Customer Reviews

Kind Of Blue

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have been waiting with great anticipation for the release of this set. Sony has done a very fine job of the book, the photographs, the CD and the poster. The LP is pressed in clear blue plastic and the mastering is very good. But the pressing is atrociously bad and noisy. Rather shoddy for the price if you compare it with the Blue Note 45 RPM issues by Music Matters. The surface has bubbles that produce distortions and clicks. A lot of collectors will be after the LP rather than the CD and Sony should have done a better job. What a shame!
Amazon.ca has been great in replacing my first set which I mailed back, with another in a matter of days, but the second set has arrive with a gouge in the slipcase and the same problem with the LP. I was told that another replacement could not be sent and I would get full refund. I would have to order another one which I have done in the hope that this one will be OK. I hope someone in Sony marketing reads this and tries to improve the product. The LP is what collectors will want, and one that should be of a very good quality. Who cares about the CD? Well not me and most serious jazz collectors who will buy this set.
To be fair, I will review the third set when I receive it for this is the jazz LP that I want to take to the other side when I die!
jazzwallah

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 posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace -- each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. 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. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band -- Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb -- one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily enjoyable. 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.

The cd's don't have cases. They are slipped half way into cardboard, and all three cd's have lines carved into the reading surface. The dvd has two parts mainly : a documentary on Kind of blue (at the beginning ; and the live shooting of The Sound of Miles Davis in 1959 (at the end). The dvd is so damaged that my dvd player can't read the second half. I'm surprised no one has wrote about this, cause every box set must have this problem. The two cd's are damaged in the same way. Too bad the Legacy Edition doesn't contain the dvd... I would've skipped the book etc. So i'll be returning my set. Won't take a chance of loosing money a second time.

This review is for the Vinyl edition - Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue. The quality is so bad, I got it replaced by Amazon 3 times without success: the lp was warped or it had with visible surface defects that result in bad hiss, or in one case both defects were present... In the end I had to I sent it back as this kind of quality is not not acceptable! I realy hope though that there will be a high quality release of this album on vinyl!

This is probably the most revolutionary album in modern jazz, and probably always will be. Miles Davis introduces a new way of improvising, a new way of thinking, and this album will make you find a new way of listening to music.
"So What" is of course a classic. It had a form like no other song at the time. Only two chords: D-7 for 16 bars, Eb-7 for 8 bars, and then 8 bars of D-7 again. No one had done such a thing in jazz before (Coltrane later recorded an up-tempo song with a different melody, but with this very form, called "Impressions"...also worth looking into).
"Freddie Freeloader" is a blues. The melody is played for 24 bars, but what makes this blues different from a normal rock-progression-blues is bar no.11&12. Listen!
Then there is the extremely soft ballad "Blue In Green", which, again has a wierd form; 10 bars that repeat throughout the whole thing with a not-so-logical-but-very-beutiful-chord-progression. It's kind of hard keeping track where the form starts over again, but it doesn't matter when you're listening to musicians like this.
"All Blues", again a classic...well, they all are...this blues is played in 3/4, which hadn't been done a lot in jazz either. Charles Mingus did it in 1959 (the song "Better git it in your soul"), but I don't know if it was Miles or Mingus who first recorded a 3/4-blues. Anyway, they were only a couple of weeks apart (recorded in the same studio)!
"Flamenco Sketches" is a very nice, smooth piece, but rarely played as a cover by other musicians, unlike all the other songs on the album...maybe because it's hard to find it as sheet music, I don't know, and I don't understand why it's never gotten as much attention as the rest of the songs, since it fits in nicely with the feeling of all the other tracks. The bonus track is a second take of the song.
On this album plays (one of my favorite sax-players of all time) John Coltrane, who in 1959, had not YET developed anything revolutionary on his instrument, but still played very nice solos.
Cannonball Adderley plays alto sax. He has a very different way of thinking than Coltrane, when it comes to solo playing. He plays long lines with a lot of variation. Hats off!
Paul Chambers plays bass throughout the record. Listen to the walking bass-line on the first 16 bars of Miles' solo on "So What". Chambers plays a repeated figure with a little variation every time, which sounds like a separate melody underneath the solo; Quite unusual in walking-bass at the time.
I believe this is the first time that Bill Evans recorded with Miles. He was not a very famous piano player at the time, unlike now that he has played on this album. Bill Evans plays on all tracks but "Freddie Freeloader" (Wynton Kelly).
And Miles himself, a genius in modern jazz to say the least...I don't know where I'd start...just listen. Get yourself at least one copy of this album. More highly recommended than any other album by Miles Davis. Now, if you haven't heard this music - do yourself a favour and order this disc. No regrets...

