People who know so much more than me about jazz have told me constantly that if I intend to get into it --- or continue to refuse to --- I have to listen to at least one album by Miles Davis. Those of you reading this are likely to know all about him so I won’t go into a long biography of the man, talk about how he has influenced generations of musicians in all genres, or how well-regarded he was in jazz and how much of a giant he was. There seems to be only one place to begin, and so that was where I tentatively and somewhat tremulously dipped my toes into the waters of jazz, and found that the sea wasn’t quite as uninviting or cold as I had believed it would be.
Kind of blue --- Miles Davis --- 1959 (Columbia)
First off, to get to this album on the Spotify playlist I had to scroll down past literally twenty-four thousand albums (not literally, but there are tons) recorded by this guy till I got to the one I wanted. That in itself says a little about how prolific a musician he must have been, and how hard a worker surely. Jazz enthusiasts will no doubt point out that on this album (as perhaps others, I don’t know as I say much about anything concerning this genre or its stars) you get not only the legendary Miles himself, but another giant in the form of John Coltrane: two titans for the price of one. They’d say. Me, I don’t know. All I know is that this record was my first real introduction to the genre, and it seems like I was pointed in the right direction, because I both loved it and was pleasantly surprised by it.
Acknowledged as not only one of the greatest jazz albums of all time --- if not
the greatest --- “Kind of blue” also stands on just about any top list of albums you can think of, from blues to rock to pop to metal to any other genre, and it seems to be regarded as one of the most influential albums ever made. In 2002 it was chosen as one of only fifty albums to be picked that year to be added to the National Recordings Registry, which keeps copies of music and recordings deemed to be important to American and world history. “Kind of blue” now rubs shoulders with the likes of Count Baisie, Nat “King” Cole and, um, Nirvana? Elvis is in there too, of course, and Dave Brubeck, BB King and a whole host of artistes and performers whose work has been deemed important enough to enshrine in the collection.
But whatever the cultural, historical or even social implications of the album, it is first and foremost the actual music that defines it, and this is where I step, shivering and also sweating, into the dark and vaguely threatening world of jazz.
My first introduction is not, as I had expected, screaming brass or sussurating drums, or even double bass but a soft piano that takes the lead as “So what” opens the album. Then the brass comes in of course (where would jazz be without its brass, after all, and Miles was a genius on the trumpet they say) as Coltrane comes in with the tenor sax, closely followed by Miles himself on trumpet, and the two trade licks as Paul Chambers on the double bass of which I spoke keeps a smooth rhythm going with Jimmy Cobb on the sometimes-almost-imperceptible drums. Now here I sound a note of caution: as I continue to tell you, I know next to nothing of this genre, so if I say for instance it’s a tenor sax and you know it’s an alto, or even if I get trumpets and trombones or whatever mixed up, cut me some slack: I really have no idea who’s playing and if you do then please just chalk it up to my inexperience. The last thing I want to come across as here is someone who thinks he knows what he’s talking about. Progressive rock, metal, rock, AOR, no problem. I’ll talk the hind legs off a donkey. But on jazz I am as a newborn who has not yet learned to speak, so bear with me in my education, okay?
Bill Evans on the piano keeps the same basic melody going, so far as I can see, and it’s Davis and Coltrane who provide the variety with their trumpet and sax work. Jazz is apparently not exactly known for its short songs, so it’s no surprise really to find that “So what” runs for over nine minutes, and so does the next one, and the closer, with another coming in at over eleven. There is in fact only one song on this album that could be regarded as short, and at just over five and a half minutes “Blue in green” is it. “Freddie Freeloader” starts out immediately with the wail of Davis’s trumpet, a nice little soft piano running behind it and the rhythm section doing what they do. In ways it’s quite similar to the opener but then the piano takes over with a sort of high-pitched line that walks along really nicely as Davis steps back and lets Evans have his head.
When he comes back in though, Miles makes it clear he’s again in charge and blasts out some lovely soulful notes, the piano now dropping back a little into the distance, Evans a man who knew his time in the spotlight was limited and dependent on the band leader’s decision, and happy to retake his normal place and let the master shine. And he does. Shine, that is, with a virtuoso display on the trumpet, but Coltrane isn’t one to be left in anyone’s shadow and he cuts loose with a fine sax break, until Miles joins in and they take the tune together. The piano comes a bit more to the fore now but it’s still the Davis and Coltrane show as they trade riffs to the end.
