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John Coltrane Side Steps [Box]
Liner Note Authors: Ira Gitler; Nat Hentoff; Michael Gold; Joe Goldberg; Ashley Kahn.
Photographers: Don Schlitten; Esmond Edwards.
In just over a decade, John Coltrane passed through three (some would say four) distinct artistic phases, basically separated by which label he was signed to at the time. In only two years on Atlantic, he catapulted hard bop forward, imported influences from Indian and North African music, and worked with Ornette Coleman's backing band. Upon signing to Impulse! in 1961, he began a six-year stretch of relentlessly experimental studio work, with his "classic quartet" and numerous other musicians including Eric Dolphy, Rashied Ali, Pharoah Sanders, and his second wife, Alice. But his early recordings, made for the Prestige label between 1955 and 1957, are both voluminous and revelatory. SIDE STEPS is the third and final box in a series that has separated Coltrane's work for the label into albums on which he was the leader, albums recorded with him as part of a larger group (the "Prestige All-Stars"), and discs on which he was a mere sideman. (The albums he recorded with the Miles Davis Quintet have their own box.)
The five discs of SIDE STEPS contain 43 tracks originally released under the leadership of players like Elmo Hope, Tadd Dameron, Mal Waldron, Red Garland, and Gene Ammons, plus "Tenor Madness," the saxophonist's lone in-studio encounter with Sonny Rollins, and all find Coltrane playing his part, never truly dominating the proceedings but always stepping up when his moment comes. In the mid-'50s, Coltrane had yet to develop the "sheets of sound" technique of worrying away endlessly at a chord; instead, his solos hold to a bluesy, bop-derived style, with a rich command of the horn's full range, though he tends to keep himself in the lower to middle register. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige Records, tended to book "blowing sessions" rather than let artists come up with an album's worth of solid new material that would work as a cohesive artistic statement, and he always attempted to get as much material as possible from a single studio date, so there are a lot of standards on these discs, and relatively few originals (by the leaders or the sidemen). Also, many of the performances are quite lengthy, with ten of them passing the ten-minute mark and "All Mornin' Long," on which Coltrane and Donald Byrd augment Red Garland's trio, coming in at a staggering (for 1957) 20:17. But everything here is worth hearing, and the detailed liner notes--which include an interview with Weinstock as well as session notes and the usual other stuff--add value to a terrific box, one that easily stands up alongside its two companions and Rhino/Atlantic's gathering of the Atlantic years, THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.
In just over a decade, John Coltrane passed through three (some would say four) distinct artistic phases, basically separated by which label he was signed to at the time. In only two years on Atlantic, he catapulted hard bop forward, imported influences from Indian and North African music, and worked with Ornette Coleman's backing band. Upon signing to Impulse! in 1961, he began a six-year stretch of relentlessly experimental studio work, with his "classic quartet" and numerous other musicians including Eric Dolphy, Rashied Ali, Pharoah Sanders, and his second wife, Alice. But his early recordings, made for the Prestige label between 1955 and 1957, are both voluminous and revelatory. Side Steps is the third and final box in a series that has separated Coltrane's work for the label into albums on which he was the leader, albums recorded with him as part of a larger group (the "Prestige All-Stars"), and discs on which he was a mere sideman. (The albums he recorded with the Miles Davis Quintet have their own box.) The five discs of Side Steps contain 43 tracks originally released under the leadership of players like Elmo Hope, Tadd Dameron, Mal Waldron, Red Garland, and Gene Ammons, plus "Tenor Madness," the saxophonist's lone in-studio encounter with Sonny Rollins, and all find Coltrane playing his part, never truly dominating proceedings but always stepping up when his moment comes. In the mid-'50s, Coltrane had yet to develop the "sheets of sound" technique of worrying away endlessly at a chord; instead, his solos hold to a bluesy, bop-derived style, with a rich command of the horn's full range, though he tends to keep himself in the lower to middle register. Bob Weinstock, owner of Prestige Records, tended to book "blowing sessions" rather than let artists come up with an album's worth of solid new material that would work as a cohesive artistic statement, and he always attempted to get as much material as possible from a single studio date, so there are a lot of standards on these discs, and relatively few originals (by the leaders or the sidemen). Also, many of the performances are quite lengthy, with ten of them passing the ten-minute mark and "All Mornin' Long," on which Coltrane and Donald Byrd augment Red Garland's trio, coming in at a staggering (for 1957) 20:17. But everything here is worth hearing, and the detailed liner notes -- which include an interview with Weinstock as well as session notes and the usual other stuff -- add value to a terrific box, one that easily stands up alongside its two companions and Rhino/Atlantic's gathering of the Atlantic years, The Heavyweight Champion. ~ Phil Freeman
5 CD SET

