When Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans showed up for a Miles Davis recording session on a March morning 50 years ago, they had no idea they’d be making history. Sure, it was a session with the hottest bandleader in jazz at the time, at the studio of the top jazz record label. The sidemen — John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley — were all up-andcoming superstars. Bill Evans had toured with Miles for seven months the previous year, and though he found life on the road to be exhausting and had left the group, he recognized the musicmaking to be at an incredible level. Wynton Kelly was the newest member of the band, having just been hired to replace Red Garland, who was unable to come to grips with a drug habit.
They had to know it was going to be a good session. But they had no idea it would lead to the biggest selling jazz recording of all time, consistently at the top of the charts nearly every year since its release — just recently attaining quadruple platinum status for its 4,000,000th sale. Nor did they have an idea of the impact the recording would have on jazz.
Everyone involved in the sessions for Kind of Blue went on to have a profound effect on the course of jazz, destined to become leaders themselves and influencing legions of younger musicians on their respective instruments. Bassist Paul Chambers, though he passed away too young in 1969, was considered the top player of his era. With Giant Steps and his later, more spiritual works such as A Love Supreme, John Coltrane became one of the greatest of all jazz musicians — right up there alongside Miles himself. Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly each had their own considerable effect on the flow of subsequent jazz history: Wynton for his tasty perfection of the bebop idiom and his dedication to its roots in the blues, and Bill for his boundless imagination and sense of beauty.
But no one would characterize any individual contribution to Kind of Blue to be the definitive statement of any of these individual musicians. In every case, their best work was yet to come.
Yet collectively, the playing they did together during the two sessions (March 2 and April 22, 1959) eclipsed the effect of their subsequent luminous legacies. What was it about this band, these five compositions, and that moment in time that set Kind of Blue apart from other fantastic jazz recordings?
On this and the following pages, peruse the fabulous photographs taken by Don Hunstein at the April 22 session. You’ll see creativity in action as Miles and Bill confer at the piano. Mull over some of the interesting history in the True Blue sidebars. Compare the Kind of Blue experiences of many of the greatest keyboardists today — quoted on the following pages — with that of your own.
Check out our Kind of Blue lessons based on the recording itself (page 46) and where you can take the sounds on Kind of Blue in the future (page 36). Most importantly, go grab a copy of Kind of Blue and put it on. Let it tell you everything you need to know.
Fred Hersch: Though Miles Davis Friday and Saturday Night at the Blackhawk was the album that got me addicted to jazz first (Wynton’s comping behind Miles is fantastic!), I heard Kind of Blue early on in my jazz self-education. The tracks that I keep coming back to are “Blue In Green” for Evans’ superb comping and Miles’ sound, and “Freddie Freeloader” for the unbridled joy of the solos by Wynton and Cannonball.
Benny Green: It’s a magical recording. Every time I hear it brings new discovery and amazement. The cooperation and mutual respect in the way the musicians support one another, allowing themselves space in conversation, is a lesson in grace to me. It’s a masterpiece of genius, soul, and simplicity.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba: The nerve, necessity, and illusion of creating, within one or various musical forms, a language of sounds, colors, rhythms, gestures, and physical and intellectual attitude resulted in the acceptance of many as a recognition for their own nerve, illusion, and necessity. At this point, Kind of Blue for me is indeed blue in all senses: an apparently tranquil experience which engulfs me in an impression of calmness, which is necessary to keep on searching.
Kenny Barron: Hearing Kind of Blue was an epiphany — an incredible eye-opening recording. What stood out for me is how both pianists used space: Wynton Kelly had more fire and Bill Evans had a way of voicing the chords. What they had in common was their sense of taste: just the right notes, just the right rhythms. I couldn’t wait for the next Miles Davis record to find out what we do next.
Gil Goldstein: Miles’ concept for Kind of Blue was to rebalance the amount of time allotted to each harmonic area. He put a lot of responsibility on the players and, as his bands would do again and again, they applied themselves to the challenge and created a timeless expression. Miles was a master of creating environments that ooze the freshness that comes from music that is created exactly in the moment. That’s what we respond to 50 years later.
Jon Regen: What makes Kind of Blue such a landmark recording for me is the fact that the music is both serene and searching at the same time. There’s a real sense of discovery in it. “Blue In Green” is in itself a master class in harmonic conception. I think the album is incredibly important, not only because it contains what are now standards in the jazz repertoire, but also because it serves as the gold standard for the musical journey that a record can take you on. Half a century later, it’s just as relevant as when it was released.