A real laidback melancholy piece with my favourite type of sax --- slow, smoky and laconic --- backed by slow lazy piano in “Blue in green”, the shortest track on the album, which of course I’m going to say reminds me of Waits, even though I know it’s the other way around. Still, this style of music does at least seem familiar to me through my association with Tom’s earlier albums, and I could almost hear him growling about losers in dingy bars or something here. Easy to see where he got his inspiration then. A running piano then (ahem! Floyd “On the run” fifteen or so years later?) takes us into the longest track, “All blue”, which rides on a really nice trumpet and sax line, I’d say simple but what the hell do I know about brass, or jazz? But it’s quite cool I must say.
Like most of the tunes here it builds up into something a bit more complicated and intricate as the instruments all begin working and meshing together, and you can certainly see how tight this band is. I’m not so sure you’d have this level of cohesion from too many of today’s bands, in any genre you care to name. It’s something of a compliment to the song that it’s almost halfway through and I didn’t realise it. Considering this is all instrumental that’s no mean feat; some of the best progressive rock songs without vocals can get boring by the time they’ve run their course, but I get the feeling this will stay pretty tight and interesting right up to the last notes. Of course it would help if I knew something more about sax, trumpet, jazz or even Davis and/or Coltrane, but I don’t so I’m just enjoying listening to this album and throwing in whatever comments I can as it goes along. Nice contribution now from Evans on the piano, kind of lifts the piece to a new level, if that’s possible.
I sort of feel a little disappointed at the way that just faded out at the end, but then after over eleven minutes I guess they’d done all they could with the melody. Now I as you know am not one for special editions, bonus tracks, remixes or rearrangements, and it worries me that the two last tracks, both over nine minutes, are the same one essentially. “Flamenco sketches” has a nice rising melody on the trumpet and some gentle piano and I really like it, but the closer is called “Flamenco sketches --- alternate take”, and how alternate it is I don’t know, but I’d really rather listen to a new track than a rejigging of the previous one. This is nice though, very laidback as most of the album really has been. Conjures up images of lazy nights under the stars with the sound of the summer wind in the trees. Not that I’ve ever had any of those --- I do live in Ireland, after all! But it’s really nice to listen to.
Piano comes in strongly now and the horns drop away as Bill Evans again shows us what he can do, while I’m amazed to look and see the meter running past the seven minute mark. That certainly flew in! Continues nice and gentle and smooth to the end, then the other version is, well nice, a little slower I think but basically the same. Though to be honest there’s been a gap between the two of about an hour while I went to give my sister her dinner so I could be missing something. Nevertheless, I don’t see it as that much of an alternative version, but it’s still really nice.
TRACKLISTING
1. So what
2. Freddie Freeloader
3. Blue in green
4. All blue
5. Flamenco sketches
6. Flamenco sketches (alternate version)
For an album to ease someone into jazz gently as their first introduction this is probably the best I could have chosen. I know there are many, many jazz recordings with harsh, squealing horns and long uptempo trumpet solos, mad, improvised piano runs and also the dreaded scat singing, but I don’t feel like any of that is something that would be of interest to me. This I like. And see, I don’t hate horns. Everyone thinks I do, but what I hate is screeching histrionic horns that seem to carry no real tune and are just there for shock effect or the oft-used “excuse” in jazz, improvisation or experimentation, or even worse, free form. I feel none of that sort of jazz is going to appeal to my soul, but this does.
So maybe I’ll be a jazz wuss, only listening to the softer side, the more laidback and smoother side of the genre. Maybe. I’ll see how it goes. But as an introduction this was pretty terrific, and if nothing else it proves for me that not all jazz is the same, and some of it I can look forward to enjoying. It’s going to be a long journey but hopefully along the way, together with no doubt many missteps and pitfalls, I may find that there’s a place for me in jazz after all.
Note: I realise this album is almost sacrosanct and so well known that even those outside of jazz know of and revere it. I also realise that there is no way in hell I could possibly ever hope to do it justice in a review. So please if you’re a fan do me a favour and just accept that this was my first foray into jazz. I may have made a mess of the review but it’s the best I can do at this time. No slight, insult or slur was intended, so if you know it back to front and think I butchered it accept my apologies but remember, this is, literally, my first time with jazz. I may get better. I may not. But I’ll always try to put my thoughts about the music I’m listening to into my writing. I may not always succeed, but I’ll never give it less than the best I can give, and that’s as much as I can offer in the way of an apology to all true jazz fans now rolling their eyes and muttering “He just doesn’t get it, does he?”
I probably don’t. But perhaps, in time, with the help of some of my friends here, I will.