Studio Lore

Miles Davis Hands Out Sketches and Records Kind of Blue

Miles Davis · 1959

Goat Score

“He gave Trane and Cannonball a one-page sketch. They did it in two sessions. Modal jazz starts here.”

March and April 1959, 30th Street Studio, New York. Miles abandons chord-based improvisation for modal scales and gives the band rough sketches instead of charts. Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb improvise the rest. Best-selling jazz album of all time. The blueprint for every record-it-live ethic since.

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Miles Davis Hands Out Sketches and Records Kind of Blue · Miles Davis

75 — Strong