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Review 1
Five Stars ***** Hardcover - 224 pages (September 20, 2000)
Da Capo Pr; ISBN: 0306809869 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.82 x 8.76 x 6.80
Book Description
A Da Capo Original: The complete inside story of the creation of the legendary jazz album.
Jazz musicians call it The Bible. Critics call it the one jazz album every fan must own. Forty-one years since its recording in 1959, it has sold millions worldwide and sits near the top of any list of most important records of the century. How did two impromptu sessions produce such a timeless acknowledged masterpiece?
Now, for the first time, Ashley Kahn takes us into the studio to witness the creation of an album that still thrills jazz musicians, enthusiasts, and newcomers alike with its deceptively simple tunes. Using eyewitness accounts and newly discovered documents, Kahn traces Miles's move from bop to modal jazz, re-creates the sessions using master tapes (weighing in on fragmentary takes and the dispute about composers), and follows the rise of the album from its contemporary reception to its transformation into a cultural landmark through conversations with those who were there. Extensively researched and copiously illustrated, Kind of Blue recovers an invaluable piece of musical history and heightens fans' appreciation of the album they know and love.
New and never-before-published material in Kind of Blue includes:
The complete, unedited master session tapes, with analysis of fragmentary takes that have never been released, and studio dialogue between Davis and the musicians.
Over forty new interviews with musicians, producers, and critics, including Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Quincy Troupe, George Avakian, Nat Hentoff-and the only people still living who witnessed the making of the album: Jimmy Cobb, engineer Bob Waller, and photographer Don Hunstein.
Previously unpublished photos of the recording session, featuring a rare shot of Miles's charts
Studio logs and internal memos from Columbia about the making and marketing of the album.
The handwritten version of Bill Evans's famous liner notes.
About the Author
Ashley Kahn is a journalist who was the primary editor of Rolling Stone: The Seventies and the primary contributor to Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide. He has contributed articles to the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Mojo. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
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Review 2
From Booklist:
Da Capo has been well known as an excellent press for reissuing classic jazz books and for publishing notable foreign jazz titles, such as Francis Paudras' excellent Dance of the Infidels (1998), on the author's relationship with legendary jazz pianist Bud Powell, which was the springboard for Bertrand Tavernier's remarkable film, 'Round Midnight. Recently Da Capo was acquired by the protean Perseus Group (its publishing companies include PublicAffairs, Counterpoint, and Basic Books), and Da Capo's new catalog features quite a number of promising projects. Kind of Blue, also the title of the groundbreaking jazz album, leads the list. In writing about the production of that classic album, Kahn necessarily writes about the making of one of the sexiest jazz musicians of all times, the epitome of cool--Miles Davis. Miles' dark, brooding good looks, Mr. Heathcliff of the improvisational world, were made to be packaged. Fortunately, Miles had a bit of talent and the sense to surround himself with musicians possessing lots of talent to accompany all his cool. To let Miles tell it, "I was playing my horn and leading the baddest band in the business, a band that was creative, imaginative, supremely tight and artistic." Incidentally, the band on Blue was Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans (and Wynton Kelly), Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. So Kahn breezes through this exciting discussion of the appearance and the significance of Kind of Blueit being the definitive introduction of modal jazz, the next step in the evolution of jazz following bebop. He's pushed along by the interpolations of quotes from musicians, record industry personnel, critics, friends, and relatives; and by vignettes, such as on the history of Columbia Records and the one about Fred Tolbert (aka Freddie the Freeloader). Kahn reports that the record Kind of Blue has sold millions worldwide and sells briskly, "averaging 5,000 copies a week," today. That aside, with the enthusiasm of a jazz fanatic, this is a great tribute and a fine book. Bonnie Smothers
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