Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, a musician with more than his fair share of artistic highlights. It's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album. Or, to be reductive, it's the Citizen Kane of jazz — a commonly ... Read review
A review by jamiegiles on Kind Of Blue [Remastered] - Miles Davis November 11th, 2000
Author's product rating:
Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency of tracks
Value for Money
Advantages:
Good
Disadvantages:
Bad
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, a musician with more than his fair share of artistic highlights. It's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album. Or, to be reductive, it's the Citizen Kane of jazz — a commonly accepted work of greatness that was not only innovative but also entertaining, somehow remaining fresh and filled with surprises decades after its original release. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the greatest jazz album ever made, bar none, but it certainly is a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Even more than that, it's the kind of record that remains enchanting to those that have heard it hundreds of times, just as it will turn jazz neophytes into converts. Why — or how — does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Probably because this music never flaunts its genius or skill. It comes on easy, luring a listener in with the slow, luxurious bass line and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace — each tune has a similar laid-back, relaxed feel, as the band lets the music flow easily and naturally. For casual listeners, this is the kind of jazz that easily conjures romantic images of smoky, intimate after-hours clubs. Of course, if that's all the album was, it would be a period piece, but Kind of Blue is far more than that. It's also, as is so often noted by jazz history books, a pivotal moment in the development of jazz, since it is the pinnacle of modal jazz — a musical theory where tonality and solos build from chords in the songs, not the overall key, which gives the music a subtly shifting quality while remaining slightly off-key. Modal music laid the groundwork for some of the avant-garde jazz of the '60s, and it remains the touchstone for modern jazz, since it is at once soothing and unpredictably shifting. This is the sound everyone recognizes as jazz. But, Kind of Blue is not the first modal album. Miles, Evans, and Coltrane covered similar territory on their previous effort, Milestones. The difference is, that blew hot and cool, whereas Kind of Blue is laid-back and unassailably cool, thereby making it accessible.
All of this may explain its wide appeal to a casual jazz listener, and even its historical significance, but it doesn't really touch on why seasoned jazz fans continue to return to this record even after they've memorized every little turn and nuance in the recording. It's impossible to really summarize exactly why the album has such a mystique — if it was possible, it wouldn't have mystique — but surely much of it has to do with the exceptional band playing at the peak of its power. After all, this is hardly Miles' show alone. Pianist Bill Evans was instrumental in pushing Davis toward modal music, and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane was eager to follow. Those three are joined by Cannonball Adderly on alto sax, Jimmy Cobb on drums, and the incomparable bassist Paul Chambers (pianist Wynton Kelly sits in for Evans on "Freddie Freeloader"). As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes and chords just before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised through each composition. Improvisation had always been a large part of jazz, but this kind of preplanned, unrehearsed spontaneity was relatively new in 1959 and the end results were wondrous. None of the musicians knew exactly what the other would do, and that energy sparked a series of performances that still crackle with vitality. Not only that, but the musicians were working at such a high level that there still are little revelations — not only in the solos, but the support — on the hundredth listen.
Few albums of any genre manage to work on so many different levels, but Kind of Blue does. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced mu sic that is extraordinarily acceptable and enjoyable. It may be a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz — but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection.
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A Masterpiece Review ofKind Of Blue [Remastered] - Miles Davisby
WrexhamAFC
Advantages: It's Miles Davis at his best Disadvantages: Not long enough?
The blurb on the back of this CD claims that K.O.B. is a “defining moment of 20th century music”… and they’re damn right it is. The Sony Music 1997 version has 5 tracks on it ( 6 actually, but the extra is an alternative version of the Flamenco Sketches – Trk. 5) – and they are 5 of the most amazing jazz pieces in history. The way Miles Davis’ trumpet, John Coltrane’s tenor sax, and Julian Adderley, smooth together is an amazing feat of improvisation ... ...why every one should have this album. If you only have one jazz album – have this masterpiece. It is hard to explain how well it works – but the musicians pick up a general riff , and improvise around it. The result is classic stuff.
It begins with possibly the most famous jazz pieces – “So What” , and goes on to a more harsh “Freddie Freeloader” – the sax. taking most of the improv. in these two tracks. There is then the shorter “Blue in Green” ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Outstanding music from outstanding musicians Disadvantages: None
In Kind of Blue, Miles Davis created a timeless album which epitomised the period of 'cool jazz' between bebop and fusion. The personnel list is impressive - Cannonball Adderly on alto and Coltrane on tenor were also in extremely productive periods at the time, and their solos on Kind of Blue, especially the two alternate Flamenco Sketches takes, are great examples of their styles, which both contrast and complement the other's. Although "So What" ... ...stand to listen to Kind of Blue (just as he couldn't listen to any of his old works), complaining that it was "too slow" and that he sounded like he was playing underwater. For the rest of us, Kind of Blue remains one of the most listenable jazz albums ever. ...
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05.06.2001
Quick review of Kind Of Blue [Remastered] - Miles Davis Review ofKind Of Blue [Remastered] - Miles Davisby
DavidElvy
This amazing cd including 'So What' will lead you into a world that fills your head.
Probably the best thing Miles Davis did and he was the king amongst kings. An A list of musicians recording the ultimate jam session. If you like jazz you will play this time after time. It is a must have that transcends generations. The vitality the verve the sheer brilliance and musical talent can only be appreciated by listening to the mastery of this cd
Buy it you'll love it. You will find pleasure int the rhythms floating through your head when you least expect them. It will bring joy
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Virtuoso trumpet at its best Disadvantages: Only the re-released version has the sound quality it deserves
...record shop. I spotted "A Kind Blue" and instantly withdrew my wallet and the CD was mine. As readers you will probably like to know about the music is like! Well simply it is divine, some find Miles Davis's music too intense and muddled, but it takes either an uninterested listener to ignore this or a fascinated listener to understand and appreciate it, I hope that the buyer will lean towards the latter of these two opposites. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Label / Distributor: Sony Jazz / Sony Music/Arvato Services
Engineer: Fred Plaut; Robert Waller
Producer: Irving Townsend
Pieces in Set: 1
Studio / Live: Studio
Stereo: Stereo
Format: Performer
EAN: 74646493526
Catalogue Number: CK 64935
Additional notes
Album Notes: This is a multi-channel Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums). Producer: Irving Townshend. Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York, New York on March 2 & April 22, 1959. Includes liner notes by Robert Palmer and Bill Evans. 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 fulfillment of this approach, with Miles providing his collaborators little more than outlines for melodies and simple scales for improvisation. By emphasizing 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 recognized 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 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 the smoothest, 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.
Album Reviews: Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Q (4/99, p.129) - Included in Q's list of "The Best Jazz Albums of All Time." Q (3/95, p.116) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "Widely considered the greatest album in jazz history, Miles Davis' 1959 masterpiece is a collection of exquisitely melodic and deceptively simple modern jazz..." JazzTimes (8/97, p.106) - "...The absolutely beautiful Coltrane solo on the `Flamenco Sketches' alternate is alone worth the price....The restoration of the sound to the correct pitch makes enough of a difference to recommend repurchasing this classic even without the jazz track of the year aboard..." Down Beat (1959) - "This is a remarkable album. Using very simple but effective devices, Miles has constructed an album of extreme beauty and sensitivity. This is not to say that this LP is a simple one--far from it. What is remarkable is that the men have done so much with the stark, skeltal material.
Titles on disc 1
1.: So What
2.: Freddie Freeloader
3.: Blue In Green
4.: All Blues
5.: Flamenco Sketches
6.: Flamenco Sketches (alt. take)
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