Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"

Interesting. In my very limited jazz experience, I don't see it that way. I don't know anything else near as good as KOB. What else do you like better?

bitches brew,but it took me forever to "get it"

Miles is one of the most important musicians of our time. He has performed tirelessly for more than 50 years, forging new directions in the jazz community.

He has received 9 Grammy awards, with 79 of his releases holding top 50 chart positions. When Kind of Blue was released it became one of the cornerstones of Jazz and a requirement for every important jazz collection.

I have thirty one of his albums and two Mosaic Box sets, and this is a tiny fraction of his work. Having said that, "Kind of Blue" is one of my favorites, and one I would never part with.

Realize this piece of music was released in 1959, and here we are at Audiogon, still discussing the creativity, style and recording quality 43 years later.

How many of today's artists do you think will stand up to a half century of listeners changing tastes? Yes, it is a very important piece of music.

Interestingly, Miles was disappointed with Kind of Blue. In his autobiography he writes on page 235: "When I tell people that I missed what I was trying to do on Kind of Blue, that I missed getting the exact sound of the African finger piano up in that sound, they just look at me like I'm crazy. Everyone said that record was a masterpiece -- and I loved it too -- and so they just feel I'm trying to put them on. But that's what I was trying to do on most of that album, particularly on "All Blues" and "So What." I just missed."
Kind of Blue has received so much adulation and airplay that other equally deserving albums might seem neglected by comparison. IMHO, these would include:
Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines, 1928 (Smithsonian)
The Billy Holiday Story, Vol. II (Columbia, 1935-41)
Duke Ellington - 1940 (Smithsonian)
Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian
The Very Best of Bird (The "Dial Sessions")
Bird/The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes)
Dizzy Gillespie: In the Beginning
Thelonious Monk: The Complete Genius
The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. I
Clifford Brown: The Quintet
Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus and More
Miles Davis/Gil Evans - Porgy and Bess
Wes Montgomery: While We're Young
John Coltrane: Giant Steps
The Best of John Coltrane: His Greatest Years
Bill Evans: The Village Vanguard Sessions
Oliver Nelson: The Blues and the Abstract Truth