[DavidMahler]

Soooo, up until yesterday I hadn't heard Kind Of Blue for at least 5 years. I played it out for years and it just became white noise in the midst of a jazz collection so big that I no longer could identify with jazz's most commercially successful album. I wanted to believe that the commercial success of the album was a revelation that the musical content could not be definitive to a connoisseur....WRONG! Yesterday I picked up the 50th Anniversary edition / Legacy double CD because I've read good things about the mastering. I put in my my library and took a listen, and I was really just at first comparing the mastering, the new one is indeed better, but it's not night and day to me. After a few minutes had passed by I became aware all over again just how good this album is, and how, if it isn't the best jazz album of all time, it certainly boasts some of the most touching solos of all time. The tags (hooks) to the song are really really simple, but the solos are very memorable..........ok I'm just rambling.......but I wanted to just point out my absolute favorite moment of the album..................

Yes there's Wynton's "greatest blues piano solo ever" despite Evans' superior position in the album........but the greatest moment of the album is for me when Coltrane enters the B-flat Major section of his solo in Flamenco Sketches................that may be my favorite Coltrane moment of all time!

 

[RMVA]

It seems popular to dish this album, so I'm glad to read I'm not the only one still enjoying it. Bought the 50th anniversary collectors edition last year (the big one with the 180gr. blue LP) and I really like it, specially the vinyl which somehow got a lot of bad reviews. Maybe I have poor taste but that album is superb in my opinion. It's still Paul Chambers bass in the opening seconds of So What, and then the first tssssss Philly Joe Jones on the big cymbal that does it for me.

 

[mgrewe]

I agree with you that DavidMahler that the hooks are simple, the songs in general are pretty easy to play, but the way they are played on that album are what make it great. I also haven't listened to it for a while (only 6 months for me), and actually picked it back up today before reading this thread!! Coincidence eh.

 

[ruknd]

That album is so good that sometimes I crave a listening.

 

[johnwmclean]

Sounds of me rummaging through my collection, where did I put it!

 

[Currawong]

I might have to get that 50th anniversary version, as the regular versions available can come across as rather harsh. I agree that, once one gets over All Blues, Flamenco Sketches, especially the alternate take, is the real jewel in the album.

 

[fhuang]

great music no doubt but, i wonder how many version were issued. with all those years and with different countries. i saw there were Europe version(sorry i don't know which country it was, i remember made in EU), UK, US, Australian, Japanese and Canadian. i'm sure i'm missing some countries. still, most of them are quite, not as good(with such a good album i really don't want to use the word poor or bad in the same sentence).

 

[userlander]

The "hooks" are supposed to be simple. He was in the process of creating modal jazz.

 

[LevA]

I'm only slowly getting in to jazz and as with many newcomers to the genre I started out with this album. I also have the 50th anniversary edition and I really enjoy the mastering of this edition.

 

[watchluvr4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler /img/forum/go_quote.gif ........but the greatest moment of the album is for me when Coltrane enters the B-flat Major section of his solo in Flamenco Sketches................that may be my favorite Coltrane moment of all time!

One of my favorites as well!

 

[ruknd]

There is nothing wrong with a simple hook...a simple hook played with emotion and passion blows away something complex any day. It's like a great burger...it's the details that make it better than the run of the mill.

 

[robm321]

Well, I've decided what I'm going to listen to today

 

[alvin sawdust]

I play this album at least once a month from start to finish,need my fix

 

[juniperlater]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMVA /img/forum/go_quote.gif It seems popular to dish this album, so I'm glad to read I'm not the only one still enjoying it. Bought the 50th anniversary collectors edition last year (the big one with the 180gr. blue LP) and I really like it, specially the vinyl which somehow got a lot of bad reviews. Maybe I have poor taste but that album is superb in my opinion. It's still Paul Chambers bass in the opening seconds of So What, and then the first tssssss Philly Joe Jones on the big cymbal that does it for me.

It gets played a lot in my house too, but I got five different copies of the 50th Anniversary edition and never got one that wasn't warped, scratched, and in generally bad shape. It was a shame. The packaging was not made by someone who understands vinyl... or actually even CDs as they were scratched to bits too.

 

[DavidMahler]

Just to clarify on a few posts, I never complained that the hooks were simple, it wasn't a complaint and I am fully aware it was intentional and that Miles was trying his hand at a new type of music, but I was saying that the hooks are simple, just stating it from a factual point of view without any weight placed on whether this was good or bad.