Kind of Blue: История легендарного джазового альбома Майлса Дэвиса.

Kind of Blue is a studio album by the American jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis. It was released on August17,1959 through Columbia Records. For the recording, Davis led a sextet featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, with new band pianist Wynton Kelly appearing on one track – "Freddie Freeloader" – in place of Evans. The recording took place on March2 and April22,1959 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City. Influenced in part by Evans, who had joined the ensemble in 1958, Davis departed further from his early hard bop style in favor of greater experimentation with musical modes, as on his previous album Milestones (1958). Basing Kind of Blue entirely on modality, he gave each performer a set of scales that encompassed the parameters of their improvisation and style, and consequently more creative freedom with melodies; Coltrane later expanded on this modal approach in his own solo career. Kind of Blue is regarded by many critics as Davis's masterpiece, the greatest jazz album ever recorded, and one of the best albums of all time. Its impact on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres, has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever made. The LP was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress for the inaugural year of the National Recording Registry, and in 2003 it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2019, Kind of Blue was certified 5× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of at least five million copies in the United States.

By late 1958, trumpeter Miles Davis employed one of the most acclaimed and profitable hard bop bands. Bassist Paul Chambers had been with the band from its beginning in 1955; alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley joined in late 1957, and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane returned in early 1958. and pianist Wynton Kelly replaced Bill Evans in November 1958. Davis was one of many jazz musicians growing dissatisfied with bebop, however, and saw its increasingly complex chord changes as hindering creativity. In 1953, the pianist George Russell published his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, which offered an alternative to improvisation based on chords. Abandoning the traditional major and minor key relationships, his concept introduced the idea of chord/scale unity and was the first theory to explore the vertical relationship between chords and scales. These insights helped lead the way to modal jazz. Influenced by Russell's ideas, Davis implemented his first modal composition with the title track of his studio album Milestones (1958). Satisfied with the results, Davis prepared an entire album based on modality.

Kind of Blue was recorded on three track tape in two sessions at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio in New York City. On March 2, 1959, the tracks "So What", "Freddie Freeloader", and "Blue in Green" were recorded for side one of the original LP, and on April 22 the tracks "All Blues" and "Flamenco Sketches" were recorded, making up side two. Pianist Wynton Kelly may not have been happy to see the man he replaced, Bill Evans, back in his old seat. Perhaps to assuage the pianist's feelings, Davis had Kelly play instead of Evans on the album's most blues oriented number, "Freddie Freeloader".

Kind of Blue was produced by Columbia staff producer Irving Townsend. However, over the years there has been confusion, with Davis's subsequent producer Teo Macero getting partial or full credit. "In the case of Kind of Blue there were two producers: Teo Macero and Irving Townsend", said jazz historian Eric Nisenson. "Macero's role, however, was clearly that of an apprentice and observer." The recording session was also cited by Nisenson as Macero's first experience with "the highs and lows of working with Miles." From Macero's own recollection, his involvement in the recording included "box[ing] everyone in so that there would be a physical closeness among the musicians, not like today when the musicians are spread all over the place." According to High Fidelity, "though his role in Kind of Blue has been disputed", the recording was "made under the auspices" of Macero. However, it is Townsend's voice heard on the session tapes, who became Davis's producer after the departures of George Avakian and Cal Lampley. Macero did not produce Davis until after Townsend took over West Coast production duties for Columbia Records, when Macero took his place. The first release with a producer credit was the 1987 CD, which credited only Macero. However, this was in error; Macero only produced that reissue, not the sessions for the original album. but the subsequent 1997, 1999, 2004, 2008, and 2015 reissues all correctly credit only Townsend.

Kind of Blue is based entirely on modality, diverging from Davis's earlier hard bop style of jazz with its complex chord progression and improvisation. The entire album was a series of modal sketches, with each performer given a set of scales that encompassed the parameters of their improvisation and style. This recording style contrasted with the typical preparation of providing musicians with the complete score or, for improvisational jazz, providing the musicians with a chord progression or series of harmonies. Evans continued with an introduction concerning the modes used in each composition on the album. "So What" consists of two modes: sixteen measures of the first, followed by eight measures of the second, and then eight again of the first. Bill Evans assumed co credit with Davis for "Blue in Green" when recording it on his Portrait in Jazz album and the Davis estate acknowledged Evans' authorship in 2002.

