Kind of Blue: Part 2

In my last post I introduced Miles Davis' seminal album, Kind of Blue, and provided some back ground regarding how the album came to be made and why it was (and remains) so important. In this post I am going to provide material that will give a more in-depth analysis of the album.

A good starting place is Ashly Kahn's Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. Kahn has methodically dissected not only the album, but the entire session. If the book piques your interest, but you want more information about it, this interview of the author by Jerry Jazz Musician may answer any questions you may have about the book. Another fascinating article giving some background on the book is Kahn's Jazz Times article, Kind of Blue Clues.

If you have no time or patience for reading the book, you can get a good sense of the session from this excellent radio interview:

Another perspective is given in this talk by bassist Marcus Miller, who thoroughly digs into parts of the album. Miller's [musical] relationship to Miles, as well as his blood relationship with Wynton Kelly (pianist on the Freddie Freeloader track) is also revealed in this presentation:

I'll wrap this up in my next post, which will provide background on Miles, plus additional information about Jimmy Cobb who was the drummer on the album.