t like jazz, enjoy.
Some of his late 60’s and well into the 70’s, flows like one long song and to me are equally as relevant and important. Each of his releases builds upon the previous album.

Before The Beatles, Kennedy, The Civil Rights Movement, hell before the first human was launched into space, there was Kind of Blue. Released August 17, 1959. Miles led a sextet featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and “Cannonball” Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Session recordings for the LP were composed and completed on March 2 and April 22, 1959 at Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York City. Davis wanted more of an improvised, organic approach to the album. Writing down sets of scales that encompassed the parameters of their improvisation and style. This consequently allowed more creative freedom with melodies and the opportunity for each musician to punctuate their own feel into the piece. This made an incredible impression on Coltrane who used this approach on many of his future works. Davis also called for almost no rehearsal and the musicians had little idea what they were to record. The results are the first album based entirely on modality (essentially a rough outline of a melody, the rest is improvised).
The results speak for themselves; it’s a critically acclaimed album, the bestselling jazz album in history. It’s a cornerstone of any record collection. What Abbey Road, Master Of Puppets or Rumors is to rock, this is to jazz, the definitive album forms the genre. What makes this album so appealing and accessible is Davis never flaunts his music or incorporates more to a song than called for. It’s as smooth as ice.
In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen for the very first year of induction by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. The album has gone on the sell over 5 million copies.

Steve Gier
DJ Madness