Miles Davis moved from Alton, Illinois, to New York City in 1945. After a very brief stint at Julliard, he found Charlie Parker and eventually moved in with him. In 1949 he recorded The Birth of Cool for Capitol Records. "Cool" in this sense referred to a style of playing that projects a subdued demeanor about itself. The rhythm section is extremely quiet and essentially does nothing more than keep time. Improvised lines are smooth and there is not a preponderance of surprise accents. Part of this subdued demeanor may have been due to a heroin addiction that he struggled with between 1950 and 1953.
From 1964 through 1968, the Davis quintet was even more open in harmonic structure and played with sharper accents on recordings like Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and Miles Smiles, three albums that are so good they are nearly unlistenable. Then, from 1968 until 1971, Miles was in a pop mood, and fused jazz to elements of rock and R&B while adding electronic music to his recordings. Bitches Brew, while vastly overrate as a piece of music, possibly grammatically incorrect and influential of the remarkably unpleasant fusion movement, nevertheless became one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. A car accident in 1974 severely restricted the horn player's recording output.
Miles himself said in 1958, "I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords, and a return to emphasis on melodic rather than harmonic variation. There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them." To the extent that I think I know what he was talking about, it seems he was aiming for a variety on melody, using the band as integrated support for featured soloing and strolling themes with more imagination than ordinary men. Even if that isn't what he meant, that is how Kind of Blue sounds, except that it sounds even better every day. Davis utilized the best and brightest and most appropriate players for the two sessions that went into this springtime 1959 recording. John Coltrane's tenor sax dueled with Cannonball Adderley's alto, Bill Evans' piano created contrapunctural rhapsodies more closely aligned with Paul Chambers' timid as a mountain bass playing than the bass is with Jimmy Cobbs' drums, the latter being not one iota less melodic than any other instrument here. Unified, this work bruises as it brushes and kicks as it kisses. It would be many years before anything eclipsed this monument.
--Phil Mershon
From 1964 through 1968, the Davis quintet was even more open in harmonic structure and played with sharper accents on recordings like Sorcerer, Nefertiti, and Miles Smiles, three albums that are so good they are nearly unlistenable. Then, from 1968 until 1971, Miles was in a pop mood, and fused jazz to elements of rock and R&B while adding electronic music to his recordings. Bitches Brew, while vastly overrate as a piece of music, possibly grammatically incorrect and influential of the remarkably unpleasant fusion movement, nevertheless became one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. A car accident in 1974 severely restricted the horn player's recording output.
Miles himself said in 1958, "I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords, and a return to emphasis on melodic rather than harmonic variation. There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them." To the extent that I think I know what he was talking about, it seems he was aiming for a variety on melody, using the band as integrated support for featured soloing and strolling themes with more imagination than ordinary men. Even if that isn't what he meant, that is how Kind of Blue sounds, except that it sounds even better every day. Davis utilized the best and brightest and most appropriate players for the two sessions that went into this springtime 1959 recording. John Coltrane's tenor sax dueled with Cannonball Adderley's alto, Bill Evans' piano created contrapunctural rhapsodies more closely aligned with Paul Chambers' timid as a mountain bass playing than the bass is with Jimmy Cobbs' drums, the latter being not one iota less melodic than any other instrument here. Unified, this work bruises as it brushes and kicks as it kisses. It would be many years before anything eclipsed this monument.
--Phil Mershon