It's a totally cliche recommendation EXCEPT
There's a reason why it is widely considered one of the best jazz albums ever recorded
and has been certified 5X platinum (which is probably many multiples more than its next jazz competitor).
It is just jaw droppingly great.
Davis is joined here by saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderly (legends both), pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Miles led many great ensembles but that's pretty much like having the jazz hall of fame in your band. I think I've probably listened to this album all the way through like a thousand times and I still find new things to pick out every time it spins.
All the more amazing when you consider that Davis was basically creating a whole new jazz form here ('modal jazz' vs. bebop which was the mode du jour), the album was recorded to three track in just two sessions on two different days in 1959 and that the musicians had almost no rehearsal prior to these sessions -- Davis had given them only sketches of scales and melody lines around which the band improvised. "Flamenco Sketches" is actually a first take.
Apr 21, 2024
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miles davis. kind of blue is perfect music. blue moods, sketches of spain, workin, relaxinâ, ESP, and birth of the cool also all great. he didnât miss much
john coltrane. of course a love supreme. but ballads, giant steps, africa/brass, crescent, blue trane, soul trane, and coltraneâs sound all great too
Jul 6, 2024
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first one to come to mind. but also all of kind of blue album is so iconic and smooth
Feb 8, 2024
Nov 1, 2024
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Hey tyler hopefully this doesnât violate some PI.FYI golden rule
But after nearly two years of writing, editing and arguing, my book about the EP is coming out in May and can be preordered here:
https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/
The book is about the origins, history and cultural impact of the EP since these little objects first started coming out in the 50s.
Over 50 of my music biz friends then helped me shape the list and review the top 200 ever released, according to us (ha).
For those of you who are into this kind of geekery/snobbery, I canât wait to hear what you think. A labor of love, as all books are! â€ïž
Mar 27, 2024
âSongs Of a Lost Worldâ coming to a goth listening station near you Nov 1 đ€
The fr FW Me Friday the 13th the world was looking for
Sep 14, 2024
I will fail to explain just how much this band meant to me in the 90s.
So I will borrow from AV Club who did a fine job of distilling it:
âUnwound is the best band of the â90s. Not just because of how prolific, consistent, and uncompromising it was, but because of how perfectly Unwound nested in a unique space between some of the most vital forms of music that decade: punk, post-rock, indie rock, post-hardcore, slow-core, and experimental noise. That jumble of subgenres doesnât say much; in fact, it falls far short of what Unwound truly synthesized and stood for. Unwound stood for Unwound. But in a decade where most bands were either stridently earnest or stridently ironic, Unwound wasnât stridently anything. It was only itself. In one sense Unwound was the quietest band of the â90s, skulking around like a nerdy terror cell. In another sense it was the loudest, sculpting raw noise into contorted visions of inner turmoil and frustration.â
R.I.P. Vern Rumsey.
This is their finest song, from their finest album.
I really canât say enough about the sheer bloody minded genius of this group. đ€
Mar 23, 2024