Friday, June 15, 2007

Random Genius



Miles Davis and his band recorded Kind of Blue in 1959... in two days. Shunning the traditional scale-based construction, Davis planned Kind of Blue as an experiment: he would use modes instead. (As a pop music point of reference, the distinctive sound of "Eleanor Rigby" comes largely by virtue of it being written in dorian mode instead of standard major/minor chords.)

Kind of Blue is my favorite jazz record. Just check out the band roster:


  • • Miles Davis
  • • John Coltrane
  • • Cannonball Adderley
  • • Bill Evans
  • • Paul Chambers
  • • Jimmy Cobb

What do you think?