Since its release on August 17, 1959, Kind of Blue has been regarded by critics as Davis's greatest work. It is his most acclaimed album, and became, along with Davis's 1970 album Bitches Brew, his best selling record, cementing him as one of the most successful jazz artists in history. Music writer Chris Morris cited Kind of Blue as "the distillation of Davis's art." Cobb said the album "must have been made in heaven". Kind of Blue has been lauded as one of the most influential albums in the history of jazz. One reviewer has called it a "defining moment of twentieth century music". Several of the songs from the album have become jazz standards. Kind of Blue is consistently ranked among the greatest albums of all time. In a review of the album, AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated:

Quote|Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue possess such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It's the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. It may be a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz — but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection. Though Davis and Coleman both offered alternatives to the rigid rules of bebop, Davis would never reconcile himself to Coleman's free jazz innovations, although he would incorporate musicians amenable to Coleman's ideas with his great quintet of the mid 1960s, and offer his own version of "free" playing with his jazz fusion outfits in the 1970s. The influence of Kind of Blue did build, and all of the sidemen from the album went on to achieve success on their own. Evans formed his influential jazz trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian; "Cannonball" Adderley fronted popular bands with his brother Nat; Kelly, Chambers and Cobb continued as a touring unit, recording under Kelly's name as well as in support of Coltrane and Wes Montgomery, among others; and Coltrane went on to become one of the most revered and innovative of all jazz musicians. Even more than Davis, Coltrane took the modal approach and ran with it during his career as a leader in the 1960s, leavening his music with Coleman's ideas as the decade progressed. Kind of Blue has appeared on professional listings of the greatest albums. In 1994, it was ranked number one in Colin Larkin's Top 100 Jazz Albums. Larkin described it as "the greatest jazz album in the world". In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen for the very first year of induction by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In selecting the album as number 12 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, Rolling Stone magazine stated: "This painterly masterpiece is one of the most important, influential and popular albums in jazz". The rating descended to number 31 in Rolling Stone's revised list in 2020. On December 16, 2009, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of Kind of Blue and "reaffirming jazz as a national treasure". It is included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, described by reviewer Seth Jacobson as "a genre defining moment in twentieth century music, period" It was voted number 14 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings lists the album as part of its suggested "core collection", and also awards it a crown, indicating a recording of particular merit. In 2019, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album five times platinum, indicating five million units recorded there. Many improvisatory rock musicians of the 1960s referred to Kind of Blue for inspiration, along with other Davis albums, as well as Coltrane's modal records My Favorite Things (1961) and A Love Supreme (1965). Guitarist Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band said his soloing on songs such as "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," "comes from Miles and Coltrane, and particularly Kind of Blue. I've listened to that album so many times that for the past couple of years, I haven't hardly listened to anything else." Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright said that the chord progressions on the album influenced the structure of the introductory chords to the song "Breathe" on the album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). In his book Kind of Blue: The Making of a Miles Davis Masterpiece, writer Ashley Kahn wrote "still acknowledged as the height of hip, four decades after it was recorded, Kind of Blue is the premier album of its era, jazz or otherwise. Its vapory piano introduction is universally recognized". Producer Quincy Jones, one of Davis's longtime friends, wrote: "That [Kind of Blue] will always be my music, man. I play Kind of Blue every day—it's my orange juice. It still sounds like it was made yesterday". Gary Burton, of Berklee College of Music, noted the consistent innovation present throughout the album, stating: "It wasn't just one tune that was a breakthrough, it was the whole record. When new jazz styles come along, the first few attempts to do it are usually kind of shaky. Early Charlie Parker records were like this. But with Kind of Blue [the sextet] all sound like they're fully into it." Along with Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959) and Coltrane's Giant Steps (1960), Kind of Blue has often been recommended by music writers as an introductory jazz album, for similar reasons: the music on both records is very melodic, and the relaxed quality of the songs makes the improvisation easy for listeners to follow, without sacrificing artistry or experimentation. Upon the release of the 50th anniversary collector's edition of the album, a columnist for All About Jazz stated "Kind of Blue" heralded the arrival of a revolutionary new American music, a post bebop modal jazz structured around simple scales and melodic improvisation. Trumpeter/band leader/composer Miles Davis assembled a sextet of legendary players to create a sublime atmospheric masterpiece. Fifty years after its release, Kind of Blue continues to transport listeners to a realm all its own while inspiring musicians to create to new sounds—from acoustic jazz to post modern ambient—in every genre imaginable." Renowned hip hop artist and rapper Q Tip reaffirmed the album's reputation and influence when discussing the significance of Kind of Blue, stating "It's like the Bible—you just have one in your house." The singer Bilal names it among his 25 favorite albums and "an important record" for him. The 2014 album Blue by Mostly Other People Do the Killing is a note for note reproduction of Kind of Blue. The Kind of Blue musicians appeared together in further recorded ventures through the 1960s. Davis had made a rare post 1953 sideman appearance in 1958 on Adderley's Somethin' Else album; Evans and Adderley collaborated on the latter's LP Know What I Mean? from 1961. Kelly and Chambers backed Hank Mobley on Soul Station in 1960, and Evans and Chambers played on the sessions for The Blues and the Abstract Truth by Oliver Nelson in 1961. The rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb backed Coltrane for Coltrane Jazz and one track on his landmark Giant Steps, which featured Chambers throughout. That trio stayed with Davis for the recordings Someday My Prince Will Come and the live sets at the Blackhawk and at Carnegie Hall.

Late in his life, from the electric period on, Davis repeatedly disregarded his earlier work, such as the music of Birth of the Cool or Kind of Blue. In Davis's view, remaining static stylistically was the wrong option. When Shirley Horn insisted, in 1990, that Davis reconsider playing the gentle ballads and modal tunes of his Kind of Blue period, he demurred: "Nah, it hurts my lip."