ON SALE! $ 59.98 $ 54.98 buy

Ella Fitzgerald Twelve Nights In Hollywood [11/10]
And those twelve nights would be the ten Ella spent during her extended 1961 engagement at Los Angeles’ Crescendo Club, and her two-night return engagement the following year, the fruits of which are housed within this 4-CD set, which features 77 performances, 73 of which are *completely unreleased*! These are the same shows from which Ella’s hit album 'Ella in Hollywood' was drawn, so you know the sound quality and caliber of performance are purely top-shelf. Features first-time live recordings of several songs, plus versions of songs she had not yet recorded and old chestnuts revisited in a fresh way, including 'But Not for Me; Nice Work If You Can Get It; Perdido; How High the Moon; When Your Lover Has Gone', and more. Comes with extensive liner notes, detailed song annotations, rare photos and album cover art by Hall of Fame illustrator Bart Forbes. It’s an Ella event!
4 CD SET

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Dave Brubeck Quartet Time Out (50th Anniversary Edition) [Digipak]
Dave Brubeck Quartet: Dave Brubeck (piano); Paul Desmond (alto saxophone); Eugene Wright (bass); Joe Morello (drums).
Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York, New York on June 25, July 1 & August 18, 1959. Includes liner notes by Dave Brubeck and Steve Race.
Dave Brubeck Quartet: Dave Brubeck (piano); Paul Desmond (alto saxophone); Eugene Wright (double bass, upright bass); Joe Morello (drums).
Audio Mixer: Mark Wilder.
Audio Remasterer: Mark Wilder.
Liner Note Author: Ted Gioia.
Dave Brubeck's TIME OUT ranks alongside Miles Davis' KIND OF BLUE as one of the few advanced jazz masterpieces to achieve great commercial success. In fact, the widespread popularity of TIME OUT, with its cool-toned ambience, smooth style, and elements borrowed from classical music, helped make modern jazz a mainstream phenomenon.
The ubiquitous "Take Five" may be overplayed, but that doesn't diminish the joy of its complex melodic hooks, its perfectly executed solos, or the swinging slink of its 5/4 signature. "Blue Rondo a la Turk" collages Mozart, cool swing, and Brubeck's own classically oriented piano style, and the airy, delicate "Everybody's Jumpin'" showcases the lyrical splendor of saxophonist Paul Desmond. With bassist Gene Wright and drummer Joe Morello keeping the tricky rhythms agile and swift, the Dave Brubeck Quartet blended complexity and accessibility for pure jazz pleasure on TIME OUT, an album everyone should own.
Dave Brubeck's defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history, the first to consciously explore time signatures outside of the standard 4/4 beat or 3/4 waltz time. It was a risky move -- Brubeck's record company wasn't keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz's rhythmic foundation. But for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics. Buoyed by a hit single in altoist Paul Desmond's ubiquitous "Take Five," Time Out became an unexpectedly huge success, and still ranks as one of the most popular jazz albums ever. That's a testament to Brubeck and Desmond's abilities as composers, because Time Out is full of challenges both subtle and overt -- it's just that they're not jarring. Brubeck's classic "Blue Rondo … la Turk" blends jazz with classical form and Turkish folk rhythms, while "Take Five," despite its overexposure, really is a masterpiece; listen to how well Desmond's solo phrasing fits the 5/4 meter, and how much Joe Morello's drum solo bends time without getting lost. The other selections are richly melodic as well, and even when the meters are even, the group sets up shifting polyrhythmic counterpoints that nod to African and Eastern musics. Some have come to disdain Time Out as it's become increasingly synonymous with upscale coffeehouse ambience, but as someone once said of Shakespeare, it's really very good in spite of the people who like it. It doesn't just sound sophisticated -- it really is sophisticated music, which lends itself to cerebral appreciation, yet never stops swinging. Countless other musicians built on its pioneering experiments, yet it's amazingly accessible for all its advanced thinking, a rare feat in any art form. This belongs in even the most rudimentary jazz collection. ~ Steve Huey
2 CD/1 DVD

