Kind of Blue At 50

I’d never owned a copy of Mile Davis‘ Kind of Blue until a couple months ago, when I bought a copy for $2 at a friend’s yard sale. I’d heard songs here and there, as I subbed various Jazz In the Morning shifts at KJHK, but never listened to the album start to finish.

You ever listen to something — I mean really listen, forgoing all other activities to pay attention to what’s coming out of your speakers — after having only heard it in passing? You get that sudden realization of “Oh, fuck me. That is what everyone’s been telling me about. Why didn’t I do this earlier?”

There’s a pretty good article regarding the recording of the album over at Yahoo! News, but the hour-long special NPR aired two years ago is what you should really check out, if you want the whole story.

For a really novel take on the album, listen to Kind of Bloop, an 8-bit tribute to Kind of Blue. All your questions about the “blasphemy,” as creator Andy Baio calls it, are answered at Waxy.