Kind of Blue

Kind of BlueKind of BlueMiles Davis · 1959 (1959) was recorded almost entirely at sight. MilesMiles Davisマイルス・デイヴィス showed musicians only the skeletal structures beforehand — no one knew what they were playing until the day. Bill EvansBill Evansビル・エヴァンス's liner notes defined how to hear the record.

Wynton KellyWynton Kellyウィントン・ケリー appears on only one track from Kind of BlueKind of BlueMiles Davis · 1959 — 'Freddie Freeloader' — while Bill EvansBill Evansビル・エヴァンス played the rest. Kelly's blues-drenched phrasing offers a vivid contrast to Evans's impressionism, and that single track remains one of his most celebrated performances.

Cannonball AdderleyCannonball Adderleyキャノンボール・アダレイ recalled being shown Miles DavisMiles Davisマイルス・デイヴィス's sketches only on the day of the Kind of BlueKind of BlueMiles Davis · 1959 sessions. His joyous blues sensibility on 'Freddie Freeloader' and 'All Blues' provided a vivid contrast to John ColtraneJohn Coltraneジョン・コルトレーン's introspection.

Paul ChambersPaul Chambersポール・チェンバース was a pioneer of arco (bowed) bass in modern jazz. The famous fourths motif that opens 'So What' on Kind of BlueKind of BlueMiles Davis · 1959 is a brief duet between Chambers and Bill Evans on piano — helping to inaugurate modal jazz when Chambers was just 24.

Jimmy CobbJimmy Cobbジミー・コブ is the sole drummer on Kind of BlueKind of BlueMiles Davis · 1959 (1959), playing all five tracks. Replacing Philly Joe JonesPhilly Joe Jonesフィリー・ジョー・ジョーンズ in the transitional period between Miles's first and second great quintets, he brought a lighter, more swinging approach.

ChambersPaul Chambersポール・チェンバース appears on 14 albums — from 'Round About Midnight'Round About MidnightMiles Davis · 1957 through MilestonesMilestonesMiles Davis · 1958 to Kind of BlueKind of BlueMiles Davis · 1959, the bassist who anchored Miles's late-1950s era.

Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb played as one of the great piano trios. But the bond ran deeper than the bandstand: when Chambers died in 1969, Cobb recalled, Kelly sank into heavy drinking — he had loved Paul — and Kelly himself was gone by 1971.

Coltrane is remembered as a giant, but on this 1959 date he was only a participant on someone else's session. Once his fame grew, the record was reissued as 'Coltrane Time' — a name that had sat in the small print, suddenly promoted to the marquee.

Jimmy Cobb was the newcomer who had just replaced the previous drummer in Miles Davis's sextet. The Kind of Blue (1959) sessions were cut almost live off the sketches, with barely any rehearsal, and the result became the best-selling jazz album of all time.

In 1955, Cannonball Adderley moved to New York only to start a graduate program in music education, not a music career. He sat in at a club one night, the room lit up, and within weeks he had a record deal — cutting his debut album, Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley, before he'd even settled into school.

Kind of Blue is remembered for its pianist's modal chords, but the one blues track was actually played by someone else, Wynton Kelly. That same year, Kelly also turns up on Coltrane's harmonically brutal Giant Steps — not on the punishing title track, but on the album's one quiet ballad, 'Naima.'