Kind of Blue has been regarded by many critics as jazz's greatest record, Davis's masterpiece, and one of the best albums of all time. Its influence on music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres,
has led writers to also deem it one of the most influential albums ever recorded. Kind of Blue was one of fifty recordings chosen in 2002 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National
Recording Registry, and in 2003, it was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. More
On this work, the original album cover art was processed with the Cutout filter and the resulting image was pasted at left. The names of Davis' band members and the album label logo
were deleted and the album title was repositioned and processed with the Craquelure filter. I had imagined coloured smoke rising in the air in the background as the artist played
"So What" I hear, and I proceeded with transforming the original design into Glowing Edges and pasted the resulting image at right.
I note that the names I've deleted all belong to great artists but my respect for them did not vanish with it. I like them all, and most especially Bill Evans and John Coltrane.
Here's the original album cover art design.
No. 12, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 14, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000;
No. 50, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Photo by Don Hunstein. Album produced by Teo Macero & Irving Townsend. Columbia 1959.
Since Kind of Blue was released in 1959, it has been regarded by many critics as Davis's greatest work; it is his most acclaimed album, and has been cited as the best-selling jazz record released,
despite later claims attributing the achievement to Davis's first official gold record Bitches Brew (1970). Music writer Chris Morris cited Kind of Blue as "the distillation of Davis's art." It has
also been noted as one of the most influential albums in the history of jazz. One reviewer has called it a "defining moment of twentieth century music."
In a review of the album, AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated: Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a
record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue possess such a mystique? Perhaps because this music
never flaunts its genius.... It's the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality.... It may be
a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz — but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection. Full article
despite later claims attributing the achievement to Davis's first official gold record Bitches Brew (1970). Music writer Chris Morris cited Kind of Blue as "the distillation of Davis's art." It has
also been noted as one of the most influential albums in the history of jazz. One reviewer has called it a "defining moment of twentieth century music."
In a review of the album, AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated: Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a
record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue possess such a mystique? Perhaps because this music
never flaunts its genius.... It's the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality.... It may be
a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz — but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection. Full article
(A) So What - Freddie Freeloader - Blue in Green
(B) All Blues - Flamenco Sketches
Chris Botti performing "Flamenco Sketches" from ChrisBotti's channel on YouTube.