About 6 months ago, I was a newcomer into the ridiculously large realm of Jazz music, and I needed a place to start. So I bought this album hearing from many that it was a classic. Needless to say, they were right!

Miles Davis is a truly amazing trumpet player, and his jazz ensemble doesn't fall short of him either. With people like John Coltrane wailing on sax and Bill Evans' great piano (the first piano break on Freddie Freeloader is my favorite part of the album), its truly a masterpiece. I'll break it down track-by-track.

So What- A good slow piano-bass intro, that eventually moves into an improv section with a catchy tune.

Freddie Freeloader- Almost 12-bar, but jazzed up quite a bit. Just a good swinging song to sit back and relax listening to.

Blue in Green- beautiful horn on this one, whatever it is (I'm not exactly the horn master myself), and good piano playing from Evans. A slow one.

All Blues- A lengthy intro before the improv begins, but nevertheless very good, with a dynamic horn part, sounds like it had a little bit of classical influence.

Flamenco Sketches- A nice closing track, soothing yet articulate, one to fall asleep to.

All in all, this CD has a great song for every kind of mood. And hey, for 10 bucks, its a good price for a classic album you'll treasure for a long time.

I can not say I know anything about Jazz music, although I always loved it due to my parents passion for it, hence I decided to erase my ignorance and start to educate myself about it. So I hinted on this album during the holiday season and ended up getting this as part of my Christmas gift from my father. I wanted this album due to Miles Davis name only. And I was spellbound by it; it's really a breathtaking peace of music. On one hand I was delighted and on the other hand I was upset!! Delighted because I got the chance to listen to this phenomenon, and upset because since I'm going to start my Jazz library I know that anything I listen to after "Kind of Blue" will pale and fade in comparison but I'm sure that the people that I know will also help me on this.

I can listen to "Kind of Blue" over and over and over and not get sick of it. As all the reviewers have stated above and below, it is one of the best if not the best jazz CDs of all time. Rather than repeat the praises of others, I want to say that this album is truly influential for other artist out there and actually puts many records since its time to shame, simply talking recording fidelity here. The actual art contained here has me floored and excited to spend much, much quality time with Miles and friends. Every member of Miles' group is a jazz superstar in his own right. "So What" often gets the most attention, but my favorite chart (of all time, perhaps) is "All Blues". Miles really knows how to create an ambience, and the solos are stunning. "Blue in Green" is also a perfect example of beauty on this album. The only thing I wish different about this song is the length, in fact. It clocks in as the shortest piece on the album, although to make it longer might make it less perfect. The way that Miles can hold a note and make a flub sound like exactly what he meant to do is literally bone chilling. His phrasing is like a ghost that visits the corners of your mind and then moves away just as you are about to grasp it. The alternate take of "Flamenco Sketches" is wonderful and a great bonus in this album.

The music on this is extraordinary, and almost everyone (including none Jazz fans) will love this music the minute they hear it. "Kind of Blue" is a work of art which must be preserved, so that our children and their children will know that beauty did at one time exist in vast amounts and that perhaps they will learn to create it as well. I Highly, highly recommend this!

This is worth getting just to hear the Coltrane that was cut out of the original.No wonder he is considered Saint John Coltrane. Desert island .

This version is apparently of dubious legality, you are better off trying to track down the offical Sony release.

Does anyone know the mastering source for this one?

i'm not a jazz fan, but i seriously love this album just because the mood it brings to me. soothing, easy, and cool.