$ 18.98 buy

Miles Davis Sketches Of Spain (50th Anniversary Edition) [Digipak]
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Janet Putnam (harp); Harold Feldman (flute, clarinet, oboe); Eddie Caine (flute, flugelhorn); Albert Block (flute); Danny Bank (bass clarinet); Romeo Penque (oboe); Jack Knitzer (bassoon); Louis Mucci, Ernie Royal, Johnny Coles, Taft Jordan, Bernie Glow (trumpet); Tony Miranda, Joe Singer, John Barrows, James Buffington, Earl Chapin (French horn); Dick Hixon, Frank Rehak (trombone); Jimmy McAllister, Billy Barber (tuba); Paul Chambers (upright bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums); Elvin Jones, Jose Mangual (percussion); Gil Evans.
Audio Remasterer: Mark Wilder.
Liner Note Authors: Gunther Schuller; Richard Seidel.
Arranger: Gil Evans.
Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a fl�gelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis' control over his instrument is singular, and Evans' conducting is flawless. Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis' career, and the album's closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz. ~ Thom Jurek
The crown jewel of the epic Evans/Davis triptych that began with MILES AHEAD and PORGY AND BESS, SKETCHES OF SPAIN is as emotionally compelling as any performance in the trumpeter's remarkable body of works. Combining as it does the emotional gravity of two cultures--the deep song of flamenco music and the rich lament of the blues--SKETCHES OF SPAIN is a musical hybrid of enormous power and beauty. Gil Evans' immense canvas of orchestral colors inspires some of Davis' most deeply felt solo flights. He paints vast vistas of velvety, shimmering night sounds, and through it all runs the mountainous backbone of Spain's native rhythms and chants.
The centerpiece of SKETCHES OF SPAIN is the Evans/Davis treatment of the second movement of Rodrigo's "Concierto De Aranjuez." Evans' charts engage Davis in a shifting, insistent dialogue, italicizing the trumpeter's subtle variations and timbral ecstasies with magnificent orchestral flourishes. The surreal patina of three flutes and harp, high muted trumpets and woodwinds, and subterranean trombones, French horns and tuba that define one of the main variations on the theme, is a majestic foil for Davis' expressive tones.
Gil Evans liked to say that after Louis Armstrong, no one had affected the sound of the trumpet like Miles Davis. Miles fashioned a vibrato-less, introspective brass cry, made all the more lovely by his lush use of the middle and lower registers. Davis' manipulation of pitch on "Saeta" and "Solea" is so idiomatic, so vocalized, so full of revel and lament, it pierces your heart with heroic resignation and longing. SKETCHES OF SPAIN stands alone as one of the pillars of modern music.
2 CD SET

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Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Um (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition) [Digipak]
This remastered edition of MINGUS AH UM features six of the original tracks in unedited form and three bonus tracks.
Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano, bass); John Handy (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Shafi Hadi (alto & tenor saxophones); Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis (trombone); Horace Parlan (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums).
Producer: Teo Macero.
Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.
Recorded at 30th Street Studio, New York, New York on May 5 & 12, 1959. Includes liner notes by Diane Dorr-Dorynek and Brian Priestley.
Digitally remastered using 20-bit technology by Mark Wilder and Rob Schwarz (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
This is a Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players.
This remastered edition of MINGUS AH UM features six of the original tracks in unedited form and three bonus tracks.
Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano, bass); John Handy (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Shafi Hadi (alto & tenor saxophones); Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis (trombone); Horace Parlan (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums).
Producer: Teo Macero.
Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.
Recorded at 30th Street Studio, New York, New York on May 5 & 12, 1959. Includes liner notes by Diane Dorr-Dorynek and Brian Priestley.
Personnel: Charles Mingus (piano, bass instrument, upright bass); Seymour Barab, Maurice Brown (cello); Jerome Richardson (flute, baritone saxophone); John Handy (clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Shafi Hadi (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Benny Golson, Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone); Richard Gene Williams , Don Ellis (trumpet); Jimmy Knepper, Willie Dennis (trombone); Horace Parlan, Roland Hanna (piano); Teddy Charles (vibraphone); Dannie Richmond (drums).
Audio Remixer: Mark Wilder.
Charles Mingus' debut for Columbia, Mingus Ah Um is a stunning summation of the bassist's talents and probably the best reference point for beginners. While there's also a strong case for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady as his best work overall, it lacks Ah Um's immediate accessibility and brilliantly sculpted individual tunes. Mingus' compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith on Mingus Ah Um. The band includes longtime Mingus stalwarts already well versed in his music, like saxophonists John Handy, Shafi Hadi, and Booker Ervin; trombonists Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis; pianist Horace Parlan; and drummer Dannie Richmond. Their razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus' greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions. At least three became instant classics, starting with the irrepressible spiritual exuberance of signature tune "Better Get It in Your Soul," taken in a hard-charging 6/8 and punctuated by joyous gospel shouts. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a slow, graceful elegy for Lester Young, who died not long before the sessions. The sharply contrasting "Fables of Faubus" is a savage mockery of segregationist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, portrayed musically as a bumbling vaudeville clown (the scathing lyrics, censored by skittish executives, can be heard on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus). The underrated "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is bursting with aggressive swing, and elsewhere there are tributes to Mingus' three most revered influences: "Open Letter to Duke" is a suite of three tunes; "Bird Calls" is inspired by Charlie Parker; and "Jelly Roll" is an idiosyncratic yet affectionate nod to jazz's first great composer, Jelly Roll Morton. It simply isn't possible to single out one Mingus album as definitive, but Mingus Ah Um comes the closest. ~ Steve Huey
One of the five essential Mingus albums to own, and even if you are not a jazz fan this is still worthy of being in any comprehensive collection. The opening track, "Better Git It In Your Soul," rushes along at a furious pace and then there is a wonderful change of tempo into an a cappella and handclap pause. It rolls on, of course, but the nature of this track reflects the nature of Mingus who never failed to experiment (even though sometimes he failed). The personnel comprises John Handy III, Shafi Hadi and Booker Ervin (saxophones), Horace Parlan Jr (piano), Willie Dennis and James Knepper (trombones) and Charles Richmond (drums). Mingus whoops, shouts and holds it all together and then turns the pace majestically on numbers such as "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.
2 CD SET

