Kind of Blue
Miles Davis
One year into this project, I’ve finally added a jazz record to the list 🎉. I studied and played jazz in college but never listened to jazz albums in a focused way like the others I’ve blogged about. However, I read How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioia earlier this year in preparation for addressing this, and I am happy to have put what I learned into practice.
Everything has already been said about Kind of Blue, but below are a few thoughts I had about the album.
- “Blue in Green” and “Flamenco Sketches” are my favorite tracks, which is a bit surprising as I was never a big fan of playing ballads and slower-tempo tunes. They’re great examples of modal jazz opening and directing the player towards melody. In particular, I love all the solos on “Flamenco Sketches”––they’re so melodic and textural.
- I love Evans’ playing all around, especially the textures and colors he makes with clusters. I’m drawn to his comping on “So What,” especially during Coltrane’s solo.
- I liked how the interludes in “All Blues” add space––they’re probably necessary to cool the track down.
I found Jeff Antoniuk’s guided listening videos on YouTube incredibly useful while listening to this album, and they explained some things I wouldn’t have picked up on (e.g., the metric modulations during the solos on “Blue in Green”).