I rarely listen to Kind of Blue these days because I've got so much other jazz to listen to but when I do put it on, it's like seeing/hearing an old friend. I only learned recently that Bill Evans didn't play piano on Freddie Freeloader, which I was quite surprised at given the album's cohesiveness. I fail to see how someone could listen to that album and say it isn't anything other than a masterpiece.
I think Kind of Blue is a truly wonderful album that is both accessible to neophytes and some non-jazz listeners and also masterful and innovative and deep. I drank it down heavily in my early days of exploring acoustic jazz after years of gorging on 'lectric Miles and fusion, and it helped me understand what was to become in my listening: hard bop and modal jazz. And it still gives me pleasure, and it still reveals tiny nuances to me. As I've abandoned vinyl again for a while I listen primarily now to the Mobile Fidelity SACD and the UltraHD 32bit cd versions I have.
Love it. Listen to it rarely, but when I do I love it as much, if not more, than ever. I had the Columbia/Legacy CD for the longest time, then I got the Columbia/Legacy SACD with a 3-channel mix (at least I think it had a 3-channel mix from what I recall), now I also have the MFSL SACD and vinyl. I’ve never done any sort of comparison to see which one I like the sound of best.
Great record, and worthy of all praise and recommendations. I only have the Sony Legacy CD and it works for me. I think it's one of the greatest albums of all recorded music.
I was setting up a receiver this week, and the first thing I wanted to hear on it was Kind of Blue. I may not play it more than a few times a year, but every time still feels both familiar and fresh. I don't think that I could get tired of it. I have the 1994 SBM Gold Disc, and the Miles & Trane "Red Box" set, and never felt a burning need to buy another version. The Gold Disc sounds great to me. But I'm planning to set up a surround system with the Blu-Ray player in the living room so I can hear the Bitches Brew Quad mix. If I can get to hear that properly, maybe I'll be buying some more Miles on SACD, too.
The jazz equivalent of Beethoven's 9th and Sgt. Pepper. I know it so well, I don't really need to hear it again. But I'm glad it's there.
Peter Brotzmann: For Adolphe Sax Brotzmann on tenor & baritone saxophones Peter Kowald: Double Bass Sven Ake Johansson: Drums Recorded June 1967 Stunning and revolutionary Bonus track from Sept 1967 adds Fred Van Hove on piano
Cecil Taylor Poschiavo (Black Sun) Cecil Taylor Indent (Black Sun) The second is a reissue of the Freedom album, remastered from the original tapes by Black Sun. A similar reissue of Silent Tongues is forthcoming. See here: Cecil Taylor This reissue is definitely an improvement over the old Freedom CD (FCD 41038) from the 90s.
Jelly, mine was delayed shipping because the card I had pre-ordered on had expired and I had to update. For me, this is like Jimi’s KoB. I wonder what that would make Ladyland.
For me the pinnacle is "Band of Gypsys" but I would put Axis second. I love the sound of this album, and it really comes through on this SACD.
Funny, I haven't put on Electric Ladyland in quite a long time, but I'm kind of excited about a 5.1 mix coming out this Fall. I might have to splash out for that.
Yeah, I play it, not daily or anything. And I love it. My favorite edition to play is the Classic Records LP twofer with the speed corrected side on one of the disks. It's not my favorite jazz album. It's not even my favorite Miles Davis album (that would be Relaxin' probably). But it's a good one. What's not to like?
Wish I had known a Silent Tongues reissue was coming before I bought a sealed vinyl Arista/Freedom copy a month or two back. And if we're getting Unit Core records reissues, how about Spring of Two Blue J's?
Black Sun's Indent reissue sounds more like a real piano than the previous Freedom CD from the 90s. Worth $15 IMO. From their website: "Celestial Harmonies, div. of Mayflower Music Corp. has been in business since 1972. The company is affiliated with German music company E.R.P. Musikverlag Eckart Rahn of Berlin. E.R.P. has been in business since 1968, making it one of the oldest, if not the oldest, independent music companies dating from the 1960s, still being operated day-by-day by the founder, with no change of ownership and a catalogue of app. 8,000 copyrights held, both recordings and compositions." For Indent it says in the booklet: "Analog remastering by Jack Ashkinazy, CBS Studios, New York. Digital remastering by Frank Jacobsen, Bremen. Originally released by Cecil Taylor on Unit Core Records. Eckart Rahn supervised the re-issue from the original recording made on reel-to-reel tape at 7 1/2 i.p.s. halftrack stereo to vinyl and later CD."
[QUOTE="Fender Relic, post: 19610541, That Modern Jazz Sextet is a great album I have the OG 1st pressing on Norgan Records by Norman Granz. Its sees a steady play rotation.
It's hard to imagine a true jazz fan not liking KOB. It's easy to imagine a true jazz fan being over familiar with it and not playing it for years at a time but I'm not one of them. I play it at least once a year and probably several times in any given year. It's not my favorite Miles album either but imo it is one of the most perfect jazz albums ever made. It has a balance that is hard to beat. Not too much of this or that but everything in perfect ratios. Just hearing the opening notes of So What by Paul Chambers and Bill Evans perks me up and when Miles and Jimmy Cobb join in I am in nirvana. Flamenco Sketches is probably my favorite track these days. Favorite versions are my single layer SACD from Sony and MoFi 45 RPM Pressing is my current favorite vinyl copy though my orig. mono lp still sounds really good to my ears. NP Ultimate Shirley Horn (Verve) Cd with tracks chosen by Diana Krall. The queen of the slow, very slow ballad. Her piano playing accompanied her vocals in ways no one else could.
I know that you generally have a high opinion of Blu-Spec 2 CD's. Discogs indicates that the Kind of Blue 2013 Blu-Spec 2 is from a 2000 mastering; the 2000 Japanese reissue (SRCS 9701) is a DSD mastering by Kouji C Suzuki. As far as I can tell, nobody talks about this mastering in "Best KoB version" discussions, not even to trash it. How do you think the Blu-Spec 2 version of Kind of Blue compares to the others you own?
