Blue and Gil

Rarely does a group of musicians enter a recording studio thinking they are about to make history. This was very likely the case when Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Bill Evans, and Jimmy Cobb walked into the CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City in early 1959 to record Kind of Blue. In fact, according to Cobb, the musicians had no idea what they were going to play until Miles handed them sheets with only a basic outline of what he wanted from them. This is the truest essence of improvisatory jazz, and the results were astounding. Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb were the new additions to the group, and both of them played a key role in the album's sound. Evans was a classically trained pianist interested in Impressionist music by composers Debussy and Ravel, and their influence definitely shows in his solos. Apart from being the greatest-selling jazz record of all time, the true testament of its significance can be seen in the influence it has had, not just among jazz musicians, but rock musicians as well. Duane Allman, the virtuoso guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band, said that he wore out his copy of Kind of Blue from playing it over and over again on his turntable. Allman said, "I've listened to that album so many times that for the past couple of years I haven't hardly listened to anything else." It also greatly influenced his own playing, as well as the Allmans' improvisatory, jazzy jams. The late, great Pink Floyd pianist Richard Wright also found inspiration from the album, and he used one of its chords for the song "Breathe" on their 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon. Equally important was the relationship that Davis formed with arranger Gil Evans. Miles and Gil had similar musical tastes, as well as a mutual admiration for one another. They made beautiful orchestral jazz together in the late '50s, the highlights being Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), and Sketches of Spain (1960). Porgy and Bess is considered the greatest of them, and Davis' trumpet playing never sounded better. In addition to the trumpet, Miles also played the flugelhorn on many of the record's songs, which gave him an even softer, mellower tone. This was a golden era for Miles Davis. He was at the peak of his powers, both as a musician, and as a jazz icon. Many kids looked up to him as the epitome of coolness, and he was popular with both white and black audiences. A major blow came when John Coltrane decided to leave to form his own band, with Jimmy Cobb following shortly after. As the '60s dawned, Miles looked to a younger generation of jazz musicians to push him to higher levels, and he would attain this with his second classic quintet.