Kind of Blue: Part 1

1959, the year that changed jazz, was the topic of the past post. This and the next two posts will discuss one of the four albums that changed jazz: Kind of Blue. Why would one album merit three posts? First, it is the biggest selling jazz album ... ever! Second, it was such a game changer that more has been written about it than the other three 1959 albums combined.

Let's start the journey with a video on the making of Kind of Blue:

Here is an even more in-depth look at the making of the album:

Kind of Blue Made in Heaven Part 1


Part 2

Part 3

In the next post, I'll provide an even deeper look at the album.

1959: The Year that Changed Jazz

This is one of a series of posts that will focus on 1959 and the four albums released in that pivotal year that changed jazz. The albums are:

1. Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet
2. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
3. Ah Um by Charles Mingus
4. The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman

I'll discuss each of these albums in subsequent posts (with an emphasis on Kind of Blue.) For now, though, this documentary on 1959 will provide background information that will put these albums into their proper historical context.

For the more academically inclined, Gregg Gelb's 1959 Jazz: A Historical Study and Analysis of Jazz and Its Artists and Recordings in 1959 is a fascinating and insightful paper. The next post will focus on the best selling jazz album of all time: Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

Some fun

Just for fun, after listening to Impressions on the album, Al Jazzbo Collins: The Ultimate Collection I decided to gather some examples of the musicians cited (Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton and Terry Gibbs.)

Here is Red Norvo:

Milt Jackson

Lionel Hampton

Terry Gibbs (with the equally great Terry Pollard on both piano and vibes)

A bonus clip of Terry Gibbs, accompanied by Dinah Washington who surprised him and the rest of the band when she joined on on his vibraphone solo (that is Max Roach with the bemused look)

Back to Al Jazzbo Collins: The Ultimate Collection. What a great compilation of the best work of Collins who was the hippest DJ in the San Francisco Bay Area. Or anywhere, for that matter.

This album contains all of Collins' hip fairy tales, but also a collection of great jazz (he was, after all, a jazz DJ.) Some of the music tracks are taken from performances where he was the master of ceremonies, such as "Impressions" - the inspiration for this post - where Don Elliot mimics some of jazz's best vibraphonists, lampooning Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton and Terry Gibbs. I would give anything to see the video of that performance because the audience laughs in places that can only be because of on-stage antics. Regardless, the impressions are spot on and, well, the whole thing was hip.

Another gem is on the track titled "Foolin' Around" where Collins introduces Coleman Hawkins at some jazz festival and convinces Hawk to play some warm-up exercises so the audience can hear his tone with no other instruments. Such a serious moment on the album underscores how eclectic this compilation is - and how enjoyable.The real hip stuff, though, comes in his fairly tales (some have Steve Allen on piano), and even the "Bridal Chorus", which was meant to be a serious song, but is the hippest tune ever for taking that walk down the aisle. Actually, it is more like a shotgun wedding. How hip can that be? Enjoy ...