#28 Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

28

2011 Album Rank

28

Total Points

1918

Year Released

1959

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

N/A

Weeks at #1

N/A

RIAA Sales Certification

5,000,000 (Multi-Platinum)

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Kind of Blue Album Details

Released in August 1959, Kind of Blue is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential jazz albums of all time. Miles Davis assembled a dream sextet of John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb to record five compositions that embodied a new approach to jazz: modal improvisation. Rather than building solos over complex chord changes, Davis and pianist Evans laid out scales or "modes" as the basis for freer, more melodic explorations.

The result is an atmosphere of spaciousness, restraint, and deep emotional resonance. From the ethereal opening of So What to the reflective beauty of Blue in Green, Kind of Blue captures the essence of cool jazz and the birth of modal jazz in a single, cohesive work. Recorded in just two sessions, most of the material was captured in first takes, further contributing to the album's legendary status as a spontaneous and transcendent masterpiece.

Interesting Facts about Kind of Blue

• Most of the musicians had not seen the music before the recording sessions. Davis intentionally withheld written material to ensure spontaneous performances.
• Kind of Blue was recorded in two sessions: March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, known as "The Church" for its cathedral-like acoustics.
• The track Blue in Green is officially credited to Miles Davis, but many believe it was composed primarily by pianist Bill Evans. Evans himself hinted at this in interviews.
• John Coltrane would take the modal concepts introduced here and expand on them in his later work, especially on albums like My Favorite Things and A Love Supreme.
• So What is built on just two modes: D Dorian and E-flat Dorian, a radical simplification that opened up vast space for improvisation.
• The album's liner notes were written by Bill Evans and reflect his philosophical and introspective approach to music, mirroring the tone of the recordings.
• Despite its enduring fame, Kind of Blue was a quiet revolution. Its influence spread gradually, redefining the possibilities of jazz harmony and improvisation for generations.
• The rhythm section of Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Bill Evans created an unusually delicate and floating feel, allowing soloists to explore melodic ideas without being anchored to traditional swing patterns.
• The album has never gone out of print and has sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.
• The modal approach was partly inspired by George Russell's 1953 book The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, which deeply influenced Davis and Evans at the time.

Kind of Blue Tracklist

1. So What
2. Freddie Freeloader
3. Blue in Green
4. All Blues
5. Flamenco Sketches

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