Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is a studio album recorded by jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis on March 2 and April 22, 1959 and released that year by Columbia Records.
Recorded in the modal jazz genre, Kind of Blue, which Davis recorded as a means of moving away from the bebop style he had played in since early in his career, is considered by music critics to be the greatest jazz album ever recorded, one of the best albums of all time and a masterpiece for Davis, as well as being highly influential on the jazz, rock and classical music genres. Kind of Blue was Davis' first album to be recorded entirely in modal jazz, though he had played in that genre previously on some tracks on his 1958 albums Milestones, Porgy and Bess and the '58 Sessions. Davis and his sidemen recorded the album with very little rehearsal, with Davis only giving each musician sketches of scales and melody lines to improvise on, as well as being given brief instructions for each piece they were to play. Of the five tracks recorded for the album, only "Flamenco Sketches" produced a complete take on its first try.
Kind of Blue has been reissued multiple times over the years, in the vinyl (in stereo and in mono), four-track open-reel tape, cassette tape, compact disc and digital download formats. It was selected by the Library of Congress in 2002 for preservation in the National Recording Registry, was ranked #12 on the 500 greatest albums of all time list by Rolling Stone magazine, and was certified 5x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2019.
Track listing
Side one
| Track # | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "So What" | Miles Davis | 9:22 |
| 2 | "Freddie Freeloader" | Davis | 9:34 |
| 3 | "Blue in Green" | Davis, Bill Evans | 5:27 |
Side two
| Track # | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "All Blues" | Davis | 11:33 |
| 2 | "Flamenco Sketches" | Davis, Evans | 9:26 |
Personnel
- Miles Davis - trumpet
- Cannonball Adderley - alto saxophone (except on "Blue in Green")
- John Coltrane - tenor saxophone
- Bill Evans - piano (except on "Freddie Freeloader")
- Wynton Kelly - piano (on "Freddie Freeloader")
- Paul Chambers - double bass
- Jimmy Cobb - drums
External links
- Kind of Blue review on AllMusic
