Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is truly a legacy recording. Miles , Trane , Chambers , Adderly , Cobb.
Cats so good at their craft that one name was enough. Incredible melodies and solos.
Hearing them talk in the studio was just that little inside view to a great new world.
In college, as a trumpet player, I was asked to pick a solo section from this CD and scat it against the record.
When you study even a little piece of the phrasing and structure of a Miles solo it’s a whole course unto itself. My connection to this record has stayed with me ever since.
NJ
Honestly, I came to this album later in life. I really wish someone I respected had hipped me to this much, much earlier. In my opinion, this album is perfect in every way. Great songs, great players, great recording. Just amazing. You have legendary players at the top of their game completely giving it all to the song.
Every single guy on this album could shred for days, and yet no one did. Everyone knew their part and played it to perfection. A great example of this is “Blue in Green” where Jimmy Cobb’s brush work on the snare is beyond compare. Paul Chamber’s upright playing is spectacular and nuanced in a way only a master of his craft could actualize.
Throughout the album, Bill Evans is focused, adding exactly what is needed yet leaving room for everyone else. Then you have Cannonball, Coltrane and Miles. Not much to be said about those guys that hasn’t already been said. Masters of their craft at the peak of their talents.
If you are so inclined, listen to the final cut on the remastered version, Flamenco Sketches (Alternate Take). That’s what music was made to do.