Track Listing

1. So What
2. Freddie Freeloader
3. Blue In Green
4. All Blues
5. Flamenco Sketches
6. Flamenco Sketches

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48364 in Music
• Released on: 1997-04-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the one jazz record owned by people who don't listen to jazz, and with good reason. The band itself is extraordinary (proof of Miles Davis's masterful casting skills, if not of God's existence), listing John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley on saxophones, Bill Evans (or, on "Freddie Freeloader", Wynton Kelly) on piano, and the crack rhythm unit of Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Coltrane's astringency on tenor is counterpoised to Adderley's funky self on alto, with Davis moderating between them as Bill Evans conjures up a still lake of sound on which they walk. Meanwhile, the rhythm partnership of Cobb and Chambers is prepared to click off time until eternity. It was the key recording of what became modal jazz, a music free of the fixed harmonies and forms of pop songs. In Davis's men's hands it was a weightless music, but one that refused to fade into the background. In retrospect every note seems perfect, and each piece moves inexorably towards its destiny. --John Szwed

CD Description
With BIRTH OF THE COOL, Miles Davis distilled a new tonal palette for jazz. As early as 1954, Miles reacted to the escalating chordal complexity of hard bop by fashioning an evocative blues based on a simple scalar pattern ("Swing Spring"). KIND OF BLUE was the ultimate fulfilment of this approach,with Miles providing his collaborators little more than outlines for melodies and simple scales for improvisation. By emphasising the blues and the improvisor's melodic gifts, KIND OF BLUE precipitated a major stylistic development--modal jazz.
Charles Mingus had experimented with pedal points throughout the 1950s, and the melodic freedom of Ornette Coleman's Atlantic sides was also predicated on freedom from chord changes. But KIND OF BLUE was to prove the most influential, enduring work of its kind. There was just such a vibe about these 1959 sessions--Miles' lyric genius and burgeoning stardom, the innovative voicings and rarefied touch of pianist Bill Evans, the electrifying presence of Coltrane and Cannonball--that some thirty-plus years after its initial release, KIND OF BLUE is still recognised as Davis' point of departure towards jazz's less-explored regions.
Bill Evans' translucent chords and Paul Chambers' famous bass line heraldthe revolution that is "So What": Davis and Evans' taut, coiled lyricism stands in sharp relief to the saxophonists' labyrinthine elation. The fat, shimmering beat of the classic Evans/Chambers/Cobb rhythm team is an oasis of calm throughout the childish blues "Freddie Freeloader". Often credited to Davis, "Blue In Green" is an Evans masterpiece, in which the rhythmic oasis becomes a smoky mirage for Davis' minor reveries on muted horn. The waltzing "All Blues" is one of thesmoothest, most swinging grooves in the history of jazz, while "Flamenco Sketches" reflects Miles fascination with the earthy melodies and brooding metaphors of the Iberian peninsula...a harbinger of his next masterpiece, SKETCHES OF SPAIN. KIND OF BLUE remains Miles Davis' most evocative piece of musical haiku.

Customer Reviews

Kind of Blue
Just browsing through the Miles Davis products the other day, I was amazed to see that the average rating for "Kind of Blue" was only 4.5 stars. Intrigued as to what kind of person does not regard this album as truly exceptional, I scanned the reviews. Those that did not give the album five stars fell broadly into two categories. The first consisted of people who had no jazz records and, having read the reviews, thought this classic would be a good one to start a collection with only to discover that,oops,they don't like jazz.

The second group appeared to be afficianados with a slightly sniffy attitude who view the album as jazz for people who don't really like jazz. There is some truth in that as it is by far the most accesible Miles album to non jazz fans and was my starting point in an apppreciation of jazz and of Miles in particular.

The point of this review is to ask, beseech and implore the reader who does not own this album to ignore these reviews and BUY Kind of Blue immediately. Your life will not be same again.

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This was the first jazz album that I ever bought and not knowing anything about the style, I didn't know what to expect. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be a complete understatement but to say that since that day the only music I've listened to has been jazz (be it Benny Goodman or Jaco Pastorius!) would be about right. From the opening bars of "So What" you know that you're listening to a masterpiece and a piece of history that could never be repeated. The 50 minutes just disappear and I guarantee when it's over you will go and press play again - I have been listening to it for years and I'm still finding new bits that I've missed! There is not one fault to be found with this album - it is pretty perfect...As albums go!

Powerful, poignant, cool, passionate.... a masterpiece.
Referring to "Kind of Blue" as the best jazz album of all time might actually be doing it a disservice. Jazz is one of those complex artforms which many people shy away from, afraid that they will not be able to understand it. So extoling its virtues might frighten people even more. But "Kind of Blue" is simply beautiful music. When listening to it, you forget everything you might feel about jazz, whether good or bad, and can only listen to it, amazed and excited. Miles Davis has created something so powerful yet full of simple, memorable melodies. Every note takes you further into that state where you simply hush up, tell whoever you are with to shut up, and listen. It is certainly not the type of music I would put on when friends come over for a chat. But it is an album which I can listen to, over and over and over again. Definitely something for MUSIC fans.