Customer Reviews

Kind Of Blue [Vinyl]

5 star:		(5)
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Admit it, you've heard of this album, even if you're not a jazz fan. And why not? It's certainly THE Miles Davis album to own - if you're only to have one, make it this. It's arguably my favorite jazz album, rivaled only by Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Coltrane himself plays on this album, and his playing alone makes this an essential album. Than again, so does everything about the album: Miles' most famous song is found here, the bluesy So What, a longtime favorite of mine. You've probably heard all about the well-known modal melody and bass-piano tradeoff during the beginning, but my favorite part is Cannonball Adderly's sax solo, which makes excellent use of trills, giving it an almost Medieval sound. Following it up is Freddie Freeloader, which takes a similar melody and emphasizes the blues element of the song: Wynton Kelly does a great job at the keys. The third and final blues song is All Blues, a demonstration of the awesome chemistry between the group's horn section of Miles, Trane, and Cannonball.
Then there are your ballads, both total classics in their own right: Blue in Green (penned by pianist Bill Evans, the only song not by Miles) is a lovely, restrained song: Cannonball takes a break, Miles plays a wonderful muted trumpet solo; Coltrane does his usual "restrained emotion" thing; Evans (who gets in a short but amazing piano solo near the end), Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb provide a restrained but tight rhythm section. Lastly comes Flamenco Sketches, in truth the weakest song on this album - but I'd still rate it five stars, which says a lot about what we're dealing with here. It's actually modal free jazz in a way, since it contains no melody and allows Miles, Trane, Cannonball and Evans to improvise over a simple bass vamp and quiet drum part.
What more can I say? It's Kind of Blue. It's a legendary album. If you don't have it, you're really missing something.

for people who have a spark of curiosity about the legendary music of Miles Davis, knowing where to begin the search can be a frustrating issue. with a back catalogue as vast as a small continent, figuring out where to start and where to go can be tricky. especially considering the many phases of Miles' long and adventerous career. he spawned many folowers and imitators and made many enemies along the way. a larger than life figure who would dominate the jazz scene for decades and whose music still holds power and brilliance even to this day. Personally, i have been such a big John Coltrane fan for so many years, that i somehow blindly overlooked Miles Davis' recorded output for a long time. it's just been in the past 4 years or so that i have gotten the opportunity to dig into Miles' absolutely stunning and quite frankly, overwhelming music. whereas Coltrane was the master of melody, Miles is the master of the mood. a true genius whose musical impact and influence is felt even stronger today than it was when he was alive.

Kind Of Blue is not just a landmark Miles Davis album, but a monumental recording in the history of music. Kind of Blue is the album that most people who don't even like jazz own in their collection. why is that? well, perhaps it's the simple stated themes of quiet beauty that people are drawn into. this is late night early morning jazz. this is reflective music for those quiet moments. it's the kind of jazz that the house band plays as the last set of a long night. it's melodies are deep and shaded with dark hues and tones. the sound weaves a mysterious web that draws the listener in and reveals a whole new phrasing with each listen. that's part of the genius appeal of Miles Davis. his music is a sketch of an idea. the players fill in some of the blanks with their own ideas and thoughts, but alot is left open wide for the listener to dive right in and allow their own imaginations to explore the audio space. Kind Of Blue is a hauntingly good album and a classic piece of exquisite brilliance in motion.

This album was my introduction to Miles. Subsequently I've gone on to become a great admirer of his second quintet (see Nefertiti and Miles in the Sky) and his fusion period (In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew and On the Corner), however there is no substitute for this album. The band is exceptional featuring not only Miles himself but also John Coltrane (tenor sax) and Bill Evans (piano). This album revolutionized jazz by focusing on the lyrical possibilities of modal scales. The result of the shift is some of the most heartfelt and emotional music I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. So What and Flamenco Sketches are standouts, but there is no dismissing the genius of the rest of this album. A must for any Miles fan and a great introduction for anyone looking into exploring Miles Davis.

Everyone will tell you if you only ever buy one jazz album in your life, it should be "Kind of Blue." There is a reason why this seminal collection of musical improvisations from 1959 still sounds fresh through the decades whilst most popular music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s has become dated and forgotten. When you hear KOB you'll probably recognise most of it because these numbers have been played endlessly in a thousand places all over the world for 50 years and in countless movie soundtracks, and they never age.

The musicians Miles assembled around him for these sessions were all at the top of their game: Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly on piano, "Cannonball" Adderley and John Coltrane on saxes, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Davis used simple modal scales to define to the musicians the limits within which they could improvise, instead of more standard harmonic structure with chord progressions. This gives the album a loose, relaxed and super-cool feel, yet the music is complex enough to hold the listener's interest even after hearing it hundreds of times. It's one of those rare triumphs of musical genius where everything came together to produce something sublime and special. Listen and you will immediately "get it."

So, yet another five-star review for "Kind of Blue." If you don't have it, then buy it. It's the essence of cool. It's great. It's timeless. It won't sit in your CD rack: it will be played, often and forever.

music is a great kind of art everyone can enjoy it eaven without any kind of school. and everyone that eaven withou know nothing listen kind of blue say good god this is music! . everyone not only jazz's critics. so this is music. the best music from61'.