"Kind of Blue": The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece (Hardcover)

To provide appropriate context, Ashley Kahn engagingly tracks the careers of all participants to the album, leading up to those two great sessions in 1959. In the process he explains just why this music was so ground-breaking and influential at the time, whilst also offering a valuable insight into the business aspects of jazz in the late '50s, and studio recording practices of the time.

His vivid descriptions of the sessions themselves are a delight to read and will enhance further enjoyment of the album itself. Kahn also provides the last word on the enduring mysteries of the tape tracking problem that has blighted the LP and early CD releases for so long, as well as the previously inexplicable left-handed Miles cover of an early CD issue.

Beautifully designed, with many rare session photographs and other illustrations, Kahn's book has the edge over Eric Nisenson's recent volume on the same subject, although they do compliment each other quite nicely. [Nisenson focuses more on background issues, such as George Russell's influence on Miles, and covers each artist at greater length. His is a more personal account of the album, in the process of which he is, in my humble opinion, too critical of Cannonball Adderley's joyous playing.]

Kahn, however, opts for a more objective, though no less passionate approach and better succeeds in making the conception of the album really come alive. So, if you have to choose, this is the one to go for.

In any case, it certainly gets my vote for best jazz book of the year.

"Kind of Blue" must occupy the foreground of any analysis of the recorded work of Miles Davis. Ashley Kahn's book is a wonderful insight into why this is so. The detail is exhaustive without being in the least bit tedious. On the contrary, the fine detail of such things as recording dates [with illustrations of dockets for studio bookings], album numbers [which became an issue when, on one edition, two track titles were inadvertantly switched and remained incorrect for years], technical personnel and even rates of pay for the musicians[standard studio date rates to create a jazz legend!], are all presented in a way that adds to the interest and carries the narrative forward to fill out the picture of how this amazing music came to be recorded and by whom. The background to Miles's approach, the portraits of the other musicians, the record company's strategy for marketing jazz in general and Miles in particular, all this builds to a fascinating description of the making of the album itself. Of course, there is a discussion, with quotes from the protagonists [Miles and pianist Evans], on the matter of the credit due to the creator of "So What?", the record's iconic opening track, and other tracks. The technical analysis of the music is not so high-flown as to be daunting to the non-musician but detailed enough to satify readers who can follow it.

As these things tend to go, no-one knew that history was in the making, a ground-breaking masterpiece was being created. The photographs of the sessions were taken by one of the recording engineers in an almost casual manner. They are private snaps, rather than a studied record of the creation of the most revered jazz album ever made by what many regard as the greatest small group jazz has ever known. These amateur, almost homely, photographs have the intimacy of an insider that brings one face to face with this group of men in the act of making magic, in a way that a professional would very likely not succeed in doing. The photographs complement Ashley Kahn's descriptions of the interaction amongst the musicians and the events that surrounded each track on the record. There are transcripts of conversations caught on tape as the recordings were made [always at the start of takes or at the point where they broke down because each track on the album is the first complete take that was successfully played from start to finish - no overdubs or 2nd takes]. One I particularly liked was Paul Chambers apologising to Miles for making a mistake "because I thought I could close my eyes."

Miles's music as a whole is a supreme achievemnt. "K o B" is the jewel in the crown. Ashley Kahn's book is a fitting account of how this gem was created. He seems to have left nothing out, no conceivable detail. The result, like a take from the album, is a treasure from start to finish.