I have a meeting this morning in Brentwood (Tennessee Baptist's 'Holy City'), so today's post will have to be a short one.
On this day (August 17th) in 1959, American musician Miles Davis released the much acclaimed and best selling jazz recording of all time, Kind of Blue (Kind of Red was an embarrassment, Kind of Yellow suggested cowardice, and Kind of Black was simply... inaccurate).
Columbia House released both a mono and stereo (quite a departure from the 'norm' since many jazz musicians are known for low fidelity at high frequency) version of the album .. which was recorded in only two sessions.
Davis called for almost no rehearsal on this project and the musicians had little idea what they were to record when they arrived (like choir members who show up on Sunday morning after missing Wednesday night).
Kind of Blue's influence has reached beyond jazz as rock and classical musicians have been influenced by this recording (which critics have called one of the most influential albums of all time).
Congratulations on a job well done, Miles.
Which reminds me... I have several miles to drive and a meeting to attend.
That makes me... kind of blue.
"Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses." - Ezekiel 23:6
2 comments:
Ya know, that album was originally recorded at the wrong speed. So, if you wanted to play along, you had to get out of tune. They've fixed it on the newer CD releases. Its one of those albums that never gets old. I mean, yeah, there's Miles, but throw in Coltrane and Cannonball... its pretty much perfect. That band basically defined jazz in that period. Anything with those 3 hornmen together is nothing less than a masterpiece.
Neat article. I love jazz music and did not know this. Also, the color blue suits you. I didn't know you had such a NOSE for jazz. ;)
Post a Comment