Kind of Blue – Miles Davis
5/25/20261 hr 26 min
Miles Davis's Kind of Blue is one of the greatest albums of all time - possibly THE greatest. But it's not perfect.
In this special episode of You'll Hear It, jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness break down this classic record, track-by-track, to uncover why it has become so legendary. They dig into what's really going on in the music during this album's best moments: Miles's trumpet solo on "So What", Wynton Kelly's piano solo on "Freddie Freeloader", John Coltrane's entrance on "Blue in Green".
Plus - we learn more about what Miles was doing in his early years, his break from bebop, what he thought of Bill Evans's approach, and the production and engineering techniques that give Kind of Blue its unique sound.
Miles Davis was born just outside of St. Louis 100 years ago this week. To celebrate his centennial birthday, Adam and Peter filmed this episode in front of a live audience at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, MO.
Chapters Legend:
🎧 Listening to a track 🎹 Music theory breakdown 🎵 Live studio jam
-------------------------------
Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs:
https://openstudiojazz.com
------------------------------
Related YHI Videos
Steamin', Relaxin', Workin', Cookin': https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cookin-relaxin-workin-and-steamin-miles-davis-quintet/id1342674932?i=1000762361399
Someday My Prince Will Come: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/someday-my-prince-will-come-miles-davis/id1342674932?i=1000724354435
Birth Of the Cool: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/miles-first-masterpiece-birth-of-the-cool/id1342674932?i=1000710841989
My Funny Valentine: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/miles-greatest-album-youre-welcome/id1342674932?i=1000700565428
-------------------------------
About You'll Hear It:
In this popular music series, Adam and Peter break down the greatest albums of all time. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, D'Angelo: Jazz is the foundation of the most GENIUS music in recent history. These seasoned jazz pianists bring their deep musical knowledge to every joyful episode to help you hear the hidden qualities that make music AMAZING. You'll never hear music the same way again.
-------------------------------
Sign up for the You'll Read It newsletter for little known stories about the artists you love:
https://youllhearit.com/newsletter
-------------------------------
00:00 Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
5:45 🎧 Bebop and Miles Davis's Early Years
10:56 Bill Evans and Miles Davis
11:48 🎧 "So What"
20:49 KOB Is NOT A Perfect Album?
26:59 Miles On Bill Evans's Approach
32:13 🎧 "Freddie Freeloader"
41:31 🎧 "Blue In Green"
44:38 How They Made That KoB Sound
50:02 🎧 "All Blues"
58:20 🎧 "Flamenco Sketches"
1:02:44 Is It Perfect?
1:04:56 🎧 Outakes
1:06:38 Categories: Desert Island Tracks & Apex Moments
1:11:20 How Snobby Is This Album?
1:16:21 What To Listen To Next
1:19:13 🎵 "So What" - Open Studio
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAdam Maness· Host0:00
[jazz music] I'm Adam Maness.
Peter Martin· Host0:32
And I'm Peter Martin.
Adam Maness· Host0:32
And you're listening to the You'll Hear It podcast.
Peter Martin· Host0:34
Live.
Adam Maness· Host0:35
Exploring music.
Peter Martin· Host0:37
Exploring music. [laughs] [laughs] Brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to openstudiojazz.com for all your jazz lesson needs, and brought to you live at the beautiful Sheldon Concert Hall in lovely St. Louis, Missouri. Give it up, everybody, for the Sheldon.
Adam Maness· Host0:56
Yes.
Peter Martin· Host0:56
Well, Adam- Yo ... it's a big day.
Adam Maness· Host1:01
It's a big live.
Peter Martin· Host1:02
It's a big night, actually.
Adam Maness· Host1:03
I was gonna say, it's not a big day. This is a big evening, Peter, because we rarely do a live show. We've never done a live show in our hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. We've recorded all 1,200 of these episodes about a quarter mile down Washington, just east of here, a couple blocks away in our beautiful studios, but we play- You know, always by the light of day.
Peter Martin· Host1:21
We're like the anti-vampire.
Adam Maness· Host1:23
I know.
Peter Martin· Host1:23
But tonight, we're, we're going in there.
Adam Maness· Host1:24
I really might fall asleep by the end of this. [laughs] I mean, we're coming up on my bedtime already. But not only