Danilo Perez: To play a modal tune with your own voice is extremely difficult, because you have to keep the strength, quality, and variety of your musical statement flowing at all times. Kind of Blue not only succeeded in sounding as if every solo had lyrics, but it also created a road map of what was next to come in jazz. The combination of Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans creates a power of contrast in voicing, soloing, and comping that is a must for every piano player to hear.
Jeff Lorber: The phrase that describes Kind of Blue is elegant simplicity. Most of the songs are very simple structures and yet the musicians play them with so much taste, finesse, and creativity that this record stands out as a jazz classic, one of the greatest ever recorded both artistically and commercially. It’s a record that came at an interesting time — the end of bebop, the beginning of the influence of the modal jazz concept — but it has a quality that transcends all that. The musicians sound clear, confident, at the top of their game, yet egoless at the same time.
David Benoit: Listening to Kind of Blue puts me in a space that no other recording is able to do. It’s mesmerizing, transparent, and yet elegant and soulful. The musical interplay between Bill Evans and Miles is especially brilliant. This ranks as one of my favorite recordings of all time. I never get tired of hearing it.
Ricky Peterson: Even though I was young when the record came out and I was trying to understand the language of jazz, this is the first record that made me weep. What an incredible time that was.
Billy Childs: Every once in a while, a recording comes along that represents a change in the direction of an entire genre of music, not just a change in that particular artist’s musical direction. Kind of Blue is one such recording. As a pianist, I am especially struck by Bill Evans’ contribution: the economy, clarity, and depth of his ideas, both as a soloist and accompanist.
Rachel Z: For me, Kind of Blue is the foundation for how a jazz pianist should comp. Bill Evans’ voicings are the template for how to voice chords modally: He showed that you could use any combination of available notes, and made color more important than chord structure.
Orrin Keepnews: The clear approval of his colleagues in that band not only improved Bill Evans’ self-esteem, but also made the professional jazz community (which is one of the most snobbish in the world) start really listening to and accepting him. This was also a marvelous period of musical interrelationship in which Bill contributed richly to the development of the band’s modal concepts and collaborated with Miles to a degree on several compositions.
Joey Calderazzo: Kind of Blue is an absolute classic. It was one of the first Miles records I bought 30 years ago. I still feel it’s one of the most important records I own. It’s as perfect as music gets.
Aaron Goldberg: Kind of Blue renews my love affair with jazz music with every repeated listening: improvisational genius in the service of feeling, creativity at the behest of mood. For musicians, a shelf full of Miles offers varied treasures of matching value. But for pure music lovers, this album has no equal.
Chuck Israels: Listen to how many ways Bill finds to articulate the ostinato figure in “All Blues.” If he left a possibility unexplored, I can’t find it.
Kenny Werner: I often refer to Kind of Blue as the quintessential ensemble album. Miles Davis really knew how to make a record. When I put Kind of Blue on, it just pervades my senses and fills the room. Even the greatest soloists of that time (or probably any time) are playing on it, the miracle of the work is that the soloists were never the focus. For me, the group sound transcended even those solos, which is an aesthetic that I have aspired to achieve ever since on my own albums.
Lynne Arriale: Kind of Blue is an extraordinary album. It combines simplicity, great depth and sophistication, and it speaks directly to the heart and soul. The music creates a feeling that is beyond what words can describe; there is an organic quality to it. It is truly a transcendent work.
Hal Galper: Giving credit where credit is due; Miles’ “So What,” originally an Ahmad Jamal vamp interlude on a recording of “Pavanne,” changed the face of jazz, opening the music to world influences. Following Miles’ lead, Coltrane’s “Impressions” — another of Jamal’s “Pavanne” vamps — delivered the final blow to the conservatism of the bebop era.
Marc Copland: In addition to being a unique trumpet stylist, Miles had a perhaps unmatched knack for putting together great bands. He’d end up leading some of the world’s best musicians in an environment where they could play and compose at an extremely high level. And he attained this rare level of band creativity more than once. I don’t know if we will ever again see that done so many times by one musician.
Bill Evans: [from our 1980 interview] I go in and do the best job I can under whatever circumstances, during whatever period of my life, whether it be a low point or a high point, troublesome or whatever, I just have to go in there and do my professional best, my artistic best. The Kind of Blue album, I know we just went in and did it, and some of the material was in a way, at that time, not remarkably new. But in some ways it was somewhat of a different challenge for some of the musicians involved, to play on one chord for a long time. And the mood of the album was a little less straight-ahead and outgoing on some of the things, but it was something everybody could handle. And I remember we just went in and did it. I certainly never expected it to have the impact that it did.
