He felt Kind of Blue and made the record that’s by Miles, one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.

Kind of Blue (Jazz Album)
By: Miles Davis
Publisher: New York: Columbia/Legacy, 1997
Call No.: RAV Other 781.65 DAV
For Reference Only
Location: Music Village, library@esplanade

Each and every one of us, we all believe we know which is the best, be it the best film, the best restaurant, the best book to read on a lazy Thursday afternoon. Like the immaculate ladies and gentlemen we are (Ed: We are? ), most every time, we politely agree to disagree. But sometimes, maybe just that one time, the choice is so clear that there is really only one bet where we all happily lay our chips on. Each and every one of us.

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music tells us as it is:

Advocates from the many corners of jazz will argue their points, some with bigoted passion and self righteousness — a trait that has been known to follow some jazz buffs. When you find jazzers, rock and popular music followers unanimously united over one record, then you know something must be right.

This album contains only five tracks, with musicians Julian Adderly (alto), John Coltrane (tenor), Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), James Cobb (drums) and Miles on trumpet. It is played with absolute cool perfection, not a drop of sweat or cigarette ash. There can be no debate, this is the greatest jazz album in the world ever; so what, just accept it (Kind of Blue ).

Work Cited

Kind of Blue. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Ed. Colin Larkin. London; New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 1998.

Feeling in the mood for more?

Every masterpiece has a story to tell and here is a selected list of titles to help tell the story — the story of Miles Davis, the story of Kind of Blue.

* All blurbs taken from items’ back covers.

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (Score)
By: Miles Davis
Publisher: Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 2001
Call No.: 788.92165 DAV
Location: Music Village, library@esplanade

Blurb:
“It’s about time we had study scores for small group jazz, and what better place to start than this beloved and influential album? Put on the recording, take out the score, and you’ll learn a lot and hear things you hadn’t noticed before.”

— Lewis Porter, Director of the MA in Jazz History and Research, Rutgers University at Newark

Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece
Author: Ashley Kahn
Publisher: London: Granta, 2001
Call No.: 782.42165 KAH
Location: Music Village, library@esplanade

Blurb:
“This fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of a masterpiece . . . only enhances the pleasure of the music itself.”

– People

The Making of Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and his Masterpiece
Author: Eric Nisenson
Publisher: New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000
Call No.: RART 781.650266 NIS
For Reference Only
Location: Arts Central, library@esplanade

Blurb:
“Eric Nisenson turns Kind of Blue into a story that tells us much about what great jazz is and can be. It’s worth reading just for the stories of how one of the greatest albums of all time came into being, but it offers so much more — a low-key but superb education in the way jazz is made and how it comes to mean the things it does.”

— Dave Marsh, Playboy pop critic and editor of Rock and Rap Confidential

Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography
Author: Ian Carr
Publisher: New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1999
Call No.: RART 788.92165092 CAR
For Reference Only
Location: Arts Central, library@esplanade

Blurb:
“The most complete portrait of Davis that we have had — He knows his music and his Miles.”

— The New York Times book review