Is Kind of Blue the Best Jazz Album Ever

Wow, I thought this thread was dead. Far from it.

Coltrane1 thanks...

The point of this thread was never to try and claim that KOB was the absolute best. Rather, my point was that given that it was the most sold Jazz album and it can often be heard on tv or radio, it is widely recognized* by the ignorant pop music listner as the sound of Jazz.

*Let my qualify "recognized"
By recognized I do not mean that the ignorant person who hears it playing would say "Hey it's Miles, Coltrane and Company playing So What" like they would say "Hey that's Lady Gaga singing Poker Face, that's hot!". What I mean, is that if I invited this person over to listen to my system and put on the record they would say "hey that some really cool Jazz". Whereas if I put Jack deJohnette's Special Edition they would say "What is this noise! why do you still listen to records? haven't you heard of MP3, don't you have an I-pod, can I plug mine in I have the latest "37Cents", and turn up the volume and the bass..."
I digress but you get my point.

The sound of KOB is seductive and draws listners from almost any backround or preference. Clearly there are many jazz albums that are ground breaking and great in their own right "Time out" comes to mind and several others have been mentioned in this thread. But I don't believe that any of these have the same reach as KOB.

An anecdote to further support my point. My mother in law recently purchased a best of Miles Davis CD after seeing the Miles Davis exhibit at the Montreal Museum of fines arts. During Thanksgiving I was over at the in-laws and the CD was playing in the Kitchen as we were preparing the food, the track playing was "Call It Anything" from the Isle of Wight festival, which I love but it's Free Jazz and comes across as noise to most people specially when its played on a clock radio. So I asked my dear Mother in Law, Do you like this? to which she answered "No! its noise I just like the first few tracks" (refering to tracks from KOB and Sketches of Spain).

What was my point?

O yeah, my Mother in Law likes KOB, therefore it must be the best Jazz album ever...

Well any thread with the phrase KOB in the title is worth a looksee! ;^)

kind of blue is a really good album, no doubt. but if i were to pick a best album i would say that it was "working with the miles davis quintet" which was pretty much a quintessential be-bop jazz album. and with songs like "half nelson", "four" and "trane's blues", what a great album!

Some have said KOB appeals to people with only a casual interest in jazz. Completely true, hence its huge numbers. Much of its brilliance, though, is that it equally rewards just about every level of sophistication. It's brilliant technically, compositionally, as an ensemble (or ensembles), individual performances, harmonically, its atmosphere, etc.

Some days it's Waltz for Debbie, or Night Dreamer, or Love Supreme, or Moanin, or Tomorrow is the Question, or (lately) Holland's Conference of the Birds. But if I happen to hear any piece of KOB anywhere I am (usually Pandora-ing somewhere) I have to stop still and listen. It's a magical record.

I believe that Kind of Blue is an album that will live eternally. It will still be as relevant 50 years from now, 150 years from now as it was 50 years ago. I think it will never age. As much as I think DSotM still holds up today I'm not sure how well it will 50 years from now. I think KoB transcends jazz and time. So do I think Kind of Blue is the best jazz album of all time? No and yes. It's also the best musical album of all time. IMHO