Black History Music Pt. 10
In celebration of Black History Month, the Ear Candy Update intends to celebrate landmark recordings by black artists that have shaped the collective consciousness, mentality, and sense of cool the world over. Next, Miles Davis' “Kind of Blue.”
I can and have exhausted my vocabulary of superlatives for the Mighty Miles, so I will say this: Miles Davis was simultaneously the Frank Sinatra of jazz, the Beatles of jazz, and the Jimi Hendrix of jazz and sometimes all within the same year.
His career lasted 50 years, and he was the vanguard for every stylistic change in a truly unique American art form for nearly half a century. It can be argued jazz stopped evolving with his death in 1991. In my mind, he's the most important instrumentalist of the 20th Century. When he found his stride with "'Round About Midnight" in 1957 he tapped into a richer, primal sense of purpose. He released six records in 1957 alone, many of which are considered essentials of the era. 1958 would see him release three more. He added four full-lengths in 1959. That's 13 records in three years, ten of which are five-star records.
In August of '59 Miles uncorked "Kind of Blue." Debates will rage about the greatest of this and that and whom and whatever. I don't care about GOATs. What is understood is that "Kind of Blue" is a universally acknowledged standard of greatness. Here's why:
This is modal jazz, meaning tonality and solos are built from chords themselves and not the overall key, which means this music can turn and shift subtly. This album is jazz Zen embracing wholly the principle of "Less is more."
The band itself is one of the greatest collections of talent in the jazz world.
According to the original liner notes written by Evans, the band had no idea what the plan was. They walked into the studio and Miles laid out the themes and chords. Then they improvised it all. They made it up on the fly, just because they fucking could. With that in mind, the common understanding is that one must do a thing for 10,000 hours to develop true mastery of any particular discipline. There are also various types of intelligence; bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, logical/mathematical, and musical, among others. The highest level of intelligence at any level is an improvised success. In other words, the ability to make it us as you go and win. With "Kind of Blue" you have seven genuine masters with world-class leadership just making shit up and it's flawless.
A great musician knows when to let the air play the song, meaning sometimes one just needs to hit the right note and let it linger in the air. The notes on this album will linger long after you're done listening. They will hover and dance and play with the shafts of light in your room. The music will fill you with longing for a thing you remember and a thing you haven't yet understood. It speaks for the ineffable in all of us.
His career lasted 50 years, and he was the vanguard for every stylistic change in a truly unique American art form for nearly half a century. It can be argued jazz stopped evolving with his death in 1991. In my mind, he's the most important instrumentalist of the 20th Century. When he found his stride with "'Round About Midnight" in 1957 he tapped into a richer, primal sense of purpose. He released six records in 1957 alone, many of which are considered essentials of the era. 1958 would see him release three more. He added four full-lengths in 1959. That's 13 records in three years, ten of which are five-star records.
In August of '59 Miles uncorked "Kind of Blue." Debates will rage about the greatest of this and that and whom and whatever. I don't care about GOATs. What is understood is that "Kind of Blue" is a universally acknowledged standard of greatness. Here's why:
This is modal jazz, meaning tonality and solos are built from chords themselves and not the overall key, which means this music can turn and shift subtly. This album is jazz Zen embracing wholly the principle of "Less is more."
The band itself is one of the greatest collections of talent in the jazz world.
- Cannonball Adderly - alto sax
- Paul Chambers - bass, double bass
- Jimmy Cobb - drums
- John Coltrane - tenor sax
- Bill Evans - piano
- Wynton Kelly - piano (on Freddie Freeloader)
- Miles - trumpet (no shit)
According to the original liner notes written by Evans, the band had no idea what the plan was. They walked into the studio and Miles laid out the themes and chords. Then they improvised it all. They made it up on the fly, just because they fucking could. With that in mind, the common understanding is that one must do a thing for 10,000 hours to develop true mastery of any particular discipline. There are also various types of intelligence; bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, logical/mathematical, and musical, among others. The highest level of intelligence at any level is an improvised success. In other words, the ability to make it us as you go and win. With "Kind of Blue" you have seven genuine masters with world-class leadership just making shit up and it's flawless.
A great musician knows when to let the air play the song, meaning sometimes one just needs to hit the right note and let it linger in the air. The notes on this album will linger long after you're done listening. They will hover and dance and play with the shafts of light in your room. The music will fill you with longing for a thing you remember and a thing you haven't yet understood. It speaks for the ineffable in all of us.
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