#31 Miles Davis, 'Kind of Blue' (1959)

Previously #12

This is one of my all-time favourite records. This is album that I always recommend to people looking to dip their toe into Jazz. It’s widely regarded as the highest-selling Jazz release of all-time, and for good reason, it’s just so good. It’s intelligent, it’s easy to listen to and it’s timeless. At the same time, the music transports you to a smoky New York bar at the end of the ‘50s. An important time in music, and indeed history, people started thinking differently at the end of the ‘50s, towards the ‘60s. Rock ‘n Roll had just exploded and for the first time in history teenagers were dictating trends and leading the fore. Music had become incredibly important both as a means of protest and socialisation.

Davis’s influence, and the influence of this record, spreads beyond the Jazz world. Duane Allman cited this record as an influence on his solos on ‘In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed,’ Rick Wright, from Pink Floyd, has said that that this record influenced songs such as ‘Breathe’ on ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ and Quincy Jones claims to play this record every day. The sidemen on this album all went on to have successful solo careers; Julian “Cannonball” Adderly, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, all giants of the Jazz world. I’ve listened to this record start to finish so many times. I know each note off by heart, yet I never tire of it. For me, this is the epitome of Jazz.

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