Kind Of Blue

Product Information

We present the original album in remastered form plus an extra LP containing 2 tracks that weren't available on vinyl before (an alternate take of "Flamenco Sketches" and a version of "On Green Dolphin Street" recorded prior to the Kind of Blue sessions, with the legendary line-up of Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. The transformative album weds Spanish themes, lush orchestrations, romantic timbres, and Davis' increasingly lyrical methods in a tender ceremony that resonates more than six decades after its original release. All sessions took place at Columbia’s old 30th Street Studio, supervised by Columbia staff producer Irving Townsend, and recording engineer Fred Plaut. Though Miles was a big seller by jazz record standards, its still small beer, I guess may be 20,000 copies? In front of these three are the two saxophones: Coltrane’s tenor left and Adderley’s alto right, then of course we have Miles Davis’ trumpet front and centre stage.

None of the musicians had played any of the tunes before heading into the first of two recording sessions in early spring of 1959. Anyway, back to the listening… here, the sense of realism again shines through in spades – microdynamics, intimacy of shape and colour. I would certainly want to include ‘Kind Of Blue’, along with Dave Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’, plus some Horace Silver and Nancy Wilson, but I’m not a jazzer at heart, so I don’t feel able to start the thread.

But I’ll just say the following, so you know what my points of reference are… I previously talked about the Analogue Productions UHQR vinyl issues on my YouTube Channel which, if you’re interested, you can check out below. Many tracks use the "Decca tree" configuration, invented by engineers in the early 1950's using 3 Neumann M50 microphones. Cards on the table: this is one of my all-time favourite albums, so I’m going to get into some fairly extensive rambling here. Here we hear a blowing session that matches him with fellow tenorist Harold Ashby in a program of loose originals. In short, if your goal is the ‘perfect’ version of the original release, then this is your best bet.

It’s worth adding that each tape is painstakingly produced, copied with as much care as if it were the original master. Most sellers copies have the corrected Side 2 label, and many claim theirs is an original first pressing, simply because it is a Six-Eye.Sewn together with vibrant colors, voodoo textures, and ethereal moods, the 1970 landmark emerges with supreme detail and nonpareil feeling on Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 2LP vinyl box set. Kind of Blue is no daunting, towering edifice - it doesn’t insist on itself, but is a gently seductive and laidback entity. DG, no CBS, label side 2: a) All Blues, b) flamenco Sketches; sleeve: Flamenco Sketches, All Blues, plastic bag inner. However this tape sounds just right, which prompted me to ask mastering engineer Pietro Benini about it. Beginning with the Byrds, the Doors, Carlos Santana, and the Allman Brothers, most rock improvisation has been modal.