Three shades of jazz swirled together in 1959 to make ‘Kind of Blue’
Frank Sinatra biographer James Kaplan has set his sights on three jazz giants
— Miles #Davis, John #Coltrane and Bill #Evans
— as their lives and their art lead up to the recording of 🔹Kind of Blue🔹 Davis’ landmark 1959 album that featured Coltrane on tenor saxophone and Evans on piano.
The album marked a commercial and creative peak in jazz, the summit of what Kaplan, in the book’s subtitle, calls 🔹The Lost Empire of Cool.🔹
Along the way we meet a supporting roster comprising some of 20th century music’s greatest minds and talents.
There’s Charlie #Parker, the sax virtuoso who, along with trumpeter Dizzy #Gillespie, all but created bebop, and who left many followers scrambling to emulate his every move — including, tragically, his insatiable heroin addiction.
There’s Thelonious #Monk, the bearlike composer and pianist who thought in rhythms that others couldn’t fathom.
There’s Ornette #Coleman, the Texas-born saxophonist whose experiments went further out than even Coltrane (for a time, anyway) and left many listeners and peers baffled and even angry.
August 12th is National Vinyl Record Day (apparently) so I grabbed all the vinyl I could find in my house. It's not a lot. I used to have many crates full. But after many moves, I thinned the collection down to nearly nothing, as I do digital music mostly now (I have no turntable anymore either). But sometimes, I grab a couple. Bought the bottom row here recently. Odd I can't find my copy of Telekon. Pretty sure I still have that one somewhere. I hope so. And wow, I have two copies of Green Thoughts, one signed, one not. Check out that picture disc. I should get better photos of it eventually. It's rad.
Interview: The Amazing John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy At The Gate
John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy Evenings At The Village Gate winds the clock back to the summer of 1961, not long before the formation of the classic quartet. #Coltrane, in incandescent form, fronts a similarly hard-kicking sextet completed by Tyner, Jones, Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, flute and alto saxophone, and twin bassists Reggie Workman and Art Davis. #jazz#vinyl
Album Review: John Coltrane: Evenings At The Village Gate
It is important to emphasize, at the outset of this review, that Evenings At The Village Gate is a John Coltrane album of headline significance. Recorded during a four-week run at the New York City club in August and September 1961, the disc is a snapshot of Coltrane partway through the most momentous year of his development... #jazz#coltrane