New to Miles Davis and Jazz - Page 3

Unfortunately, it is about the money and not the music. In the early 2000s when Sony decimated it's jazz department, they reported that Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue" was still selling 5,000 copies a month - and that was more than all their recent releases combined.

Here's a few albums I'd recommend to branch out from KoB, without straying too far from that vibe. 

Miles Davis - Milestones.  The same saxophonists from KoB, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, but with some different backing musicians, and experimenting with a more modal vibe.

Sonny Rollins - Tenor Madness.  This has Sonny dueling with Trane, two of the greatest tenor players ever, and is a bit hotter than the give and take you're familiar with on KoB. 

John Coltrane - Soultrane.  A more relaxed approach from Trane. 

Hank Mobley - Soul Station.  A mellower hard-bop approach with some Miles vets.

Wayne Shorter - Juju.  To me, the second greatest saxophonist who worked with Miles besides John Coltrane.  This is starting to get a bit more exotic, but it's still grounded in wonderful melodies.

Would appreciate any replay. I don't care about how commercial all this may be, I just want to know which one is the best sounding.

THX
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackmore 

What would be the best quality released pressing of "Kind of Blue"?

 

- Japanese press on Blue ray CD

 

- Japanese 100KHz / 24bit K2HD K2 HD CD

 

- Mastersound Gold CD

 

- Japanese SBM 24K GOLD CD OBI

 

- ???

 

THX

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackmore 

 

Would appreciate any replay. I don't care about how commercial all this may be, I just want to know which one is the best sounding.

 

THX
 

 

8-track! J/k

I have the 180 gram vinyl pressing and wouldn't trade it for a digital copy - if you have a turntable, I would say go that route. Sorry I can't be of more help on the digital end.
 

Funny thing is, most of the "special" pressings were done by Sony, except K2HD, which is JVC, so, I think I will be getting 2 differ ones: K2HD and Blue CD, because only this way I can hear the possible differences and keep the best one. I read some negative things about Mastersound and not sure about others. Right  now I own EUR5 version done by Sony and absolutly love it.

Vinyl is on my list, but will take a little bit more time, before I can build the system.

THX

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpink44 

Quote:

8-track! J/k

 

I have the 180 gram vinyl pressing and wouldn't trade it for a digital copy - if you have a turntable, I would say go that route. Sorry I can't be of more help on the digital end.
 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by xinque 

Can't say I liked A Love Supreme.  Drums sounded a bit too prominent, like they were always competing instead of complementing the other instruments.  That and the one vocal bit where they repeat "a love supreme" just drew me out of it.  But just my first impressions, maybe the album will grow on me. 

AH! The drums are so loud on that record. That's my only gripe with it. I have to say I absolutely love the part where they repeat "A Love Supreme" over and over.

Also, I don't understand the SQ complaints for Kind of Blue. I think it sounds fine. What is this airflow thing jtaylor991 was talking about?

I see what you mean here. I think I wanna try another listen with this in mind, see if that changes anything. Maybe I'll come to like it...
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by baka1969 


I think the sound quality of the KoB album is part of the charm of it. What other album sounds more like you're in a smoke-filled jazz club at midnight than Kind of Blue?
Jazz at the Pawnshop is at the other extreme. You feel you're at the club, but it's a 21st Century (I know when it was recorded and it wasn't in the 2000s) club that doesn't allow smoking it's so crystal clear and the audience is miced to hear every clink and tinkle.
Kind of Blue is a mood. The recording quality is part of that mood and entrenched as part of it's character. IMHO of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by baka1969 


Set the mood in your mind. It's the late 1950s, you and your honey are sitting at the jazz club. She's smoking her slims and you're smoking a Cuban cigar. She's drinking a glass of wine and you're on your third bourbon. Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers, Bill Evans, Coltrane and Miles are strutting their wares on stage within a thick cloud of smoke. So What starts...

And then in walks Cannonball :-)

Sorry, it was probably just an oversight, but you can't leave Adderley out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by baka1969 


I was building the tension. lol. You're right. I was so caught up painting the picture that I forgot one of the colors. I typed before I leaped. Of course Cannonball was there. He was just obscured by all the smoke.

"He was just obscured by all the smoke."  - LOL....love it!!!  And the imagery you created was top-notch!!! Cheers
 

That's a lot of smoke, he's a pretty big boy.  :-)

…not to be a bummer, but I do not automatically associate smoking with jazz…probably because for at least half of the time I've been checking out jazz in clubs, many have been smoke-free. It's funny…back when Kind Of Blue was recorded, jazz was generally associated with heroin use (and as we all know, Miles, Coltrane and Bill Evans were pretty celebrated junkies, though Cannonball was clean as a whistle). I once heard Quincy Jones attribute the overall feel of that album to "the junkie tempo".

I guess what I'm getting at is how perceptions linger and change. Since I've never really smoked, I think my enjoyment of Kind Of Blue (and by extension, most jazz) has always been more about aesthetic stuff, like how its molecular structure or something can seem so simple and right…it's still a mystery how six human beings can make something so flawless, that speaks to soooo many people. I know that album like the back of my hand, but I can still marvel at it…

I'm a huge jazz fan and don't smoke either.  But I have to admit that the imagery of smoke onstage is cool, as long as I don't have to breath it.