User:Niles Henessy

Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue”

Niles Henessy

Of all the influential records ever recorded, Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” makes it to the top of the charts. Not only is the album and the song selections famous, Miles’s solo on “So What” is ever-so famous. It has been analyzed to the very last note. The question you ask yourself is why is his solo so famous, and has been analyzed so heavily. The reason is: Miles Davis had a particular style. He had a certain way of playing that always seemed to hold something. Some people said that Miles wasn’t a good trumpet player, and that it was his knowledge of the music that made his trumpet playing so amazing. In either instance, nobody has been as influential as Miles Davis. Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois. A bit after Miles’s birth, his father, Miles Sr. and his wife, moved to East St. Louis, just twenty miles from Alton, Illinois. After the birth Vernon, Miles and family moved to an all-white neighborhood of the city. When talking about Miles’s passion for music, his father said, quote: “By genetics and breeding Miles is always going to be ahead of his time. Historically, way back into slavery days, the Davis’s have been musicians and performed classical works in the homes of the plantation owners. My father was born six years after the emancipation and forbade me to play music, because the only place a Negro could play then was in barrelhouses,” end quote. From 1975 to 1981, Mies Davis disappeared from the jazz scene. Only a few people knew where he was hanging, although, nobody knew if he was playing music or doing nothing at all. One man, by the name of Eric Nisenson, was able to interview Miles exclusively, and later to publish two books about Miles Davis: “Round About Midnight, A Portrait of Miles Davis,” and “The Making of Kind of Blue.” Eric Nisenson also wrote about John Coltraine and Sonny Rollins. Nisenson’s relationship with Miles as a friend was on and off. For one thing, Nisenson hated that Miles had him run his heroine dealings, such as, pick up the orders that Miles made, and then delivering it to Miles’s door. Miles also was a womanizer, Nisenson didn’t like that that much either. But Miles was his own boss, which was a point Nisenson brought up constantly in his book. On Miles Davis’s recording of “Kind of Blue,” are: Julian Cannonball Adderley, on alto saxophone, who was Miles’s father basically, and a prominent figure in New York’s streets. John Coltraine also played in Miles’s recording. John Coltraine also was a prominent figure in jazz history, for his ability to totally take on a solo with original ideas, technical skill on the tenor saxophone, and virtuosity. Others playing on the record included: Wynton Kelly on piano, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. The artists alone made the record famous. Miles Davis features in his record: “So What,” “Freddie the Freeloader,” “Blue in Green,” “All Blues,” and “Flamenco Sketches.” There was also an additional take of “Flamenco Sketches,” which was recorded earlier by the group. Miles lived a hard and ever-learned life. Even with heroine flowing through his veins, Miles was a very smart man. He said one day: “If I want something, it just happens, or I make it happen. You know, I live in my mind, that’s all I need. They can come and take away my arms, my legs, whatever, as long as they leave me my brain. As long as I have my mind, I’ll always figure out a way to get it all back.”