Kind of Blue

Boy do I hate reviewing good albums that are generally considered good. I have nothing new to add to this. This is THE jazz album. Even if you've never heard jazz, you've heard of "Kind of Blue". Even if you're a beginner jazz listener, you know of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans, and if you're a pinch more experienced, you know of Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. It's like the 2017 Golden State Warriors of musicians. The album is one of THE albums to put on when it's night. It's one of THE albums to put on when it's day. It's one of THE albums to put on when you're happy, sad, content, when you're studying, when you're chilling.

It's one of THE albums.

So iconic and influential

Jamais écouté avant.

Quelle frustration de sentir confusément qu'on écoute quelque chose de grand, au-delà même de la réputation stellaire de l'album, mais de ne clairement pas avoir les armes pour l'apprécier à sa juste valeur. Après deux écoutes, dont une de nuit plus fructueuse, je perçois l'immense talent des musiciens, la construction d'une structure à travers les improvisations, et j'apprécie l'ambiance mélancolique et contenue de l'ensemble, qui rend l'écoute agréable, quoique flirtant avec l'ennui (sans jamais y tomber vraiment). J'ai bien conscience que le plus gros de l'album m'a échappé, et j'espère pouvoir y revenir après avoir été plus exposé au jazz, et que le génie de Miles Davis m'appartient enfin évident.

Top : So What
Flop : All Blues

Arguably the pinnacle of popular music? The standard of excellence for jazz that has never been topped.

"So What" is endlessly endearing and feels like a cool refreshing breeze. "Freddie Freeloader" shuffles along like a city stroll, broken up by beautiful solos from Davis, Coltrane, and Adderley respectively. "Blue in Green" is basically the darkly-lit jazz club staple- so moody and tranquil.

"All Blues" is the most melody-driven track on the record with some of the smoothest drumming laid down on a jazz record by Jimmy Cobb. "Flamenco" makes for a melancholy closer, but still warm and beautiful nonetheless.

Jazz!!

OK, it's the jazz album for non-jazz fans, but it still is sublime. So much understated wonder.

5 stars and not even Miles' best.

One of the defining albums of my life. A cornerstone, not just of jazz, but all of modern music. When Coltrane is a sideman, it’s special.

What is it about Miles Davis that is extremely overrated? And before you say I'm giving it a good rating, my excuse is that for a 4 average rating, I should have been blown away, and I wasn't. It was very calming and pleasing compared to what jazz normally is, but it still wasn't amazing enough for me to see all the hype.

Miles Davis has absolutely perfected his craft by the time Kind of Blue swings round. Backed by a talented but very traditional collective of musicians, his trumpeting adds every bit of spice you'll hear across the LP. I've heard this album a few times and I can still never quite anticipate where he is going or what he is going to do. Davis' performance is antithetical to everything around him, yet exactly right at the same time. Surprising, yet sympathetic. Its compelling, though in my opinion not quite as explosive as some of his later work. Having said that, I imagine that it sounded pretty radical when compared typical 1950s jazz.

Awesome and chill background music!!

I consider jazz a relaxing type of music, and the base layer of this (with the piano and drums keeping the beat) was. However, the trumpet and saxophone add an extra layer that makes this album a lot more interesting.

This is the one Jazz album I actually own. It remains effortlessly cool and is a great way still to kick back and chill.

This always struck me as such an interesting album to become THE jazz album. Like, 4.05 on a website that generally hates jazz. It’s incredible, but come on. THIS blew you away and Brilliant Corners didn’t? It’s not even the best Miles Davis album! It’s not even top 3! The top 3 is Jack Johnson, Get Up With It, and In A Silent Way! It’s only top 4 because the last track of Bitches Brew is an obvious disappointment. Anyway, enough disparagement of this album and let’s talk about why it’s also one of the best albums ever made.

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis is a jazz album, and it’s kind of THE jazz album. Not in the sense that it’s the most popular, or the most influential, though I’m pretty sure it’s at least one of those, but because it gives you the perfect introduction to the path to being a true jazz fan. You can’t listen to Coleman first in the same way you can’t study Pollock before you study Picasso. And Kind of Blue is like Davis’s version of the Blue Period - incredible, emotional, influential, yet very conventional, especially compared to both artists’ later work. “Get Up With It,” as was aforementioned, would be like Davis’s “Guernica,” violent and all-encompassing, scary even. But the songs. What do the songs do? Well, they do a lot of things. “So What” is a standard whose level of icon is matched only by that of “Giant Steps” or “Girl From Ipanema.” Each solo is incredible, and the sequencing of the solos is executed very well, particularly with the transition from the trumpet to the saxophone solo, not just because it is a hand off from one essential jazz deity to the next, but the contrasting timbres and general vibes of each instrument give the saxophone solo an incredible amount of panache, panache that the instantly recognizable trumpet solo does not need; it’s the first trumpet solo of the first song of KIND OF BLUE BY MILES DAVIS. It doesn’t need shit to be iconic. Anyway, “Freddie Freeloader” is stunning, such an interesting musical refrain, and the first piano solo of the album. “Blue in Green” is both dazzlingly and startlingly peaceful, a mesmerizing number with one of the best trumpet solos of the whole album. Opening up the B-side, however, is the best song on this album in my opinion. When you get to a point in musical obsession, “All Blues” is one of the best things to listen to, because the intrigue of the modal changes, the texture of the piano, the use of the brass, the eleven minutes it lasts… it’s basically a better version of your average prog-rock song, except for it’s better than most prog songs anyway. It’s an attractive, attractive piece. Closing the album out is the sentimental-sounding, nocturnal “Flamenco Sketches,” centering around the gentle notes of the bass, and expanding via the ginger playing of the drums and the outstanding piano playing. Its yearning, and its emotionality make it a truly astounding closer.

Well, the album changed music forever, didn’t it? Though other albums are comparable to it in quality, few achieve the level of pure resounding icon that this album does. And few artists ever will achieve something a fraction as great as this monolith of music.
9.8/10

I honestly can't get enough of Kind of Blue, it never gets old. Whether I've got it on as background noise while I'm working or I'm actually sitting down to focus on it, the vibe is always perfect. It’s got this super sophisticated, effortless cool that pulls you right in, even if you’re not really a jazz person. It’s like the instruments are just hanging out and having a conversation, leaving everyone enough room to breathe without getting in each other's way.

At the end of the day, it's just peak jazz from Davis with some legendary help from John Coltrane. It’s mellow, perfectly put together, and packed with emotion from start to finish. It’s a total masterpiece, and I know I’ll be spinning this one for the rest of my life.

I need more listens to really grow with this, it's good though!!

It’s jazz *shrug*

I have probably listened to this more than all but 5 others in my collection. Perfect - from the otherworldly piano to Miles sweet and raspy style. Beautiful, touching, playful, and played by jazzbos at their peak. I mean COME ON man, you have Coltrane AND Cannonball Adderly, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb all in the same room. All at their peak. Compositionally groundbreaking, Kind of Blue sets the tone for Jazz forever after. You can not overstate how important this album is. If I could own a single album, it might be this one. Needs more stars than 5.

Throwback to GCSE music when All Blues was on the syllabus. John Coltrane almost upstages Miles on this album!

Favorite track(s): So What, Blue in Green, Flamenco Sketches

I'll always prefer fusion Miles to this but I came around to it more.

Heard before
Previous rating: 7/10

I honestly don't know how to rate this. I just don't think I get it.