Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and the Making of a Masterpiece

In the early spring of 1959, six musicians went into the 30th Street Studio in New York. Nine hours later, they had recorded one of the finest albums of the twentieth century. Kind of Blue traces Miles Davis's development into an artist capable of making such a masterpiece, and explores the careers and struggles of the musicians who shaped him and played alongside him. Using interviews and pictures, studio dialogue and outtakes, the great jazz historian Ashley Kahn follows Miles and his group into the studio, to show precisely how the greatest jazz record of all time was made, how it was introduced to the world, and how it changed music forever. "Offering the first take-by-take account of the sessions and analysis of never-released fragmentary takes, drawn from extremely rare access to the complete master tapes, Kahn takes us behind the scenes through countless interviews (including the only three people still living who were in the studio on those days) and newly discovered documents from Columbia Records's archives. Weaving his meticulous research into a thrilling narrative, he traces Miles's progress from bop to modal jazz, and follows the album from its release to its transformation into a cultural touchstone. Throughout, nearly a hundred images do their part in telling the story, including Bill Evans's handwritten liner notes, never-before-seen photographs of the studio, and even one of the session charts. With a foreword from Jimmy Cobb, the last surviving member of the group, this is the definitive story of Davis's album - an album you will never hear the same way again."--BOOK JACKET. This critically and commercially acclaimed tribute to the most popular jazz album of all time is now available in paperback. With transcriptions of the unedited session tapes; in-depth interviews with musicians; freshly discovered Columbia Records files; never-before-seen photographs; and a foreword by the last surviving member of the band, drummer Jimmy Cobb, Kind of Blue is a vital piece of music historyand will be essential for fans and scholars for years to come. This is a tribute to one of the most popular jazz albums of all time "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. It contains amongst other things transcriptions of the unedited session tapes; in-depth interviews with musicians; Columbia Records files; and vintage photographs. SOME CONTEND THAT they can hear Kind of Blue in a solo Miles recorded fifteen years earlier on "Now's the Time," a Charlie Parker 78 from 1946.