Kind of Blue

Customer Rating:
Summary: Jazzz babee
Comment: Jazz. Yeah! Real. Way it Should Be. Does what it Should Do. Love playing this instant Soother of what the heck ever. What? Don't even remember!
This IS What Music should do.
I LOVE this!
Original release date 1959. Amazon Sale Rank today #81.
Get it. Play it. Relax, be happy and..
Soar!

Customer Rating:
Summary: In the Mode
Comment: Potential purchasers of Kind of Blue will find (at the time of this writing) nearly 700 reviews of this reissue at amazon.com. The 5-star reviews have it right. Actually, any reissue, or the original vinyl release should receive 5 stars. The pitch correction does help on this particular release, though. Kind of Blue is a classic for several reasons. There is an incredible disparity of style (maybe "range" of style is a better way to put it) between the wind players. Just compare Davis's solo on "So What" with those of Adderley and Coltrane -- it's like they are in entirely different worlds. What tends to lead to this stylistic range is the harmonic and scalar nature of the pieces. Gone are the fast, complicated chord progressions of bop. Replacing them are modality, at times harmonic minimalism, and references to the blues. A read of Kahn's or Nisenson's books on the making of this album tend to give the impression that it became a classic in spite of itself. But, what else can you call an album that is thoroughly accessible, yet at times cutting edge, and one with so much outstanding playing from the entire group?

Customer Rating:
Summary: Kind Of (Extremely) Disappointing
Comment: First, let me start off by stating that my field of musical interest and knowledge is Country Blues. By "Country Blues", I mean Blind Willie McTell, Willie Walker, Richard "Rabbit" Brown, Charley Patton, Johnny Shines, Memphis Minnie, Son House, Lonnie Johnson, and that man who has already received way too much press at the expense of others, Robert Johnson. As far as Jazz music, I have many recordings by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Billie Holiday, Django Reinhardt, Coleman Hawkins, and the man whom I consider to be the greatest of the early Jazz composers, Jelly Roll Morton.
I have tried, time after time, to listen to John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" and this particular Miles Davis record, "Kind of Blue". Aside from "Blue In Green", there is nothing on this disc that I find of value. Many will surely tear me apart, stating that I know nothing of musical notation, composition or theory, and that Modal Jazz was an extremely important movement or "discovery" in Jazz music. However, we are not mathematicians; we are music fans. There is nothing on this record which I can relate to emotionally, aside from "Blue In Green", which is decent. Nothing on this record even comes remotely close (and that's an understatement) to competing with Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues", Jelly Roll Morton's "Deep Creek", Duke Ellington's "Black Beauty", Django Reinhardt's "Minor Swing" or his version of the standard, "Moonglow." The music on this record is empty of feeling and Davis' trumpet playing is frankly annoying and irritating. All of the music on this record, aside from, perhaps, "Blue In Green", simply meanders and is only of value to people who spend more time relating to musical theory and the notion of Modal Jazz than to the actual quality of music. I'd sincerely love to know how listening to this album fills one with a feeling of commiseration or moves one emotionally. To me, this is stone cold boring.
I'd imagine that the majority of people who'd say that a Country Blues fan has no clue about Modal Jazz would also think that Blues is simplistic music and is inferior to Jazz. To those people, I would direct them to the 1931 recordings of Skip James, various Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson recordings, the brilliance of the Reverend Gary Davis, the incredible playing displayed by the little-known Willie Walker, the poly-rhythms played by Charley Patton, the slide mastery of Johnny Shines on songs such as "The Devil's Daughter", and the hypnotic, other-worldly tone of Fred McDowell's slide playing. After listening to the aforementioned Blues recordings (the guitar playing, the passionate vocals, and the poetry which Bob Dylan so admires), I challenge any champion of "Kind of Blue" to tell me that Miles' exercise in putting people to sleep has the same vitality, sexuality and brilliance of a McDowell, Patton, Skip James, etc.
Simply put, this album is atrociously overrated and does not compare at all with New Orleans Jazz or the many great masterpieces by Django Reinhardt. I do not want to hear about Davis and Armstrong not being comparable because their music is so different, because that is simply nonsense. Music is music, and should not be reduced to over-intellectualizing. Even musicologists, who know more about music than we will ever know, were not drawn to Blues, Jazz or any other field of music because they wanted to debate technicalities. Instead, they were shocked and in awe the first time they heard a work by Beethoven or Louis Armstrong, because it gave them a rush, not dissimilar from taking a powerful hallucinogenic drug. In conclusion, avoid this album like the plague, and go out and buy some early Louis Armstrong, anything by Django Reinhardt, or, if you want Jazz recordings with better sound quality (which do not endlessly meander like Miles Davis' music does), pick up some later-period Coleman Hawkins.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Kind of blue
Comment: I accidentally? ordered the wrong form of the CD, corresponded with Amazon, got prompt and detailed reply, exchanged the item with no trouble.

Customer Rating:
Summary: The definition of perfection
Comment: If you haven't heard Kind of Blue yet, well, what are you waiting for? Whether you're big into jazz or not, this is an absolutely timeless, flawless album. Every moment is to be savoured. The moods and feelings conveyed here by the music are plentiful and impossible to put into words. Just put this one on and get lost in it, the feel of it. I never get tired of this record.