MILES DAVIS – Kind of Blue
Green Corner 100891
Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley (alto saxophone); Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums)
Recorded
So much has been written about this album since it release more than fifty years ago, that you may be forgiven for wondering why further commentary would be considered necessary. After all such an important and revered recording is surely in the collection of anyone and everyone purporting to have an interest in post war jazz?
Repeated listening to this album over nearly thirty years, for this listener, the joy and wonderment of the music never ceases to capture and hold my attention irrespective of how well I think I might know the music. So many memorable moments, the moody introspective introduction to ‘So What’ followed by the call and response of bass and horns and Jimmy Cobb’s cymbal crash that launches Miles into his solo. Ask me why I like jazz and my answer can be heard in the nine and half minutes it takes to listen to this track. Not to forget the classic ‘All Blues’, or the achingly beautiful ‘Flamenco Sketches’, with incredible solos that convey so much in such a deceptive manner.
So who then is this reissue aimed at if, as we seem to have established, that every self respecting jazz fan already owns at least one copy of the album? Well, there are some who do not (yet) regard themselves as jazz buffs who may wish to hear the album, and one such person was a colleague at work who expressed an interest in the jazz that he had heard, but did not know how to take a casual acquaintance with the music further. As it happened I had this review copy with me, and my colleague Ben Calverley took it home for a listen. When returning the album he admitted to liking the music very much, and as someone new to the music and hearing this classic album for the first time I asked Ben if he would mind putting his thoughts about what he had heard ‘down on paper’, and these are his impressions on hearing Kind of Blue for the first time:
“When it comes to music I have often been foolish. As a boy music released before I was born was of no interest to me. It was boring and so very dull. Buddy Holly was someone my grandad listened to and that music was so old and dated how could it possibly be relevant to a hip and happening guy like myself? Luckily with age comes wisdom and my mind was opened to the wonders of classic rock and roll. With jazz I had similar feelings. Jazz was just old guys blowing on trumpets what could it possibly offer to a 21st century digital boy like myself? Well quite a lot I must say.
Miles Davis. John Coltrane. Bill Evans. These were names I knew but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about them and I couldn’t tell a trombone from a Toblerone. Jazz belonged the world of sophisticated men with berets, dark glasses and little pencil moustaches in smoky clubs that thought everything was cool. The thought of trying to engage with the music of the cultural elite was a most daunting prospect but luckily I was set on the right path by when handed a copy of Kind of Blue and was assured it was a good place to start.
Improvisation is a big part of jazz. As someone with no musical ability this was completely mind blowing. Kind of Blue plays in such a natural and free flowing way it’s hard to believe that the band hadn’t had at least a year of constant rehearsal before recording it. Each track is so vibrant and alive you almost feel like you are in the room with Miles and the band as they play. Close your eyes and you’re instantly taken back to a world of musicians who work in perfect synchronicity, a well-oiled machine that can paint on a canvas of sound. This isn’t music it’s a living creature that comes to life with every blow of a trumpet or tinkle of a piano.
This album was recorded in 1959 but it could just have easily been recorded today. It has a timeless quality that lifts it from being tied down to the period it was recorded and allows it to feel as relevant and essential today as it did then and will surely do for many years to come. This is the prefect album to help you take those first steps on the road to a love of jazz and once you’ve reached the end you’ll want to run the rest of the way and see what else jazz has to offer.”
This handsomely packaged 2 CD set comes complete with original liner notes and artwork, and photos from the recording sessions. Disc 1 features the stereo version of the album originally released as Columbia CS8410, and a mono version, Columbia CL1355. Bonus material included has been available on many a reissue of late and features the sextet from 1958, with three tracks originally released as half of the Jazz Tracks album, whilst the mono disc concludes with a ‘So What’ recorded for a TV program at The Robert Herridge Theatre exactly a month after the album version.
Reviewed by Ben Calverley & Nick Lea
N.B. Since hearing Kind of Blue, Ben has immersed himself in the Miles and Coltrane studio recordings between 1955 and 1961, Bill Evans Trio of the late fifties/early sixties (including the trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian), along with the Clark Tracey Quintet, Tina May, saxophonists Tommy Smith, Trish Clowes, and Laura Macdonald, and pianist Geoff Eales among others.
