Kind of Blue Analysis by Miles Davis - Essay Example

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue Analysis “Kind of blues” is one of the Artistic Highlights for Miles Davis, as an album it towers above its contemporaries and it is considered by many as a definitive jazz album even today despite the fact that it was made over 50 years ago. Critical review for the album has been mostly positive given that it does not flaunt its genius, it does not change pace and each tune has a similar and relaxed feel making for easy listening. Its solos do not change very much throughout the record, at the end of the day, the reason the record has remained so popular over the years is because the band is exceptional. The combination of Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb (Jones) was and remains one of the greatest bands in history playing at the peak of its power. This paper attempts a discussion of the musical attributes of the track focusing on the arrangement of the solos, the tune composition and subtly alluding to the musician who give life to the extraordinary composition. “So what” is the first track in the album, after the introduction by Evans and Chambers the popular melodic line is played by the bass, which is then responded to in unison by the horns, this effect, heralds the jazz routes which use a call and response mode to introduce modal sounds. By virtue of his using the call response technique, he demonstrates that is well grounded in the jazz media u that he is trying to advance. ‘So what’ commences in the D Dorian mode and it remains there for sixteen bar before it gets to the semitone step u into Ed Dorian for the next 8 bars, the piece then resolves to D Dorian for the remaining 8 bars of the first cycle. He then commences his solo which occurs between the first minute 32 and 3 minutes 26; one of the most prevalent characters of Davis playing evidence in ‘so what is the quality expressed in his solo trumpet playing. It feels almost as though the trumpet is an expression of his voice and meaning rather than itself. In fact, throughput the song, his influence felt in his voice over which for its 2 minute duration he never strays from the trumpet’s middle register. Freddie Freeloader is not very different from the rest of the songs in “kind of blue” concerning its rhythm and melodist simplicity, the opening them is taken by Davis and the musicians appear to improvise in turns in a gentle and understated way. The piano, done by Wynton Kelly is economic interposed with the saxophone by Coltrane in a midways solo, the melody is much simple than the other songs with most of the action being in the playing itself. The overall effect is however incredibly beautiful, however like is usually the case in majority of Mile’s albums, it is difficult to dissimilate the work by the track, nevertheless one can feel the freeloader serving as sort of response to the preceding “so what” which is inherently more complex yet just as dramatic and musical in its rendering. Freddie Freeloader is quite possibly the most well-known track in the album; the simple horn and melody swirls around in the listeners’ brain not unlike a pricey cognac. Kelly’s Piano solo then leads to one of the many incredible Miles Davis Solos followed by the dominant 7th change in the initial ending that forever distinguished the track form anything else the band had ever tried. Flamenco Sketches is recorded in a live jazz standard and if one listens carefully they can pick out the tinkling of glasses in the quitter moments. The song that is the last in the album brings the listener down to where it all began with ‘so what’. Unlike most jazz pieces, in which the leader passes around to the band “heads” with the first 12 bars in a tune, in flamenco sketches Evans jots down the notes on 5 scales all which expressed a different mood. It has unique and world sound to it that has resulted in numerous renditions by different artist who find that it easily fits in a variety of genres and sub-genres of jazz. The improvisation in Flamenco sketches appears to be unrestrictive which suggest, given Miles reputation that the soloist was allowed to improvise for as long as he wished (Jones). This easily compares with Wynton Kelly’s regular blues and Keyboardist technique in Freddie Freeloader, which is actually the only convectional blue in the album. “All blues” proves to be somewhat and oddity in comparison to Kind of blue in regard to the solos and tune differentiation, all blues like freeloader Freddie appears to be heavily anchored on modal improvisation by the band tied together by Davis’s own free melodic composition. It is played 6/8 times in the form of 12 measures. To a great extent this track is one of the main reasons the album is so popular since its sound appeals to even non jazz fans who are likely to go on and listen to the rest of the tracks. Throughout Miles career, the tune proved a particularly popular one for stage performances and was a live staple; it is not difficult to appreciate why the tune builds on the trumpets melodic brilliance, which is so elegantly, executed that even in his solo Coltrane is never able to upstage. In many ways all blues is a legacy of Jimmy Cobb’s light and fluid drumming techniques and although a nonprofessional, listening will often overlook this, his position as the unsung hero of the group is mostly brought out in this particular track. While people will have different opinions of what they consider their favorite in any collection of songs, “blue in green” is arguably one of the best tracks in the album kind of blue. The ensemble of the music is lifted up to new subtly levels, the track gets a major boost from the introduction by the piano in which bill Evans who remains one of the most important of Mile Davis’s collaborators. He renders a transcendent solo, which is without doubt one of the most unrivalled levels of lyricism ever achieved. The tune commences with a tune so slow as to feel audacious and an undiscerning and even informed listeners at times will feel that the tune is about to fall apart. However, This is all part of the winning performance that becomes of the track, it is so delicate and subtle that it simply seems to gently drift by seemingly vulnerable subtle but yet so powerful and consistent that one finds themselves waiting for it to gone on forever. In a sense, blues in green plays a critical role in demonstrating the values of cool jazz and its artistic value as opposed to the common misconception of laid-back music for the sake of it, inherently it is the embodiment of music with remarkable depth of feeling veracity. At the end of the day, after listening to the album a few times one easily understands why it is the jazz album that even non-jazz fans will have in their collection; it not only changed how audience perceived miles and an artist but even jazz as a genre. It rating over the years have been consistently his and most audience consider it among the best jazz albums of the 20th century; with its innovative improvisations and incredible band chemistry the 46 minute album is without peers (Jones). Its mild yet evocative melody is preserved and starting from the gentle piano murmur in “so what”, up to the forlorn and rather sad “flamenco sketches. No matter how often one plays it, it never seems to wear thin but only becomes a constantly repeated melody familiar yet new and refreshing with every new encounter. Works Cited Jones, Cris. “Miles Davis Kind of Blues Review”. BBC. 2007. Web. 29 July 2013 Read More