TRUE BLUE: MODAL MILESTONE
Was Kind of Blue the first time jazz musicians used modal improvisation? No. Modal improv — in which players base their solos on all the notes of a mode over slow harmonic progressions, as opposed to chord tones over fast progressions — had been gaining popularity throughout the early ’50s.
Why was modal jazz getting popular? It was partly a reaction among musicians to the virtuosic display of chops in bebop. By focusing on modal material for their solos, musicians could think more melodically as they improvised.
Were there other artists besides Miles using the modal approach at that time? Composer and pianist George Russell, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans.
TRUE BLUE: WYNTON KELLY, MIFFED
Why’d Wynton get bent out of shape when he showed up at the studio? Miles hadn’t told him Bill Evans would be at the session. The problem? Bill was Wyn’s predecessor in the band. Drummer Jimmy Cobb had to calm him down before they got the recording underway. Wyn was mostly concerned he wouldn’t get paid since Bill was already there, which meant he’d have to take the subway home instead of a cab.
Did Bill play on more tunes than Wynton? Yes. Wyn played only on the first tune of the first session, “Freddie Freeloader.” Bill played on “So What” and “Blue In Green.”
Did Bill get paid more? No. They each got union scale — $64.67 — for the session.
TRUE BLUE: FIRST TAKES
All the tunes were first takes? Four were the first full takes, yes. There were a number of takes for each tune that were stopped because of clams and rhythm section miscommunications. In the first session, “Freddie Freeloader” had three false starts, and “So What” and “Blue In Green” had about five false starts each. In the second session, “Flamenco Sketches” had a flawless full first take that became the bonus alternate take on subsequent reissue CDs. It took five more aborted tries to get the second full take, which was issued on the original recording. “All Blues” had one false start before the band nailed the definitive version. Part of the artistry of Kind of Blue is that all the tracks have that “first time through” feel, which projects a sense of the music being created completely fresh.
TRUE BLUE: THE SPECIAL TAPE
Did the brand of tape make a difference? Yes. A relatively new brand of recording tape at the time — Scotch — proved to withstand years of storage without deterioration or peeling, as playable now as it was then, whereas the more prevalent Ampex tape tended to deteriorate over the years.
Did they use the wrong reel to master? Yes. On the original pressing, a safety reel was used for the master that had been on a miscalibrated machine, resulting in a Side A that was a bit higher than A=440. Those of you who tried to play along with the recording no doubt endured some strange tuning sensations — or you slowed your turntable a little or tuned a digital keyboard a little higher in order to make it match the recording. In 1995, the disc was remastered from the correctly calibrated master reel, so subsequent re-issues are at A=440.
TRUE BLUE: THE LEGENDARY PIANO
Was the piano in Columbia’s 30th Street Studio special? Well, a lot of great music got recorded on that Steinway, which you see in the photographs of Bill Evans and Miles Davis throughout this issue. Duke Ellington used it on sessions. It was also the piano that Dave Brubeck recorded his most popular albums on, including Time Out. He recalls the piano as always being in tune. Tape engineer Bob Waller is said to have recalled that “Brubeck beat the s**t out of it.”
TRUE BLUE: FROM SKETCHES TO STANDARDS
Were the tunes rehearsed before the sessions? Not really. “All Blues” had been given an impromptu introduction to the world on a couple of live dates. At the sessions, Miles ran the band through the heads. But at the time of the recording, none of the tunes had names; Miles came up with those after the sessions; and for the album as a whole, for that matter. In fact, the working title of Flamenco Sketches, albeit a facetious one, was “Surface Noise,” named for a technical problem with recording that would normally call for an aborted take.
Did Miles write all the tunes? He got the credit, but it’s pretty certain that “Blue In Green” and “Flamenco Sketches” were penned by Bill Evans.
Are the tunes still played? “All Blues,” “So What,” and “Freddie Freeloader” have been jazz standards almost since the release of the album. You’ll often encounter them at jam sessions.
TRUE BLUE: THE REAL STORY
How can you find out more? Pick up a copy of the amazing Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, by Ashley Kahn (Da Capo Press, 2000, 224 pp, $23). Along with our own extensive files of interviews with Bill Evans, Kahn’s book is the source for much of the information in this article. For a special treat, get a copy of Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (Sony, $109.98), which in addition to the remastered original tunes on CD (plus outtakes and studio chatter) and on 12" LP, includes a fantastic illustrated booklet, a new essay by Ashley Kahn, a CD of additional tracks recorded by the band at a 1958 session, and a DVD containing interviews and the complete broadcast version of “The Sound of Jazz,” a TV show that featured the Sextet with Wynton Kelly on piano and a larger band performance conducted by Gil Evans. And if you’ve never heard Kind of Blue, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. That’s the best place to start.