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John Coltrane The Impulse! Albums, Vol. 3 [Box]
The third volume documenting the work John Coltrane released on Impulse! collects albums from the mid to late-1960s. While detractors accused Coltrane of playing "anti-jazz" during this late phase, the perspective provided by both time and box sets like THE IMPULSE! ALBUMS VOL. 3 reminds the world that Coltrane was making some of his most adventurous and important music on THE JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET PLAYS, ASCENSION, NEW THING AT NEWPORT, KULU SE MAMA, and MEDITATIONS.
When listened to chronologically, these albums represent a staggeringly rapid development. From his last effort with his classic quartet (THE JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET PLAYS) through the fiery, free improvisations on ASCENSION and the multiphonic experimentation of MEDITATIONS, Coltrane experimented with world music, free rhythm, repetition, and bracing avant garde in various settings (including big bands and duos). It's difficult to overstate the achievement of these albums, or their beauty.
Packaged together in this five-disc box set as part of Verve's excellent Originals series, these titles represent a little over half of the studio sides that John Coltrane and his quartet, as well as his sextet, cut in 1965, between February and November. While it's true that many musicians recorded often during the '50s and '60s -- recorded sessions paid as well or better than gigs for sidemen anyway -- when given the range of expression and growth found here, this is an astonishing accomplishment, especially given the consistent quality of the music. These dates include, in order of recording dates: The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Chim Chim Cheree, Song of Praise, Nature Boy, Braziliana, Kulu S‚ Mama, Ascension, New Thing at Newport (a split album with the Archie Shepp quartet), and Meditations with Pharoah Sanders and Rashied Ali added to the ranks of the 'Trane, with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones' quartet. If you have these recordings already, these masters are superior to anything issued in the United States before, if you don't, and are interested in Coltrane's music you need them -- especially for the super budget price tag. ~ Thom Jurek
5 CD SET

ON SALE! $ 49.98 $ 44.98 buy

Miles Davis Kind Of Blue (Legacy Edition) [Digipak]
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (alto saxophone); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans (piano); Paul Chambers (upright bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums).
Audio Remasterer: Maria Triana.
Audio Remixer: Mark Wilder.
Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace -- each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It's the pinnacle of modal jazz -- tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band -- Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb -- one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. 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 before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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.
2 CD SET

ON SALE! $ 19.98 $ 17.98 buy

Miles Davis Kind Of Blue (50th Anniversary Collector's Edition) [Box]
The most well known, beloved, and bestselling jazz album of all time celebrates its 50th anniversary with a lavishly packaged collector's edition. It's widely agreed that Miles Davis reached a paragon of expression with KIND OF BLUE, and that the recording, which includes historic performances by Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley, captures the essence of modern jazz. The 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR'S EDITION comes in a gatefold folder that holds an LP pressed on blue vinyl, a CD of the album that includes previously unreleased tracks, a bonus DVD, a hardback book, a memorabilia envelope, and a fold-out poster. The package is a must for Miles fanatics and marks the historical and musical importance of KIND OF BLUE in the manner it deserves.
Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans (piano); Paul Chambers (upright bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums).
Audio Remixer: Mark Wilder.
Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace -- each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It's the pinnacle of modal jazz -- tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band -- Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb -- one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. 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 before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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.
2 CD / 1 DVD / 1 LP / BOOK / POSTER

ON SALE! $ 99.98 $ 84.98 buy