KIND OF BLUE BY MILES DAVIS TURNS 50, FRIENDS CELEBRATE

Perhaps the best Jazz album of all time, “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis turned 50 in 2009 and Miles’ friends came to celebrate his extraordinary life

Perhaps the best Jazz album of all time, Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” celebrated its 50th Anniversary and Miles’ friends and family came to celebrate his extraordinary album and amazing career at a gala event in Los Angeles on December 11th, 2009. For five decades Miles Davis continuously evolved and he was always ahead of his time on a musical level. Whether introducing the world to Cool Jazz, exploring the principles of Modal Jazz, or being a leader in the bebop Jazz era, Davis continually looked to reinvent himself and the music he loved. With so many great albums to his credit, clearly the one album fans and critics alike hail as possibly his best work was “Kind of Blue.” Miles Davis played Trumpet, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly on Sax and the rhythm section featured Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. It’s certified 4 times platinum, been named #12 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 500 albums of all time and is the top selling jazz album of all time.

We caught up with Jimmy Cobb, who is the only surviving member to play on “Kind of Blue” to get his thoughts on what made the album one of the best Jazz album’s of all time.

“I know it’s music that came about at the right time and people grabbed hold of it. So, other than that I can’t tell you because Miles had made a lot of great records and I liked a lot of them so I can’t really say what makes ‘Kind of Blue’ lasting. Like I always say, like he used to say it was the best fun I ever had with my clothes on.”

Legendary Rock vocalist turned Spoken Word artist, Henry Rollins also stopped by the gala celebration to share his thoughts on Miles Davis and how significant “Kind of Blue” is to the history of music.

“Miles Davis in his lifetime put out a whole lot of records and I think almost all of them are pretty amazing, but it’s ‘Kind of Blue’ and maybe an record like ‘Bitches Brew’ another huge landmark Miles record that I think it’s a real phenomenon. You have two sax players Cannonball Aderly and John Coltrane on the record, you two massive heavyweights horn players. The fact that none of the musicians were really briefed on the music before they went in to do it because Miles used to like to kind of give everyone a general outline of the idea of the song or the tune and then just go in and do it. He’s kind of notorious for not rehearsing bands and the fact that all of them delivered so well is quite astounding.”

Many of Miles Davis’ friends and contemporaries stopped by the 50th Anniversary celebration of “Kind of Blue” to pay homage to Miles Davis. Bassist Stanely Clarke, drummer Lenny White and bassist Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire each knew Miles on a personal and professional level and they stopped by to share their thoughts on “Kind of Blue.”

“(Stanley Clarke) It’s a very simple album, but very heartfelt within the jazz idiom you know. To me it’s still my favorite jazz album.” “(Lenny White) You know there’s probably one record that is in everybody’s collection. I mean I’ve heard Bill Cosby say that when he was coming up you had to have ‘Kind of Blue’ in your collection. When I was coming up it was the same thing.” “(Verdine White) Well you know of course it is the music that makes it what it is and really it’s the definition of jazz. That’s really what ‘Kind of Blue’ is about. And of course everybody had that album who loves jazz and knows jazz.”

A few other notables that stopped by the 50th Anniversary of “Kind of Blue” were Miles Davis’ daughter Cheryl Davis, Miles Davis’ son Erin Davis, Miles first wife Francis Davis, John Coltrane’s daughter Miki Coltrane, Vince Wilburn Jr, , Malcolm Jamal Warner, Chris Clarke, Bernie Maupin and Ndugu Chancler. Sony Legacy has also released a collectors’ edition Box Set of “Kind of Blue.” The collection includes two CDs of the album and outtakes, a DVD documentary of the making of “Kind of Blue” featuring Herbie Hancock, Bill Cosby, Carlos Santana, Shirley Horn and other jazz greats; a 60 page book and the album on Vinyl (Record) a poster and much more. Although Miles Davis passed away in 1991, his enormous discography still captures new audiences throughout the world.