Kind of Blue

Kind of Blue
Author: Ashley Kahn
Publisher: Granta Books
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2002
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781862075412

Now in paperback and illustrated with vintage photos, "Kind of Blue" is "a small treasure" ("The New Yorker") and the bestselling account of the creation of a jazz classic. 50 photos.

The Making of Kind of Blue

The Making of Kind of Blue
Author: Eric Nisenson
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2013-09-10
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1466852259

“A masterpiece in its own right, this work comprehensively covers Miles Davis’s 1959 landmark album, Kind of Blue. . . . valuable and discerning.” —Publishers Weekly From the moment it was recorded more than forty years ago, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue was hailed as a jazz classic. To this day it remains the bestselling jazz album of all time, embraced by fans of all musical genres. The album represented a true watershed moment in jazz history, and helped to usher in the first great jazz revolution since bebop. The Making of Kind of Blue is an exhaustively researched examination of how this masterpiece was born. Recorded with pianist Bill Evans, tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, composer/theorist George Russell and Miles himself, the album represented a fortuitous conflation of some of the real giants of the jazz world, at a time when they were at the top of their musical game. The end result was a recording that would forever change the face of American music. Through extensive interviews and access to rare recordings Nisenson pieced together the whole story of this miraculous session, laying bare the genius of Miles Davis, other musicians, and the heart of jazz itself. “Astute and entertaining” —Booklist “Worth reading just for the stories of how one of the greatest albums of all time came into being, but it offers so much more—a low-key but superb education in the way jazz is made and how it comes to mean the things it does.” —Dave Marsh, Playboy pop critic and editor of Rock and Rap Confidential

The Last Miles

The Last Miles
Author: George Cole
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 570
Release: 2007-07-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780472032600

The story of the final recordings of one of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century

Miles Davis

Miles Davis
Author:
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2012-11-17
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1610586824

Here is the illustrated history of Miles Davis, the world’s most popular jazz trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and musical visionary. Davis is one of the most innovative, influential, and respected figures in the history of music. He’s been at the forefront of bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz-rock fusion, and remains the favorite and best-selling jazz artist ever, beloved worldwide.He’s also a fascinating character—moody, dangerous, brilliant. His story is phenomenal, including tempestous relationships with movie stars, heroin addictions, police busts, and more; connections with other jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, John McLaughlin, and many others; and later fusion ventures that outraged the worlds of jazz and rock.Written by an all-star team, including Sonny Rollins, Bill Cosby, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, Lenny White, Greg Tate, Ashley Kahn, Robin D. G. Kelley, Francis Davis, George Wein, Vincent Bessières, Gerald Early, Nate Chinen, Nalini Jones, Dave Liebman, Garth Cartwright, and more.

It's about that Time

It's about that Time
Author: Richard Cook
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0195322665

Publisher description

The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records

The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records
Author: Ashley Kahn
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2007-11-17
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0393082881

"A jazz-lover's delight."—Ray Olson, Booklist Noted jazz author Ashley Kahn brings to life the behind-the-scenes story of Impulse Records, one of the most significant record labels in the history of popular music. “Kahn mingles engaging stories of corporate politics with insider accounts of music-making and anecdotal takes on particular albums. His history of Impulse is also the story of the genesis of an American art form and the evolution of the record industry through the tumultuous 1960s—and will compel readers to seek out this label’s masterful albums,” says Publishers Weekly in a starred review. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “a swinging read,” adding that “Kahn covers all the aesthetic, business, social, and historical bases with crisp economy.” Don’t miss the exciting inside scoop behind some of the most enduring masterpieces of jazz!

A Love Supreme

A Love Supreme
Author: Ashley Kahn
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2003-10-28
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1101126809

Few albums in the canon of popular music have had the influence, resonance, and endurance of John Coltrane's 1965 classic A Love Supreme-a record that proved jazz was a fitting medium for spiritual exploration and for the expression of the sublime. Bringing the same fresh and engaging approach that characterized his critically acclaimed Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Kahn tells the story of the genesis, creation, and aftermath of this classic recording. Featuring interviews with more than one hundred musicians, producers, friends, and family members; unpublished interviews with Coltrane and bassist Jimmy Garrison; and scores of never-before-seen photographs, A Love Supreme balances biography, cultural context, and musical analysis in a passionate and revealing portrait.

So What

So What
Author: John Szwed
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2004-01-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0684859831

Based on interviews with family and friends, this account of the jazz great's life reveals the influence of Miles Davis' life on his work as well as the musician's persistent desire to re-invent himself.

Listen to This

Listen to This
Author: Victor Svorinich
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2015-02-05
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1626743576

Listen to This stands out as the first book exclusively dedicated to Davis's watershed 1969 album, Bitches Brew. Victor Svorinich traces its incarnations and inspirations for ten-plus years before its release. The album arrived as the jazz scene waned beneath the rise of rock-and-roll and as Davis (1926–1991) faced large changes in social conditions affecting the African American consciousness. This new climate served as a catalyst for an experiment that many considered a major departure. Davis's new music projected rock-and-roll sensibilities, the experimental essence of 1960s' counterculture, yet also harsh dissonances of African American reality. Many listeners embraced it, while others misunderstood and rejected the concoction. Listen to This is not just the story of Bitches Brew. It reveals much of the legend of Miles Davis—his attitude and will, his grace under pressure, his bands, his relationship to the masses, his business and personal etiquette, and his response to extraordinary social conditions seemingly aligned to bring him down. Svorinich revisits the mystery and skepticism surrounding the album and places it into both a historical and musical context using new interviews, original analysis, recently found recordings, unearthed session data sheets, memoranda, letters, musical transcriptions, scores, and a wealth of other material. Additionally, Listen to This encompasses a thorough examination of producer Teo Macero's archives and Bitches Brew's original session reels in order to provide the only complete day-to-day account of the sessions.