Green Corner 100891
Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley (alto saxophone); Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums)
Recorded
So much has been written about this album since it release more than fifty years ago, that you may be forgiven for wondering why further commentary would be considered necessary. After all such an important and revered recording is surely in the collection of anyone and everyone purporting to have an interest in post war jazz?
Repeated listening to this album over nearly thirty years, for this listener, the joy and wonderment of the music never ceases to capture and hold my attention irrespective of how well I think I might know the music. So many memorable moments, the moody introspective introduction to ‘So What’ followed by the call and response of bass and horns and Jimmy Cobb’s cymbal crash that launches Miles into his solo. Ask me why I like jazz and my answer can be heard in the nine and half minutes it takes to listen to this track. Not to forget the classic ‘All Blues’, or the achingly beautiful ‘Flamenco Sketches’, with incredible solos that convey so much in such a deceptive manner.
So who then is this reissue aimed at if, as we seem to have established, that every self respecting jazz fan already owns at least one copy of the album? Well, there are some who do not (yet) regard themselves as jazz buffs who may wish to hear the album, and one such person was a colleague at work who expressed an interest in the jazz that he had heard, but did not know how to take a casual acquaintance with the music further. As it happened I had this review copy with me, and my colleague Ben Calverley took it home for a listen. When returning the album he admitted to liking the music very much, and as someone new to the music and hearing this classic album for the first time I asked Ben if he would mind putting his thoughts about what he had heard ‘down on paper’, and these are his impressions on hearing Kind of Blue for the first time:
“When it comes to music I have often been foolish. As a boy music released before I was born was of no interest to me. It was boring and so very dull. Buddy Holly was someone my grandad listened to and that music was so old and dated how could it possibly be relevant to a hip and happening guy like myself? Luckily with age comes wisdom and my mind was opened to the wonders of classic rock and roll. With jazz I had similar feelings. Jazz was just old guys blowing on trumpets what could it possibly offer to a 21st century digital boy like myself? Well quite a lot I must say.
Miles Davis. John Coltrane. Bill Evans. These were names I knew but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about them and I couldn’t tell a trombone from a Toblerone. Jazz belonged the world of sophisticated men with berets, dark glasses and little pencil moustaches in smoky clubs that thought everything was cool. The thought of trying to engage with the music of the cultural elite was a most daunting prospect but luckily I was set on the right path by when handed a copy of Kind of Blue and was assured it was a good place to start.
Improvisation is a big part of jazz. As someone with no musical ability this was completely mind blowing. Kind of Blue plays in such a natural and free flowing way it’s hard to believe that the band hadn’t had at least a year of constant rehearsal before recording it. Each track is so vibrant and alive you almost feel like you are in the room with Miles and the band as they play. Close your eyes and you’re instantly taken back to a world of musicians who work in perfect synchronicity, a well-oiled machine that can paint on a canvas of sound. This isn’t music it’s a living creature that comes to life with every blow of a trumpet or tinkle of a piano.
This album was recorded in 1959 but it could just have easily been recorded today. It has a timeless quality that lifts it from being tied down to the period it was recorded and allows it to feel as relevant and essential today as it did then and will surely do for many years to come. This is the prefect album to help you take those first steps on the road to a love of jazz and once you’ve reached the end you’ll want to run the rest of the way and see what else jazz has to offer.”
This handsomely packaged 2 CD set comes complete with original liner notes and artwork, and photos from the recording sessions. Disc 1 features the stereo version of the album originally released as Columbia CS8410, and a mono version, Columbia CL1355. Bonus material included has been available on many a reissue of late and features the sextet from 1958, with three tracks originally released as half of the Jazz Tracks album, whilst the mono disc concludes with a ‘So What’ recorded for a TV program at The Robert Herridge Theatre exactly a month after the album version.
Reviewed by Ben Calverley & Nick Lea
N.B. Since hearing Kind of Blue, Ben has immersed himself in the Miles and Coltrane studio recordings between 1955 and 1961, Bill Evans Trio of the late fifties/early sixties (including the trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian), along with the Clark Tracey Quintet, Tina May, saxophonists Tommy Smith, Trish Clowes, and Laura Macdonald, and pianist Geoff Eales among others.
