MUSICAL TIP OF THE MONTH
Miles Davis: “Kind of Blue”
Stroll into a New York jazz club in 1958, just before you are supposed to perform for a live recording, drop some roughly sketched chord structures in front of your bandmates (which they have never seen before this moment!) and take out your trumpet.
Pop quiz: What do you end up with?
Answer: If you are Miles Davis (with an absolutely all-star jazz ensemble around you) you end up with possibly the most acclaimed, widely played and timeless albums ever produced — “Kind of Blue”.
Recorded over two nights, this spontaneous gem demonstrates the communal magic unique to music (and its close kin, dance). Musical jams are perhaps the nearest humanity ever comes to the willful production of synchronicity, mental telepathy or maybe just “group think”. “Kind of Blue” is astounding testimony to this wonderous mystery of nature and the human mind.
Hypnotic, soulful, inspiring, relaxing, provocative. The perfect music for candlelight dining, snuggling in front of a roaring fire, winding down after a long day (or week), taking a long bath, laying on the grass and starring up at the stars, licking your wounds or getting out of a funk, or even sitting in a pitch black room contemplating all things — of this world or any other. For any lover of music, and especially lovers, “Kind of Blue” is the epitome of the recording industry’s longtime marketing mantra: “Your best entertainment value”.