Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Kind of Blue
Year: 1959
I'm going to keep this one brief. Kind of Blue is an amazing album. I have listened to this a hundred times or more over the years, and like a fine wine, it just gets better with age.
I can't really even explain what I like so much about it, but I'll try.
The songs start off ridiculously simply. A chord or two to set it up. The chords establish what mode the song will follow. Then a soloist will riff on the mode and the other musicians follow the lead of the soloist (who is free to try virtually anything within the mode but is simultaneously restricted to only that mode) before another soloist takes it over and the pattern continues. It sounds complicated in theory, but when you're listening to it, you don't think about it at all, you're just thinking about how mellow it sounds and letting the music wash over you. Listen to "So What" or the absolutely haunting and beautiful "Flamenco Sketches" to see what I mean.
Plus, the set of performers on this album is a veritable who's who of significant jazz performers of the time. There's Miles on trumpet of course, but also John Coltrane on tenor sax, Bill Evans on piano, and Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, to name a few. Coltrane would go on to use some similar ideas (in a different way) on A Love Supreme in the mid 60's.
The best thing about this album is that it's one of those sorts of albums that gives back as much as you are willing to put in. You can have it on in the background and enjoy it perfectly fine, but if you are willing to listen more closely, you begin to discover more and more nuances every time. If you haven't heard this before, what are you waiting for?
Rating: Indispensable
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