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: #326 in Music
• Released on: 2009-07-27
• Number of discs: 1

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 aboutthese 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 herald the 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 thechildish 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 reverieson muted horn. The waltzing "All Blues" is one of the smoothest, most swinging grooves in the history of jazz, while "Flamenco Sketches" reflects Miles fascination with the earthymelodies and brooding metaphors of the Iberian peninsula...a harbinger of his next masterpiece, SKETCHES OF SPAIN. KINDOF BLUE remains Miles Davis' most evocative piece of musical haiku.

Customer Reviews

Its, a blue world and all the better for it .
Confession time .I used to watch the "Jazz Club " sketch in The Fast Show : Ultimate Collection (7 Disc BBC Box Set) [DVD] and laugh not so much like a drain but like an entire sewer system. You see the sketch was confirming what I ,d felt all along about jazz -that this was a haven for pretentious , head nodding pseudo cool types. Jazz I thought was music for people who don't actually like music at all. The thing is though I used to think something similar about reggae and I love reggae now. The trick you see is to jettison your presumptions, predispositions assumptions what ever you want to call them and start listening .
Which brings me to Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis. Now I have long been aware that this is an album held in extremely high regard but it's a jazz album so I wasn't interested. Then I got thinking about my reggae conversion , and my previous conversion to rap ( mainly brought about by listening to Public Enemy ) and I also thought about how much I like swing & jive which has jazz elements to it ( jazz purists please cease frothing at the mouth ) I also thought about how much I liked Melody Gardots recent album and that has definite jazz elements and a mate whose opinion I trust told me how much he liked Kind Of Blue so i thought I ,d take the plunge.
Guess what ? ....Well it's a bit of a stupid question because you've seen the five yellow stars at the top of the review but I absolutely love Kind Of Blue. It has an ambience , atmosphere a tone and timbre I often look for in music .The sort of thing I often find in obscure pieces of ambient music , or experimental post rock or even filtering into more song based music like The Blue Nile or David Sylvian. There is a melancholy that has nothing to do with feeling maudlin or wallowing in misery .It is a kind of blue but it speaks of something else ,something alive and hopeful and yes ..something cool.
Anyone looking for a erudite critique of Miles Davis music or an empirical placing of his influence both within the confines of jazz or the more expansive umbrella of music will not find it in this review. I could have added a bit of potted history of the album which is something I would normally do but that really is not the purpose of this review either . I am here dear reader to state that even if, like me you would normally rather let ants nest in your ears rather than listen to jazz to put aside your prejudice and give this album a listen. It,s terrific , it really is. It may also lead you to question your long held ( in my case certainly ) jazz aversion .
And now on the back of this revelation i intend to investigate further . I have already bought Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet and A Love Supreme [Deluxe Edition] and Mingus Ah Um are on my shopping list. Any other recommendations would also be welcome .Those ants will have to move out.... there is more jazz on the way . Still think "Jazz Club" is bloody funny though.

THE best jazz album ever
Can't believe there's no review yet! This is THE best ever jazz album, so just buy it and listen to it five times. If you don't love it by then, then you don't like jazz! If you don't, then sell it on ebay so someone else can enjoy it!

Wow
I'm no jazz guy. I don't know my Coltraine from my Cobham. This record caught my ear playing on someone else's stereo and it's terrific. It sounds fresh, cool, hip and exciting half a century after it was recorded. It's a thrilling listen full of tiny melodies a big sounds. Buy it.