Album: Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

Album review ~all·About·Jazz.com
Very few albums can match this Miles Davis’s 1959 classic, often considered the greatest album in the history of jazz. Backed by an exquisite combo, this is an essential recording even for those who don’t listen to jazz. With Miles himself on trumpet, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley on alto saxophone, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums, we hear every creative counterposition imaginable.

This recording was the beginning of modal jazz, and while Coltrane displays his free, unorthodox style and intense tone, Miles balances this with his contrasting smoothness and sparse phrasing. Cannonball colors Coltrane’s sound with a rhythmically daring yet more melodic style of his own, characteristic of his traditional and ebullient phrasing. Bill Evans, whether accompanying or soloing, prefers a style more likened to the title of the album. He glides elegantly and profoundly on top of the driving yet laid back swing of Jimmy Cobb. Paul Chambers serves as the technically dynamic and harmonic foundation for the group, lending his exceptional skill to a tight rhythm section.

This album throws away conventional song and chord structure that had been definitive to most jazz artists, welcoming a new structure based on modes. More than a milestone in jazz, Kind of Blue is a defining moment of twentieth century music.

Tracklist:
01. So What (9:25)
02. Freddie Freeloader (9:49)
03. Blue in Green (5:38)
04. All Blues (11:36)
05. Flamenco Sketches (9:26)
06. Flamenco Sketches (alternate take) (9:32)

Personnel:
Miles Davis – trumpet
Cannonball Adderley – alto saxophone
John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans – piano
Paul Chambers – bass
Jimmy Cobb – drums

Additional Info:
Original recording produced by Irving Townsend
Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City;
Recording Date: March 2, 1959 (#1-3) & April 22, 1959 (#4, 5, 6)
Recording Engineer: Fred Plaut
Reissue produced by Michael Cuscuna
Remix Engineer: Mark Wilder
Remixed from the original three-track tapes at Sony Music Studios
Project Director: Seth Rothstein
Cover Photo: Jay Maisel
Reissue Art Direction: Cozbi Sanchez-Cabrera
Design: Randall Martin
Photography: Don Hunstein
Production Assistance: Rene Arsenault
Packaging Manager: Jennifer Ebert
A&R Coordination: Patti Matheny

Genre: Hard-Bop/Cool, Modal Music
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Year: 2009

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