And now for something completely different. How can I just switch gears and say a few words about what most people regard as the greatest jazz album of all time? Well, here goes nothing...
We've visited Miles in various stages of his career here, from the groundbreaking Birth of the Cool (1949-50) to the groundbreaking in a totally different way Bitches Brew twenty years later. Kind of Blue neatly falls between these two landmark albums and is itself a crossroads album. Bill Evans and John Coltrane (and soon Cannonball Adderley) were getting too strong to be confined to sideman gigs, while the Chambers/Cobb rhythm section was quickly becoming one of the most in-demand pairs in jazz. It is a minor miracle that all these folk could come together in one room, let alone produced the most renowned jazz session in history.
Until the remastered version came along I was a little reluctant to pick this one up. It had more warning labels slapped on it that any album in its right mind should. For one thing, having the words "Previously Recorded Material", though true, should not be the biggest label on the package. Secondly, and less obviously, there were serious pitch problems on earlier editions thanks to sloppy mastering or something, so this version fixed that.
This album routinely nets the #1 spot on any best jazz albums list. Although the usual cries of "overrated" accompany this, they aren't nearly as loud as other "cliche" best albums in other genres. Sadly, everyone from these sessions except for drummer Jimmy Cobb, has passed away, a couple not long after the album was recorded, others much later. Of course this is a 55 year old album and nobody lives forever, so I guess I shouldn't be getting all weepy about it.
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